How Are They Doing

Last season Walsall finished 16^th with 55 points.

This season they are currently 6th with 54 points.

With the home win against Doncaster, Walsall are on a 5-match winning run, extending their unbeaten run to 6 matches in the league. The team has won 5 of their last 8 matches in L2. Walsall have picked up an average of 1.54 points per league game since the beginning of the season. Their current form shows that in the last 8 league matches Walsall have been averaging 2.13 points, which is 38.3% higher than their overall season’s average.

Walsall are 1st in the current (6 match) L2 form table with 16 points. FGR are 15th with 7 points.

Reverse Fixture(s)

EFL Trophy – 10 Oct 23 – Walsall 1 FGR 1 (Omotoye). FGR won 4-2 on penalties.

League 2 – 25 Nov 23 – Walsall 0 FGR 0.

Ones to Watch

Danny Johnson has played for several clubs in his career both north and south of the border. He was Walsall’s top scorer last season with 14 goals and 2 assists despite being on loan from Mansfield for just the first part of the season. In June 23 he joined Walsall permanently. This season he has scored 4 times.

In January Walsall signed midfielder Jamie Jellis from Tamworth on a permanent deal. They signed striker Josh Gordon on loan from Burton, he had previously spent 3 seasons at Walsall. They signed Mo Faal on loan from WBA, in the first half of the season he scored 9 goals in 33 appearances while on loan at Doncaster.

Current top scorers – Isaac Hutchinson 11 goals, Freddie Draper 10 goals. On 5 January 2024, Draper was recalled from his loan by Lincoln City.

Manager

Matt Sadler was a defender who played in the Premier League for Birmingham.

He spent most of his career in the Football League, playing for Northampton, Watford, Stockport, Shrewsbury, Walsall, Crawley, Rotherham and Oldham.

In July 2019, Sadler returned to former club Walsall following his release from Shrewsbury Town at the end of the 2018–19 season. Sadler announced his retirement at the end of the 20/21 season.

In April 2023, Sadler was appointed interim manager of Walsall following the departure of Michael Flynn until the end of the 2022-23 season. On 18 May 2023, he was appointed head coach on a permanent basis. Gary Waddock is his assistant.

Matt Sadler

Action from the reverse fixture in November 23.

Everton loanee Reece Welch for FGR & Brandon Comley for Walsall..

Rovers Connections

Jamille Matt needs no introduction – he played for FGR from 2020 to January 2023. He made 98 appearances and scored 36 league goals. He captained FGR to the L2 Championship.

Isaac Hutchinson – In 2021 Isaac played 10 matches on loan at FGR from Derby. Eastbourne born he started his career at Brighton before joining Southend where his performances caught the eye of Derby County, but he only played once for them. Apart from FGR he also had a loan spell at Crawley. He joined Walsall permanently in July 22.

Walsall born Taylor Allen played 14 times for FGR between 2019 -22. He scored his only FGR goal when he came on as a substitute on his debut. At FGR he was more of a striker, he is now more of a defender midfielder. He joined Walsall in June 2022.

Matt Stevens played on loan from FGR at Walsall from Jan 23 to May 23.

Jacob Maddox played for Walsall from Sept 22 to August 23.

Emmanuel Osadebe played for Walsall from Sept 20 to June 22.

Club History

The club’s nickname, “The Saddlers”, reflects Walsall’s status as a traditional centre for saddle manufacture. Walsall moved into their Bescot Stadium in 1990, having previously played at nearby Fellows Park for almost a century. The team play in a red and white kit and their club crest features a swift.

The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town and Walsall Swifts. The club moved to the Football Alliance from the Midland Association the following year, before being invited to help found the Football League Second Division in 1892. They failed re-election in 1895, but were elected back into the Football League after one season in the Midland League. They failed re-election again in 1901 and this time spent two decades outside the Football League, primarily in the Birmingham & District League. Invited to help form the Football League Division Three North in 1921, they would remain in the third tier for the next 37 years before becoming founder members of the Fourth Division. Walsall won the Fourth Division title in 1959–60 and then secured promotion out of the Third Division the following season, though were relegated in 1963 and again in 1979.

Walsall won promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1979–80 but suffered two successive relegations after winning promotion into the Second Division at the end of the 1987–88 campaign. Promoted in 1994–95 and again in 1998–99 (pipping Manchester City to the automatic promotion spot!), they spent four of the next five seasons in the second tier, punctuated by a successful third tier promotion campaign in 2000–01. Two relegations in three years left Walsall back in the fourth tier in 2006, but they secured an immediate promotion as 2006–07 League Two champions. Their first match at Wembley Stadium came in the 2015 Football League Trophy Final, which they lost to Bristol City. In 2016 they missed out on promotion to the Championship by a single point and lost the resulting playoff semi-final against Barnsley. The Saddlers ended an 11-year stay in League One with relegation in 2019.

The Walsall fans did have a tradition of crying ‘moo!, moo!’ whenever they spotted a Muller lorry with their black and white cow style livery going past on the M6. Something FGR fans may consider doing when FGR move to the new ground between the Oldends Lane Muller depot and the M5.

Mascot

Walsall’s original name was Walsall Swifts and a swift still features on their badge so the mascot is a swift imaginatively called Swifty.

What Are They Thinking

Walsall Fans Forum –

UpTheSaddlers Forum – Walsall FC Messageboard