Formation and early years (1888–1939) Walsall were formed as
Walsall Town Swifts F.C. in 1888 when
Walsall Town F.C. and
Walsall Swifts F.C. amalgamated. Walsall Town had been founded in 1874 as Walsall Football Club and Walsall Swifties in 1875 as Victoria Swifts. Both clubs had played at
the Chuckery, since April 1881 when Walsall Swifties had lost their old ground on Follyhouse Lane where they had played during 1877-1881 and the newly formed club remained at the same ground. Walsall Town Swifts' first match was a 0–0 draw against
Aston Villa in the Birmingham Charity Cup final on 9 April 1888. A disagreement over the venue of the replay meant Aston Villa were awarded the trophy. Later that year, Walsall Town Swifts played friendly matches against two founder members of the
Football League; a strong
Burnley side were beaten 1–0 and
West Bromwich Albion were held to a 2–2 draw in front of 7,000 spectators at the Chuckery. Walsall's first league campaign in the Midland Association started with a 2–2 draw at home to
Bromley on 22 September 1888. They went on to finish in 3rd place in the league. Although a home match for Walsall, the tie was played at their opponents'
Villa Park ground to ensure as many people could watch the local
David vs Goliath match as possible. It remains the highest attendance that Walsall have ever played in front of and was a record crowd for Villa Park at the time. In the following season,
1934–35, Walsall continued their cup pedigree by reaching their first ever senior final in the
Third Division North Cup.
The Saddlers fell at the final hurdle, however, with a 2–0 defeat to
Stockport County at
Maine Road. However, after just two seasons in the Second Division, the club were relegated back to the Third Division in
1962–63. An unfortunate defeat to
Charlton Athletic in a replayed final match of the season sealed Walsall's relegation, as the London club leapfrogged them in the table to survive. The following years were inconsistent but were buoyed by a few good cup results and the emergence of
Alan Buckley, who signed for the club in 1973 and went on to become a prolific goalscorer for the club. Walsall remained in the Third Division until a further relegation to the Fourth Division in
1978–79. It was Buckley who took on the role of player-manager for the re-build in the fourth tier. Once again
The Saddlers rose from the ashes of adversity as they secured an immediate promotion. At one stage in
1979–80 Walsall recorded 21 consecutive matches without defeat, a record that still stands today. This saw the beginning of an era that became a hallmark for some of the most attractive football seen in Walsall as, under the guidance of Buckley, the side gradually established itself as promotion contenders in the Third Division. and with his money came high-profile signings and the attention of the national media. In
1986–87, under new manager
Tommy Coakley, Walsall narrowly missed out on the play-offs but made considerable progress in the FA Cup as they defeated First Division Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City and took
Watford to two replays in the fifth round. Walsall finally earned promotion to the Second Division for the first time since 1963 by winning the Third Division
play-offs in 1988.
Bristol City were beaten 4–0 in a replayed final at Fellows Park thanks to a
David Kelly hattrick. However, the
1988–89 season saw the club immediately relegated from the Second Division and Ramsden's business empire collapse. At the time it was a state-of-the-art arena and was only the second new Football League ground since the 1950s.
Kenny Hibbitt managed the club for four years, setting the groundwork for a golden era for the club that would follow soon after his dismissal in September 1994. New manager
Chris Nicholl led the club to promotion back to the third tier (now known as Division Two after the formation of the
Premier League) in his first season, building the nucleus of a strong and under-rated team. A run of four straight wins at the end of April meant Walsall needed just a point from their final game, away to
Bury, to secure promotion; they duly obliged with a 0–0 scoreline to send the travelling fans home celebrating. and a glamour tie at
Manchester United resulted in a 5–1 defeat in the FA Cup. Despite the club's cup exploits, a poor finish in the league signalled the end of Sørensen's time at Walsall after just one season. In
1998–99,
Ray Graydon took over as manager and led the club to a runners-up spot in Division Two, beating
Manchester City to an automatic promotion place by five points. After the unlikely promotion to the
second tier Walsall found life difficult at a higher level but battled right until the final day of the season, when relegation was finally sealed. A 2–0 defeat at
Ipswich meant Walsall returned to the third tier, despite derby wins over local rivals Tamworth, Rushall Olympic and
West Bromwich Albion earlier in the campaign.
The Saddlers returned to the second tier of English football at the first attempt, defeating
Reading 3–2, after extra time, in a thrilling play-off final at Cardiff's
Millennium Stadium. Graydon was dismissed in January 2002 following a 2–0 defeat against local rivals West Brom.
