# 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. Along with competing in League One, the club participated in the FA Cup, League Cup and EFL Trophy.
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 |
| 8 July 2017 | Kidderminster Harriers XI | H | W | 2–0 | Peters, Bakayoko | 0 |
| 15 July 2017 | Solihull Moors | A | L | 2–3 | Kouhyar, Edwards | 647 |
| 18 July 2017 | Aston Villa | H | D | 0–0 | | 7,022 |
| 19 July 2017 | Stafford Rangers | A | L | 2–3 | Candlin (2) | 323 |
| 22 July 2017 | Chester | A | W | 2–1 | Leahy, Candlin | 888 |
| 26 July 2017 | West Bromwich Albion | H | L | 1–2 | Bakayoko | |
| 27 July 2017 | Chasetown | A | W | 5–1 | Hayles-Docherty, Fisher, Candlin (3) | |
| 29 July 2017 | Lincoln City | A | L | 1–2 | Jackson | 2,376 |
| 1 August 2017 | Rushall Olympic | A | D | 2–2 | Sangha, Peters | |

### League One

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

#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 |

### 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 | |

### 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 | |

### EFL Trophy

| Pos | Lge | Teamvte | 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 | Round 2 |
| 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 | |
EFL Trophy match details :
| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Northern Group E | 19 September 2017 | West Bromwich Albion U21s | H | W | 3–1 | Flanagan, Ismail, Leahy | 1,055 |
| Northern Group E | 3 October 2017 | Coventry City | H | D | 2–2 | Ismail, Agyei | 1,517 |
| Northern Group E | 7 November 2017 | Shrewsbury Town | A | W | 1–0 | Bakayoko | 1,701 |
| Second round | 2 December 2017 | Bury | H | L | 1–2 | Oztumer | 1,065 |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Name | From | Fee |
| 1 July 2017 | Nicky Devlin | Ayr United | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | Mark Gillespie | Carlisle United | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | Jon Guthrie | Crewe Alexandra | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | Luke Leahy | Falkirk | Free (released) |
| 3 January 2018 | George Dobson | Sparta Rotterdam | Undisclosed |

### Out

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

### Loan in

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

### Loan out

| Date | Name | To | End date |
| 8 August 2017 | Milan Butterfield | Leamington | 5 September 2017 |
| 20 October 2017 | Milan Butterfield | Rushall Olympic | 28 April 2018 |
| 20 October 2017 | Jordan Sangha | Rushall Olympic | 22 March 2018 |
| 31 January 2018 | Simeon Jackson | Grimsby Town | 6 May 2018 |
| 22 March 2018 | Jordan Sangha | Leamington | 28 April 2018 |

## Squad statistics

    Source:
    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 | | |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Trophy | EFL Trophy | Total | Total | Discipline | 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 |