2017–18 Walsall F.C. season

The 2017–18 season was Walsall's 130th season in their existence and their eleventh consecutive season in League One.^[1] Along with competing in League One, the club participated in the FA Cup, League Cup and EFL Trophy.

Walsall

2017–18 season
Chairman	Jeff Bonser
Manager	Jon Whitney (Until 12 March 2018) Ian Sharps Caretaker (from 12 March 2018 till 16 March 2018) Dean Keates (from 16 March 2018)
Stadium	Bescot Stadium
League One	19th
FA Cup	First round
EFL Cup	First round
EFL Trophy	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Erhun Oztumer (15) All: Erhun Oztumer (17)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The season covers the period from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018.

Competitions

Friendlies

Pre-season match details

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
8 July 2017	Kidderminster Harriers XI	H	W	2–0	Peters, Bakayoko	0	[2]
15 July 2017	Solihull Moors	A	L	2–3	Kouhyar, Edwards	647	[3]
18 July 2017	Aston Villa	H	D	0–0		7,022	[4]
19 July 2017	Stafford Rangers	A	L	2–3	Candlin (2)	323	[5]
22 July 2017	Chester	A	W	2–1	Leahy, Candlin	888	[6]
26 July 2017	West Bromwich Albion	H	L	1–2	Bakayoko		[7]
27 July 2017	Chasetown	A	W	5–1	Hayles-Docherty, Fisher, Candlin (3)		[8]
29 July 2017	Lincoln City	A	L	1–2	Jackson	2,376	[9]
1 August 2017	Rushall Olympic	A	D	2–2	Sangha, Peters		[10]

League One

Main article: 2017–18 EFL League One

League One match details

Date	League position	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
5 August 2017	21st	Bury	A	L	0–1		4,240	[11]
12 August 2017	12th	Oldham Athletic	H	W	2–1	Edwards, Oztumer	4,419	[12]
19 August 2017	12th	Portsmouth	A	D	1–1	Leahy	17,198	[13]
26 August 2017	13th	Bradford City	H	D	3–3	Leahy, T. Roberts, Bakayoko	4,817	[14]
2 September 2017	10th	Plymouth Argyle	H	W	2–1	Agyei, Oztumer	5,495	[15]
9 September 2017	13th	Bristol Rovers	A	L	1–2	Wilson	8,544	[16]
12 September 2017	14th	Rotherham United	A	L	1–5	Bakayoko	7,330	[17]
16 September 2017	14th	Peterborough United	H	D	1–1	Oztumer	4,453	[18]
23 September 2017	13th	Oxford United	A	W	2–1	Edwards, T. Roberts	6,895	[19]
26 September 2017	13th	Charlton Athletic	H	D	2–2	T. Roberts, Agyei	3,712	[20]
30 September 2017	16th	Wigan Athletic	A	L	0–2		8,107	[21]
7 October 2017	16th	Shrewsbury Town	H	D	1–1	Agyei	5,971	[22]
14 October 2017	16th	Blackpool	H	D	1–1	Oztumer	4,503	[23]
17 October 2017	16th	Milton Keynes Dons	A	D	1–1	T. Roberts (pen)	7,258	[24]
21 October 2017	14th	Doncaster Rovers	A	W	3–0	Oztumer (2), Morris	7,391	[25]
28 October 2017	15th	Southend United	H	L	0–1		4,145	[26]
18 November 2017	18th	Gillingham	H	L	0–1		4,917	[27]
21 November 2017	15th	Fleetwood Town	H	W	4–2	Oztumer, Ismail, T. Roberts, Agyei	3,225	[28]
25 November 2017	13th	AFC Wimbledon	A	W	2–1	Oztumer, Bakayoko	4,130	[29]
9 December 2017	11th	Scunthorpe United	H	W	1–0	Morris	3,865	[30]
16 December 2017	11th	Northampton Town	A	L	1–2	Oztumer	5,055	[31]
23 December 2017	11th	Rochdale	A	D	1–1	Kouhyar	2,702	[32]
26 December 2017	12th	Bristol Rovers	H	D	0–0		5,759	[33]
30 December 2017	14th	Rotherham United	H	L	1–2	Edwards	4,685	[34]
1 January 2018	18th	Plymouth Argyle	A	L	0–1		10,432	[35]
13 January 2018	15th	Oxford United	H	W	2–1	Oztumer, Bakayoko	4,569	[36]
20 January 2018	16th	Charlton Athletic	A	L	1–3	Oztumer	10,140	[37]
30 January 2018	18th	Blackburn Rovers	A	L	1–3	Edwards	11,241	[38]
3 February 2018	16th	Milton Keynes Dons	H	W	1–0	Ngoy	4,009	[39]
10 February 2018	16th	Blackpool	A	D	2–2	Edwards, Guthrie	3,404	[40]
13 February 2018	15th	Doncaster Rovers	H	W	4–2	Edwards (2), Morris, Bakayoko	3,514	[41]
17 February 2018	16th	Gillingham	A	D	0–0		4,682	[42]
24 February 2018	17th	Blackburn Rovers	H	L	1–2	Fitzwater	6,893	[43]
27 February 2018	17th	Peterborough United	A	L	1–2	Ngoy	2,531	[44]
3 March 2018	13th	Southend United	A	W	3–0	Oztumer (3)	6,413	[45]
6 March 2018	13th	Rochdale	H	L	0–3		3,505	[46]
10 March 2018	14th	Shrewsbury Town	A	L	0–2		7,633	[47]
21 March 2018	17th	Wigan Athletic	H	L	0–3		4,477	[48]
31 March 2018	18th	Portsmouth	H	L	0–1		5,159	[49]
7 April 2018	18th	Bury	H	W	1–0	Thompson (og)	3,807	[50]
11 April 2018	18th	Oldham Athletic	A	D	1–1	Fitzwater	3,424	[51]
14 April 2018	19th	AFC Wimbledon	H	L	2–3	Fitzwater, Ngoy	4,663	[52]
21 April 2018	19th	Scunthorpe United	A	L	0–1		4,083	[53]
28 April 2018	18th	Northampton Town	H	W	1–0	Dobson	8,919	[54]
1 May 2018	18th	Bradford City	A	D	1–1	Oztumer	18,976	[55]
5 May 2018	19th	Fleetwood Town	A	L	0–2		3,644	[56]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
17	Gillingham	46	13	17	16	50	55	−5	56
18	AFC Wimbledon	46	13	14	19	47	58	−11	53
19	Walsall	46	13	13	20	53	66	−13	52
20	Rochdale	46	11	18	17	49	57	−8	51
21	Oldham Athletic (R)	46	11	17	18	58	75	−17	50	Relegation to EFL League Two

