2026–27 Walsall F.C. season

The 2026–27 season is the 139th season in the history of Walsall Football Club and their eighth consecutive season in League Two. The club are participating in League Two, the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, and the EFL Trophy.

OwnerTrivela Group

Co-chairmanBenjamin Boycott,
Leigh Pomlett

Head coachLee Grant

StadiumBescot Stadium

Quick facts season, Owner ...

Walsall
2026–27 season
Owner	Trivela Group
Co-chairman	Benjamin Boycott, Leigh Pomlett
Head coach	Lee Grant
Stadium	Bescot Stadium
← 2025–26 2027–28 →

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Managerial changes

Prior to the season starting, the club appointed Lee Grant as the new Head Coach on a three-year deal.^[1]

Transfers and contracts

In

More information Date, Pos. ...

Date	Pos.	Player	From	Fee	Ref.
27 June 2026	CM	Sven Sprangler	St Johnstone	Undisclosed	^[2]
1 July 2026	CB	James Connolly	Crewe Alexandra	Free	^[3]
1 July 2026^[a]	CF	Andrew Dallas	Barnsley		^[4]
1 July 2026^[b]	CM	Lewis Simper	Sutton United		^[5]
10 July 2026	GK	Jed Ward	Bristol Rovers	Undisclosed	^[6]
17 July 2026	CF	Tai Sodje	Buxton	Undisclosed	^[7]
21 July 2026	CB	Ryan Leak	Ross County	Free	^[8]
28 July 2026	LW	Reece Smith	Harrogate Town	Undisclosed	^[9]
11 August 2026	RB	Roman Dixon	Everton	Free	^[10]
18 August 2026	GK	Tom Wooster	West Ham United		^[11]
24 August 2026	LB	James Furlong	Maribor		^[12]

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[a]
The transfer was announced on 17 June, and would become official on July 1 once Dallas' contract at Barnsley expired.
[b]
The transfer was announced on 22 June, and would become official on July 1 once Simper's contract at Sutton expired.

Loaned in

More information Date, Pos. ...

Date	Pos.	Player	From	Loaned until	Ref.
7 July 2026	CM	Isaac Moore	Coventry City	End of Season	^[13]
21 July 2026	CB	Declan Skura	Wycombe Wanderers		^[14]
5 August 2026	CDM	Charlie Crew	Leeds United		^[15]
1 September 2026	CAM	Antony Evans	Huddersfield Town		^[16]

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Loaned out

More information Date, Pos. ...

Date	Pos.	Player	To	Loaned until	Ref.
14 August 2026	LWB	Vincent Harper	Exeter City	End of Season	^[17]
28 August 2026	CM	Will Etheridge	Stourbridge	26 September 2026	^[18]
21 September 2026	GK	Jenson Kilroy	Malvern Town	19 October 2026	^[19]
25 September 2026	LM	Ronan Maher	Wealdstone	26 December 2026	^[20]
29 September 2026	CB	Stan Straw	Redditch United	29 October 2026	^[21]

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Out

More information Date, Pos. ...

Date	Pos.	Player	To	Fee	Ref.
15 June 2026^[a]	RB	Connor Barrett	Wigan Athletic	Undisclosed	^[22]
15 June 2026	GK	Sam Hornby	Hednesford Town	Free transfer	^[23]

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[a]
The transfer was announced on 10 June, and would become official on June 15 once the transfer window opened.

Released / Out of Contract

More information Date, Pos. ...

Date	Pos.	Player	Subsequent club	Joined date	Ref.
30 June 2026	CDM	Brandon Comley	Barnet	1 July 2026	^[24]^[25]
	CB	Priestley Farquharson	Crawley Town		^[24]^[26]
	CF	Josh Gordon	Exeter City		^[24]^[27]
	CAM	Jake Hollman	Sydney		^[24]^[28]
	CM	Charlie Lakin	Barnet		^[24]^[25]
	CF	Jamille Matt	Bromsgrove Sporting		^[24]^[29]
	LB	Evan Weir	Peterborough United		^[24]^[30]
	CF	Charlie Wragg	Stourbridge		^[24]^[31]
	CM	Jamie Jellis	Rotherham United	10 July 2026	^[24]^[32]
	CM	Dylan Thomas	Lichfield City	7 August 2026	^[24]^[33]
	CB	Aden Flint	Rochdale	11 September 2026	^[24]^[34]
	CDM	Alfie Chang			^[24]

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New Contract

More information Date, Pos. ...

