2013–14 Walsall F.C. season

The summer of 2013 saw the Saddlers lose the attacking trio of Will Grigg, 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 loanee Milan Lalkovic, playmaker Romaine Sawyers 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 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. 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.[1]

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 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.

Squad at end of season[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Richard O'Donnell 2 DF  ENG Ben Purkiss 3 DF  ENG Andy Taylor 4 DF  ENG Andrew Butler 5 DF  NIR Dean Holden[4] 6 MF  ENG Nicky Featherstone 7 MF  ENG Adam Chambers 8 MF  ENG Sam Mantom 9 FW  SVK Milan Lalkovič (on loan from Chelsea) 10 FW  ENG Craig Westcarr 11 MF  ENG Ashley Hemmings 12 DF  ENG Paul Downing 13 GK  ENG Shane Lewis 14 DF  ENG Malvind Benning 15 DF  ENG James Chambers

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  ENG James Baxendale 17 MF  ENG Reece Flanagan 18 DF  ENG Ben George 19 FW  ENG Jake Heath 20 DF  ENG Matt Preston 21 MF  ENG Kieron Morris 22 GK  ENG Liam Roberts 23 FW  ENG Danny Griffiths 24 FW  ENG Troy Hewitt 25 MF  SKN Romaine Sawyers[5] 26 MF  NIR James McQuilkin 27 FW  SLE Amadou Bakayoko 29 FW  ENG Febian Brandy (on loan from Sheffield United) 30 FW  ENG Michael Ngoo (on loan from Liverpool)

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 27 MF  ENG Julian Gray (released)

Source:[6][7]

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		League Cup		FL Trophy		Total		Discipline
1	GK	ENG	Richard O'Donnell	46	0	2	0	2	0	1	0	51	0	2	0
2	DF	ENG	Ben Purkiss	10 (4)	0	1 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	11 (5)	0	3	1
3	DF	ENG	Andy Taylor	32 (1)	1	2	0	1	0	1	0	36 (1)	1	6	0
4	DF	ENG	Andy Butler	45	2	2	0	2	0	1	0	50	2	3	2
5	DF	ENG	Dean Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	MF	ENG	Nicky Featherstone	10 (15)	0	1	0	1 (1)	0	1	0	13 (16)	0	1	0
7	MF	ENG	Adam Chambers	45	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	49	0	7	0
8	MF	ENG	Sam Mantom	43	5	2	0	2	0	1	0	48	5	3	1
9	MF	SVK	Milan Lalkovič *	30 (8)	6	2	0	1	0	1	0	34 (8)	6	4	0
10	FW	ENG	Craig Westcarr	40 (3)	14	2	2	2	1	0 (1)	0	44 (4)	17	1	1
11	FW	ENG	Ashley Hemmings	14 (13)	2	1 (1)	0	2	1	1	1	18 (14)	4	1	0
12	DF	ENG	Paul Downing	43 (1)	1	2	0	2	0	1	0	48 (1)	1	5	0
13	GK	ENG	Shane Lewis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	DF	ENG	Malvind Benning	14 (2)	2	0 (1)	0	1	0	0	0	15 (3)	2	3	0
15	DF	ENG	James Chambers	40	1	1	0	2	0	1	0	44	1	4	0
16	MF	ENG	James Baxendale	25 (15)	2	1 (1)	0	2	1	1	0	29 (16)	3	0	0
17	MF	ENG	Reece Flanagan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	DF	ENG	Ben George	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	MF	ENG	Kieron Morris	1 (1)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	1 (2)	0	0	0
22	GK	ENG	Liam Roberts	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	FW	ENG	Troy Hewitt	8 (19)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	1	8 (22)	1	0	0
25	MF	SKN	Romaine Sawyers	29 (15)	6	1 (1)	1	1 (1)	0	1	0	32 (17)	7	2	0
26	MF	NIR	James McQuilkin	2 (7)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	2 (8)	0	0	0
27	MF	ENG	Julian Gray	0 (12)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (12)	1	0	0
27	FW	SLE	Amadou Bakayoko	0 (6)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (6)	0	0	0
29	FW	ENG	Febian Brandy *	20	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	4	0	0
30	FW	ENG	Michael Ngoo *	4 (10)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4 (10)	1	2	0

Players not included in matchday squads

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name
19	MF	ENG	Jake Heath
20	DF	ENG	Matt Preston
23	FW	ENG	Danny Griffiths