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(R) Relegated

FA Cup

Main article: 2017–18 FA Cup

FA Cup match details

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
First round	4 November 2017	Newport County	A	L	1–2	Bakayoko	2,701	[57]

EFL Cup

Main article: 2017–18 EFL Cup

EFL Cup match details

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
First round	9 August 2017	Sheffield United	A	L	2–3	Bakayoko, Oztumer (pen)	5,210	[58]

EFL Trophy

Main article: 2017–18 EFL Trophy

Pos	Lge	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1	Walsall (Q)	3	2	0	1	0	6	3	+3	7	Round 2
2	L1	Shrewsbury Town (Q)	3	2	0	0	1	6	3	+3	6
3	L2	Coventry City (E)	3	1	1	0	1	6	6	0	5
4	ACA	West Bromwich Albion U21 (E)	3	0	0	0	3	2	8	−6	0

Updated to match(es) played on 3 October 2017. Source: EFL.com
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

EFL Trophy match details

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
Northern Group E	19 September 2017	West Bromwich Albion U21s	H	W	3–1	Flanagan, Ismail, Leahy	1,055	[59]
Northern Group E	3 October 2017	Coventry City	H	D	2–2[A]	Ismail, Agyei	1,517	[60]
Northern Group E	7 November 2017	Shrewsbury Town	A	W	1–0	Bakayoko	1,701	[61]
Second round	2 December 2017	Bury	H	L	1–2	Oztumer	1,065	[62]

Transfers

In

Date	Name	From	Fee	Ref
1 July 2017	Nicky Devlin	Ayr United	Free	[63]
1 July 2017	Mark Gillespie	Carlisle United	Free	[64]
1 July 2017	Jon Guthrie	Crewe Alexandra	Free	[65]
1 July 2017	Luke Leahy	Falkirk	Free (released)	[66]
3 January 2018	George Dobson	Sparta Rotterdam	Undisclosed	[67]

Out

Date	Name	To	Fee	Ref
13 June 2017	Andreas Makris	APOEL Nicosia	Undisclosed	[68]
30 June 2017	Bradley Caswell	Stafford Rangers	Released	[69]
30 June 2017	Lezion Cela	Smethwick	Released	[69]
30 June 2017	Craig MacGillivray	Shrewsbury Town	Released	[69][70]
30 June 2017	Ashley Maddocks	Unattached	Released	[69]
30 June 2017	Franck Moussa	Gillingham	Released	[69][71]
30 June 2017	Isaiah Osbourne	Forest Green Rovers	Released	[69][72]
30 June 2017	Theo Vassell	Gateshead	Released	[69][73]
30 June 2017	Neil Etheridge	Cardiff City	Rejected new contract	[74]
30 June 2017	Matt Preston	Swindon Town	Rejected new contract	[69][75][76]
31 August 2017	James O'Connor	Kidderminster Harriers	Contract terminated by mutual consent	[77][78]
29 December 2017	Rory Oliver	Unattached	Released	[69][79]
29 December 2017	Sam Tonks	Unattached	Released	[69][79]