Date	Pos.	Player	Contract until	Ref.
6 May 2026	RB	Elicha Ahui	30 June 2027	^[24]
6 May 2026	GK	Jenson Kilroy		^[24]
5 June 2026	RW	Albert Adomah		^[35]
23 June 2026	CB	Rico Browne	30 June 2028^[a]	^[36]

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[a]
Option of a further year in the club's favour

Pre-season and friendlies

On 5 June, Saddlers announced a pre-season fixture against Aston Villa.^[37] Four days later, two further fixtures were added to the scheduled against Leamington and AFC Telford United.^[38] On 24 June, a fourth friendly was added against Notts County.^[39]

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

11 July 2026 Friendly	Leamington	0–0	Walsall	Leamington Spa
15:00 BST		Report		Stadium: Your Co-op Community Stadium

18 July 2026 Friendly	Nottingham Forest U21	2–4	Walsall	West Bridgford
15:00 BST		Report	Dallas (x2) Pressley Sjordesma	Stadium: Nigel Doughty Academy Attendance: 0 (BCD)

21 July 2026 Friendly	Walsall	0–5	Aston Villa	Bescot
19:30 BST		Report	Madjo 24', 45' Hemmings 43' Lynch 68' Borland 70'	Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium

25 July 2026 Friendly	AFC Telford United	1–0	Walsall	Wellington
15:00 BST	Trialist A 30'	Report		Stadium: SEAH Stadium

29 July 2026 Friendly	Luton Town	5–0	Walsall	Luton
14:00 BST	Benagr (x2) Luker Morris Wells	Report		Stadium: The Brache Attendance: 0 (BCD)

1 August 2026 Friendly	Walsall	0–0	Notts County	Bescot
15:00 BST		Report		Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium Attendance: 1,448 (272 away)

Competitions

League Two

League table

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
5	Bristol Rovers	9	5	0	4	14	14	0	15	Qualification for League Two play-offs
6	York City	8	4	2	2	16	10	+6	14
7	Walsall	8	3	5	0	11	5	+6	14
8	Chesterfield	9	4	2	3	15	12	+3	14
9	Grimsby Town	9	3	4	2	13	10	+3	13

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Updated to match(es) played on 3 October 2026. Source: EFL Official Website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Wins; 6) Away goals; 7) Penalty points (sec 9.5); 8) 12-point sending off offences^[40]

Results summary

More information Overall, Home ...


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
8	3	5	0	11	5	+6	14	2	2	0	5	2	+3	1	3	0	6	3	+3

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Last updated: 19 September 2026.
Source: Soccerway

Results by round

More information Round, Ground ...

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9¹	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Ground	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A
Result	W	D	W	D	D	D	W	D	P
Position	1	3	2	3	5	5	2	5	P
Points	3	4	7	8	9	10	13	14	P

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Source: EFL
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed
Notes:

¹ Matchday 9 (vs. Crawley Town) was postponed due to international call-ups.

Matches

On 25 June, the League Two fixtures were revealed.^[41]

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

15 August 2026 1	Gillingham	0–3	Walsall	Gillingham
15:00 BST	Smith 41' Harris 47' McKenzie 58' Hale 90+3'	Report	Ahui 56' Crew 56' Moore 81' Connolly 89' Pressley 90+6'	Stadium: Priestfield Stadium Attendance: 6,125 (511 away) Referee: Emily Heaslip

22 August 2026 2	Walsall	0–0	Grimsby Town	Bescot
12:30 BST	Connolly 74'	Report	Sweeney 68'	Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium Attendance: 6,499 (1,167 away) Referee: Matthew Russell
Note: Fixture was initially scheduled for a 15:00 kick-off, but was brought forward for live Sky Sports broadcasting.^[42]

29 August 2026 3	Walsall	3–2	Accrington Stanley	Bescot
15:00 BST	Smith 8' Burke 45+6' Sprangler 49' Pressley 53' Moore 75' Skura 79' Ahui 90+1'	Report	Woods 12' Mols 57' Coyle 60' Walton 75' Conneely 90+9'	Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium Attendance: 5,116 (115 away) Referee: William Davis

1 September 2026 4	Crewe Alexandra	2–2	Walsall	Crewe
19:45 BST	March 50' Hutchinson 90+2'	Report	Pressley 42' (pen.), 57' Simper 75' Sodje 88'	Stadium: Mornflake Stadium Attendance: 4,918 (1,127 away) Referee: Oliver Mackey

5 September 2026 5	Exeter City	0–0	Walsall	Exeter
15:00 BST		Report	Ahui 77'	Stadium: St James Park Attendance: 6,002 (755 away) Referee: Harrison Blair