Colin Lee took over and secured survival in the second tier for the first time since the early 1960s. The
2002–03 season saw Walsall avoid relegation again. However, the
2003–04 campaign ended in relegation despite a storming start which had seen the club on the brink of the play-offs going into the New Year. A slump in form saw Lee sacked in April and the appointment of star player
Paul Merson as manager did not halt the slide. Walsall were ultimately relegated, agonisingly by a single goal, despite a 3–2 victory over Rotherham United on the season's final day in front of a record Bescot Stadium crowd of 11,049. Despite the club's relegation and no previous managerial experience, Merson was immediately appointed as full-time manager of the club in May 2004. A poor season in
League One almost ended in successive relegations and the
2005–06 season then turned into a disastrous one for Walsall and Merson. After increasing supporter pressure following a string of bad results, culminating in a 5–0 defeat at
Brentford, Merson's reign as Walsall manager came to an end in February 2006. However, it was too late and Walsall were relegated on 22 April 2006, after losing 3–1 to
Huddersfield Town.
Richard Money was tasked with reviving the club's fortunes in
League Two. An impressive start to the season was maintained throughout and, despite a mini-blip in February, Walsall remained in the top three for almost the entire season and were promoted back to
League One after beating
Notts County 2–1 away from home. On the final day of the season Walsall drew 1–1 at
Swindon Town, thanks to a last-minute goal by
Dean Keates in front of 3,419 travelling fans, to secure the
League Two title. in 2009 at Bescot Stadium Walsall's form continued into the new season, as the club performed strongly in
2007–08, including a run of 17 League matches without defeat and back-to-back promotions looked possible. However, a January transfer window that culminated in the sales of important first team players
Danny Fox and
Scott Dann to
Coventry City caused a drop in form throughout 2008. The club's promotion challenge ended after a run of poor results in March leading to Richard Money resigning as manager in April. The following seven seasons spent in League One saw largely mid-table security apart from a few flirtations with relegation. Notably, in the
2010–11 season the club sat in the relegation places from October through to March but ultimately survived thanks to an upturn in form following the appointment of
Dean Smith as manager in January 2011. Walsall had been ten points adrift of safety, however, despite accumulating only 48 points by the end of the season they escaped relegation by one point. The
2014–15 season was a memorable one for the club as it reached a
Wembley final for the first time in its 127-year history. Walsall beat
Rochdale,
Tranmere Rovers,
Sheffield United and
Preston North End on their way to the
Football League Trophy final where they were beaten 2–0 by Bristol City on Sunday 22 March 2015.
The Saddlers were backed by over 29,000 supporters in a crowd of 72,315 at the national stadium. Walsall started the
2015–16 season well, leading to interest in manager Dean Smith. At the end of November, with
The Saddlers fourth in the table, he left Walsall for Brentford; at the time of his departure he was the fourth longest serving manager in the Football League. Walsall turned to
Sean O'Driscoll to replace Smith. However, after a six-game winless run and just 16 games in charge, O'Driscoll was sacked and replaced by
John Whitney. Ultimately, Walsall missed out on promotion by just one point and lost in the play-off semi-finals to Barnsley. Following the decimation of their promotion challenging team, Walsall struggled for the next three seasons in League One and, after a disastrous spell in charge for former playing hero Dean Keates following the sacking of Whitney, were relegated back to the fourth tier at the end of the
2018–19 season. Following relegation, a new era began with
Darrell Clarke taking over as manager and Jeff Bonser ending his 28-year reign as owner and chairman by selling his 76% majority shareholding of the club to Leigh Pomlett in July 2019. Walsall failed to make a League Two promotion challenge in the
2019–20 or
2020–21 seasons, finishing in 13th and 19th place respectively, halfway through the latter Clarke left for
Port Vale. Ahead of the
2021–22 season Matthew Taylor was appointed new head coach with
Neil McDonald as his assistant. However, following a run of seven successive losses which left the club in 21st place and just four points outside the relegation zone, Taylor was sacked in February 2022 and replaced by
Michael Flynn who saved the club from relegation as they finished 16th.
A new era of American ownership (2022–present) On 6 June 2022, the club announced that American sports investment firm Trivela Group LLC had purchased a majority of shares belonging to chairman Leigh Pomlett, becoming 51% majority shareholders. A positive run of form in late 2022 saw the club within touching distance of the play-off places for the first time since relegation. However, the end of top goalscorer
Danny Johnson's loan spell with the club in January led to an indifferent second half of the season. Ultimately, Flynn was sacked as the club again finished 16th. Interim head coach
Mat Sadler was appointed full-time head coach in May 2023, with Trivela stating their confidence that "Mat is the right man, given his values, his resolve, his ambition, and his abilities, to partner with us in building this future, and that he can continue to grow as a coach as we grow as a club." Sadler led the team to a record breaking run of eight league wins in a row, securing the record with a 5–1 victory over
Tranmere Rovers at the
Bescot Stadium on 11 January 2025, before extending it the following week to nine. On 11 March 2026, with the club in 11th place, Sadler was sacked with his assistant
Darren Byfield taking charge for the remainder of the season. ==Rivals==