Walsall F.C. - A Timeline of Walsall's History

A Timeline of Walsall's History

• 1888 – Founded as Walsall Town Swifts
• 1896 – Beat Wolverhampton Wanderers to win the Birmingham Senior Cup, and also Aston Villa in the Birmingham Charity Cup final.
• 1896 – Move into the new Hillary Street Ground, which will later become known as Fellows Park, Walsall's home, on and off, until 1990.
• 1933 – Beat Arsenal in the FA Cup – a result still regarded as one of the greatest FA Cup upsets of all-time.
• 1972 – Club rescued from financial oblivion by new owner Ken Wheldon.
• 1975 – Defeat Manchester United and Newcastle United in the FA Cup on the way to the fifth round. The winning goal against Newcastle is scored by striker George Andrews.
• 1978 – Defeat Leicester City in the FA Cup on the way to the fifth round.
• 1979 – Sign striker Alan Buckley back from Birmingham City for a club record £175,000. He becomes player-manager soon after.
• 1984 – Walsall reach the League Cup semi-finals, defeating Arsenal in the fourth round, but manager Alan Buckley is sacked for failing to guide the club into the Second Division.
• 1986 – Racecourse owner Terry Ramsden buys the club.
• 1988 – Promotion to the Second Division is achieved.
• 1989 – Relegation to Third Division after just one season in the Second.
• 1990 – A second successive relegation sees Walsall relegated to the Fourth Division, and they moved into their new Bescot Stadium a few hundred yards from Fellows Park.
• 1992 – Jeff Bonser buys the club, which again was minutes away from entering receivership – players were told to find new clubs, and staff to clear their desks before Bonser's last-minute save. He appoints ex-Wolves boss Kenny Hibbitt as manager. They remain members of the Fourth Division which is rebranded Division Three on the creation of the Premier League.
• 1994 – Chris Nicholl is appointed manager.
• 1995 – Walsall take Premier League club Leeds United to a replay in the third round of the FA Cup. They also win promotion to Division Two.
• 1997 – Chris Nicholl resigns as manager to be succeeded by Jan Sorensen.
• 1998 – Walsall reach the fourth round of the FA Cup, where they lost 5–1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Jan Sorensen sacked at the end of the season and is succeeded by Ray Graydon.
• 1999 – Walsall win promotion to Division One.
• 2000 – Walsall are relegated to Division Two, being pipped to survival by local rivals West Bromwich Albion.
• 2001 – Walsall climb back to Division One at the first attempt, winning the Division Two play-offs.
• 2002 – Ray Graydon is sacked as manager and replaced by Colin Lee.
• 2003 – Walsall sign 35-year-old former Arsenal and England midfielder Paul Merson and beat West Bromwich Albion on the first day of the new league season.
• 2004 – Walsall are relegated from Division One shortly after the dismissal of Colin Lee as manager. Paul Merson takes over as player-manager. They become members of the newly-named League One (formerly Division Two) after a reorganisation of the Football League.
• 2005 – Paul Merson is sacked after just over a year as manager and is replaced by Kevan Broadhurst.
• 2006 – Walsall are relegated to League Two and Kevin Broadhurst is sacked as manager to be replaced by Richard Money.
• 2007 – Walsall win the League Two title and are promoted to League One.
• 2008 – Walsall achieve a top half finish in League One, Scott Dann is sold for £1,000,000 to Coventry City in January, but Richard Money resigns at the end of the season and is replaced by Jimmy Mullen.
• 2009 – Walsall survive in League One after Jimmy Mullen was sacked as manager and Chris Hutchings replaces him.
• 2011 – Chris Hutchings is sacked as Walsall manager along with assistant Martin O'Connor and chief scout David Hamilton.
• 2011 – Walsall appoint head of youth Dean Smith as caretaker manager.
• 2011 – In March, Walsall announce its landlords, Suffolk Life, have decided to sell the Banks's Stadium. Owner Jeff Bonser is then criticised for misleading fans regarding the lease that Walsall hold on the Banks's Stadium.
• 2011 – Relegation to League Two avoided by one point.
• 2012 – Relegation to League Two avoid on penultimate day of the season.