12 September 2026 6	Walsall	0–0	Rochdale	Bescot
15:00 BST	Crew 29'	Report	Adeeko 53' Gilmour 77' Middelton 90+4'	Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium Attendance: 5,669 (381 away) Referee: Jamie O'Connor

19 September 2026 7	Walsall	2–0	Port Vale	Bescot
12:30 BST	Sprangler 27' Ahui 40' Connolly 45+5', 50' Dallas 89'	Report	Dempsey 51' Garrity 84' Moon 90+3'	Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium Attendance: 6,902 (1,311 away) Referee: James Oldham
Note: Fixture was initially scheduled for a 15:00 kick-off, but was brought forward for live Sky Sports broadcasting.^[42]

26 September 2026 8	Tranmere Rovers	1–1	Walsall	Birkenhead
15:00 BST	Ironside 35' Browne 73'	Report	Sprangler 18' Connolly 35' Smith 90+1'	Stadium: Prenton Park Attendance: 7,229 (802 away) Referee: Stephen Parkinson

3 October 2026 9	Walsall	Postponed	Crawley Town	Bescot
15:00 BST				Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium
Note: Fixture was postponed due to international call-ups.^[43]

10 October 2026 10	Fleetwood Town	v	Walsall	Fleetwood
15:00 BST				Stadium: Highbury Stadium

17 October 2026 11	Swindon Town	v	Walsall	Swindon
15:00 BST				Stadium: The Nigel Eady County Ground

20 October 2026 12	Walsall	v	Oldham Athletic	Bescot
19:45 BST				Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium

26 October 2026 13	Walsall	v	Salford City	Bescot
20:00 BST				Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium
Note: Fixture was initially scheduled for 24 October, but was pushed back two days for live Sky Sports broadcasting.^[44]

31 October 2026 14	Colchester United	v	Walsall	Colchester
15:00 GMT				Stadium: JobServe Community Stadium

14 November 2026 15	Walsall	v	Barnet	Bescot
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium

21 November 2026 16	York City	v	Walsall	Huntington
15:00 GMT				Stadium: LNER Community Stadium

28 November 2026 17	Walsall	v	Northampton Town	Bescot
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium

1 December 2026 18	Newport County	v	Walsall	Newport
19:45 GMT				Stadium: Rodney Parade

12 December 2026 19	Rotherham United	v	Walsall	Rotherham
15:00 GMT				Stadium: AESSEAL New York Stadium

19 December 2026 20	Walsall	v	Shrewsbury Town	Bescot
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium

26 December 2026 21	Bristol Rovers	v	Walsall	Horfield
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Memorial Stadium

29 December 2026 22	Walsall	v	Chesterfield	Bescot
19:45 GMT				Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium

1 January 2027 23	Walsall	v	Cheltenham Town	Bescot
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium

9 January 2027 24	Shrewsbury Town	v	Walsall	Shrewsbury
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Croud Meadow
Note: Fixture was initially scheduled for a 15:00 kick-off, but was brought forward for live Sky Sports broadcasting.^[44]

FA Cup

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

EFL Cup

Saddlers were drawn away to Bristol City in the first round^[45] and home to Leyton Orient in the second round.^[46]^[47]

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

6 August 2026 First round	Bristol City	0–1	Walsall	Bristol
19:45 BST		Report	Pressley 47' Moore 56' Sprangler 67' Browne 90+2'	Stadium: Ashton Gate Attendance: 9,992 (564 away) Referee: Jacob Miles
Note: Fixture was initially scheduled for 7 August, but was brought forward 24-hours to avoid a clash with the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.^[48]

25 August 2026 Second round	Walsall	0–0 (5–6 p)	Leyton Orient	Walsall
19:45 BST		Report		Stadium: Bescot Stadium Attendance: 2,679 (242 away) Referee: Andrew Humphries
	Penalties
	Simper Clarke Hancock Sodje Pressley Crew Skura		Kabia Hayden Archibald El Mizouni Obiero Stevens Olowu

EFL Trophy

Group stage

Walsall were drawn against Leicester City, Stevenage and Fulham U21 into Southern Group B.^[49]

More information Pos, Div ...