Loan in

Date	Name	From	End date	Ref
17 July 2017	James Wilson	Sheffield United	11 January 2018	[80]
11 August 2017	Shaun Donnellan	West Bromwich Albion	1 January 2018	[81]
25 August 2017	Tyler Roberts	West Bromwich Albion	26 January 2018	[82]
31 August 2017	Dan Agyei	Burnley	4 January 2018	[83]
31 August 2017	Zeli Ismail	Bury	4 January 2018	[83]
29 January 2018	Justin Shaibu	Brentford	6 May 2018	[84]
31 January 2018	Krystian Bielik	Arsenal	6 May 2018	[85]
31 January 2018	Jack Fitzwater	West Bromwich Albion	6 May 2018	[85]
31 January 2018	Julien Ngoy	Stoke City	6 May 2018	[85]

Loan out

Date	Name	To	End date	Ref
8 August 2017	Milan Butterfield	Leamington	5 September 2017	[86]
20 October 2017	Milan Butterfield	Rushall Olympic	28 April 2018	[87][88]
20 October 2017	Jordan Sangha	Rushall Olympic	22 March 2018	[87][88][89]
31 January 2018	Simeon Jackson	Grimsby Town	6 May 2018	[90]
22 March 2018	Jordan Sangha	Leamington	28 April 2018	[89]

Squad statistics

Source:^[91][92]

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.

Players with squad numbers struck through and marked † left the club during the playing season.

Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Walsall.

Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes.

Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
				League		FA Cup		EFL Cup		EFL Trophy		Total		Discipline
1	GK	ENG	Mark Gillespie	23	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	25	0	1	0
2	MF	ENG	Joe Edwards	29 (1)	7	1	0	1	0	1 (1)	0	32 (2)	7	5	0
3	DF	ENG	Luke Leahy	46	2	1	0	1	0	4	1	52	3	4	0
4	MF	ENG	George Dobson	19 (2)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19 (2)	1	3	0
5	DF	ENG	Jon Guthrie	46	1	1	0	1	0	4	0	52	1	4	0
6	DF	SCO	Nicky Devlin	30 (3)	0	0	0	1	0	1 (1)	0	32 (4)	0	3	0
7	MF	ENG	Adam Chambers	43	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	47	0	8	0
8	MF	BEL	Florent Cuvelier	10 (13)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10 (13)	0	0	0
9	FW	CAN	Simeon Jackson	1 (7)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	1 (9)	0	0	0
10	MF	ENG	Erhun Oztumer	41 (4)	15	1	0	1	1	1 (2)	1	44 (6)	17	3	0
11	MF	ENG	Kieron Morris	35 (7)	3	1	0	1	0	4	0	41 (7)	3	1	0
13	GK	ENG	Liam Roberts	23 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	27 (1)	0	0	0
14 †	DF	WAL	James Wilson *	19	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	20	1	5	0
15	MF	IRL	Liam Kinsella	17 (2)	0	1	0	1	0	3	0	22 (2)	0	2	0
16	FW	DEN	Justin Shaibu *	3 (11)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3 (11)	0	0	0
17	MF	ENG	Reece Flanagan	3 (6)	0	0	0	0	0	3 (1)	1	6 (7)	1	1	0
18 †	FW	WAL	Tyler Roberts *	11 (6)	5	1	0	0	0	1	0	13 (6)	5	1	0
18	FW	BEL	Julien Ngoy *	9 (4)	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	9 (4)	3	1	0
19 †	MF	ENG	Zeli Ismail *	12 (4)	1	1	0	0	0	3	2	16 (4)	3	2	0
20	FW	SLE	Amadou Bakayoko	33 (8)	5	0 (1)	1	1	1	3 (1)	1	37 (10)	8	8	1
22	MF	ENG	Jordan Sangha	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	0	0
23 †	DF	IRL	Shaun Donnellan *	7 (3)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	8 (3)	0	1	0
23	DF	ENG	Jack Fitzwater *	16	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	3	2	0
24	DF	ENG	Kory Roberts	17 (3)	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	21 (3)	0	1	0
25	MF	AFG	Maziar Kouhyar	5 (10)	1	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	4	0	9 (12)	1	0	0
26 †	MF	ENG	Rory Oliver	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF	ENG	Daniel O'Sullivan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	DF	IRL	Callum Cockerill-Mollett	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
29	MF	ENG	Will Shorrock	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0 (2)	0	0	0
32 †	FW	ENG	Dan Agyei *	7 (11)	4	0	0	0	0	2 (1)	1	9 (12)	5	2	0
33	MF	ENG	Stefan Mason	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	DF	ENG	Dan Vann	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
35	MF	ENG	Tobias Hayles-Docherty	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
36	FW	ENG	Mitchel Candlin	0 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0 (4)	0	0	0
37	GK	ENG	Brandon Ganley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
38	FW	ENG	Joe Cairns	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Players not included in matchday squads

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name
4 †	DF	ENG	James O'Connor
14	DF	POL	Krystian Bielik *
21	MF	BER	Milan Butterfield
30	FW	ENG	Cameron Peters
31 †	DF	ENG	Sam Tonks