The 2013/14 season saw Walsall finish 13th in League One. The campaign was most notable for the Saddlers' meetings with Black Country rivals

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

, including a 1–0 away at Molineux.

Season summary

The summer of 2013 saw the Saddlers lose the attacking trio of

Will Grigg William Donald Grigg (born 3 July 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL League One club Milton Keynes Dons. Grigg began his professional career at Walsall and came to prominence during the 2012–13 season, winni ...

, Febian Brandy and Jamie Paterson, who had been responsible for close to two-thirds of the club’s goals in the previous campaign. Their replacements included

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

loanee Milan Lalkovic, playmaker

Romaine Sawyers Romaine Theodore Sawyers (born 2 November 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Cardiff City. Born in Birmingham, England, he plays international football for the Saint Kitts and Nevis national team. A West Br ...

and striker Troy Hewitt. After a mixed start, September saw Walsall take on Wolves twice in the space of two weeks. A short trip to Molineux in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

saw Wolves emerge victorious on penalties following a 2–2 draw. However, the Saddlers had the better of the corresponding league fixture, winning 1–0 thanks to a goal from captain

Andy Butler Andrew Peter Butler (born 4 November 1983) is an English football manager and player who plays for Farsley Celtic F.C., Farsley Celtic as well as being youth development phase coach at Scunthorpe United F.C., Scunthorpe United. Born in Doncast ...

. Minor controversy followed the fixture with derogatory comments towards Wolves posted on Walsall’s official Twitter account. The club apologised for the "frankly disgusting" Tweet, which it said was the work of a hacker. Walsall spent much of the first half of the season in and around the playoff spots, with a 5–1 away victory at

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

lifting the club into sixth in late January. Despite seemingly being well-placed for a playoff challenge, the Saddlers went on to win just twice in the final 18 games of the season. This included a 3–0 home loss to Wolves, who would finish the season as champions. This disastrous run saw the Saddlers end the campaign in 13th, 16 points adrift of a playoff place.

Competitions

Football League One

League table

Results

FA Cup

League Cup

League Trophy

First-team squad

:''Squad at end of season''

Left club during season

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 In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

; DF – Defender; MF –

Midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

; FW – Forward

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2013-14 Walsall F.C. season Walsall F.C. seasons

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...