Pos	Div	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1	Stevenage	2	2	0	8	2	+6	6	Advance to Round 2
2	L1	Leicester City	2	1	1	7	3	+4	3	Advance to Round 2
3	ACA	Fulham U21	1	0	1	1	6	−5	0
4	L2	Walsall	1	0	1	1	6	−5	0

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Updated to match(es) played on 6 October 2026. Source: EFL

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

22 September 2026 Group stage	Walsall	1–6	Stevenage	Bescot
19:00 BST	Simper 17'	Report	Mellon 11', 42', 58' Marçal 29' Houghton 32' Broggio 63'	Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium Attendance: 1,205 Referee: Robert Massey-Ellis

13 October 2026 Group stage	Walsall	v	Fulham U21	Bescot
19:00 BST				Stadium: Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium

10 November 2026 Group stage	Leicester City	v	Walsall	Leicester
19:00 GMT				Stadium: King Power Stadium

Statistics

Appearances and goals

As of match played 26 September 2026

Players with no appearances are not included on the list; italics indicate loaned in player

More information No., Pos ...

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		League Two		FA Cup		EFL Cup		EFL Trophy
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Jed Ward	10	0	8+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0	0+0	0
2	DF	SKN	Rico Browne	4	0	1+1	0	0+0	0	1+1	0	0+0	0
3	DF	ENG	Mason Hancock	10	0	8+0	0	0+0	0	1+1	0	0+0	0
4	DF	WAL	James Connolly	9	2	7+0	2	0+0	0	1+1	0	0+0	0
5	DF	ENG	Harrison Burke	7	1	1+3	1	0+0	0	2+0	0	1+0	0
6	MF	AUT	Sven Sprangler	9	0	7+1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
7	FW	ENG	Tai Sodje	9	0	3+4	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+1	0
8	MF	WAL	Charlie Crew	10	0	4+3	0	0+0	0	1+1	0	1+0	0
9	FW	SCO	Andrew Dallas	11	1	4+4	1	0+0	0	1+1	0	1+0	0
10	MF	ENG	Lewis Simper	11	1	4+4	0	0+0	0	0+2	0	1+0	1
11	FW	ENG	Reece Smith	10	2	6+2	2	0+0	0	2+0	0	0+0	0
14	MF	ENG	Anthony Evans	3	0	3+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
15	MF	ENG	Isaac Moore	11	1	5+3	1	0+0	0	2+0	0	0+1	0
17	DF	JAM	Courtney Clarke	8	0	4+2	0	0+0	0	1+1	0	0+0	0
19	FW	SCO	Aaron Pressley	9	5	7+0	4	0+0	0	1+1	1	0+0	0
20	DF	ENG	Roman Dixon	2	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
22	DF	ENG	Elicha Ahui	9	0	7+1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
25	DF	ENG	Declan Skura	9	0	7+0	0	0+0	0	1+1	0	0+0	0
26	DF	WAL	Ryan Leak	4	0	1+1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
29	DF	IRL	James Furlong	2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
30	DF	ENG	Stan Straw	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
31	GK	ENG	Tom Wooster	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
33	MF	ENG	Will Etheridge	2	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
37	FW	GHA	Albert Adomah	7	0	0+5	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
45	DF	ENG	Ellis Harris	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
48	MF	ENG	Archie Bunn	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
57	FW	ENG	Ryan Sjordesma	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0

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Disciplinary record

As of match played 26 September 2026

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by squad number when disciplinary points / points per card / number of cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.

More information Rank, No. ...

Rank	No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	League Two			FA Cup			EFL Cup			EFL Trophy			Total
Rank	No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name
1	6	CM		Sven Sprangler	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
	15	CM		Isaac Moore	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
	22	RB		Elicha Ahui	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
4	4	CB		James Connolly	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
5	7	CF		Tai Sodje	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
5	8	CDM		Charlie Crew	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
7	2	CB		Rico Browne	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	10	CM		Lewis Simper	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	25	CB		Declan Skura	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total					16	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	22	0	0

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Awards

EFL awards

EFL League Two Player of the Month

More information Month, Player ...

Month	Player	Result	Ref.
September	Jed Ward	Nominated	^[50]

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EFL League Two Manager of the Month

More information Month, Manager ...

Month	Manager	Result	Ref.
August	Lee Grant	Nominated	^[51]

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2026–27 Walsall F.C. season

Managerial changes

Transfers and contracts

In

Loaned in

Loaned out

Out

Released / Out of Contract

New Contract

Pre-season and friendlies

Competitions

League Two

League table

Results summary

Results by round

Matches

FA Cup

EFL Cup

EFL Trophy

Group stage

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Disciplinary record

Awards

EFL awards

EFL League Two Player of the Month

EFL League Two Manager of the Month

References

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks