Bescot Stadium - Walsall

Walsall - The Bescot Stadium

Walsall Football Club
Bescot Stadium
Bescot Crescent
Walsall
West Midlands
WS1 4SA



Walsall Facebook Page
Walsall Twitter Page
Walsall Official Website 

HISTORY/FACTS ABOUT THE SADDLERS:

• Walsall Football Club were formed in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts when Walsall Town FC and Walsall Swifts FC amalgamated. Walsall Town were formed in 1879 with Walsall Swifts forming 2 years later.
• Walsall Town Swifts 1st ever match as a club was against local rivals Aston Villa which ended in a draw.
• Walsall's first ground was called The Chuckery. The multi-purpose Sports Ground was located near to the Walsall Arboretum.
• Walsall have reached to the 5th round of the FA Cup 6 times. 1938-39, 1974-75, 1977-78, 1986-87, 2001-02 and 2002-03. One of their most memorable Cup runs was in 1975, beating Manchester United and Newcastle United to get to the 5th round.
• The player to have made the most appearances at the club is former goalkeeper Jimmy Walker. Walker made 534 appearances for the club.
• Walsall top League Goalscorer is Tony Richards, scoring 185 goals for the club between 1954-1963.
• The most received transfer fee they have received is from Coventry City, they bought Scott Dann from The Saddlers in 2008 for £1m.
• Walsall have 3 previous grounds they played at. The 1st one being at The Chuckery from 1888-1893,  West Bromwich Road from 1893-1896 and finally Fellows Park from 1896 to 1990. They left Fellows Park in 1990 to The Bescot Stadium, which now where the site Fellows Park was, it's now a supermarket, Morrisons.
• Walsall's first ever appearance at Wembley was in 2015, the Football League Trophy final where they faced Bristol City in front of a crowd of 72,315. Walsall lost to Bristol City 2-0, with Aden Flint and Mark Little getting the goals for Bristol City.
• Walsall's rivals are West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City. Walsall's main traditional rivals over the years when the teams have clashed many times over the years are Shrewsbury Town and Port Vale.
• Notable residents in Walsall known, are former referee Terry Holbrook, Coronation Street star Sue Nicholls, actor Frank Windsor, Central ITV news anchorman Bob Warman, actor Don Gilet and others.

MY VISITS:

VISIT 1: Walsall 1-1 Gillingham 21/4/14

VISIT 2: Walsall 1-1 Gillingham 1/2/15

VISIT 3: Walsall 3-2 Gillingham 31/10/15
VISIT 4: Walsall 1-2 Gillingham 19/11/16
VISIT 5: Walsall 0-1 Gillingham 18/11/17
VISIT 6: Walsall 2-1 Gillingham 18/8/18

My 1st time to The Bescot Stadium came in April 2014. For my first 2 visits, both times it had been 1-1 draws, before a 3-2 defeat after going 2-0 up at Walsall ended up being a last minute defeat. I finally saw my 1st win at Walsall in 2016, a 2-1 win late on a free kick from Jay Emmanuel-Thomas free-kick hitting the backside of Max Ehmer as it went into the net. My latest visit to The Bescot came in November 2017, seeing Gillingham win there for the 2nd time in my visits, and 2nd win in a row, a hard fought 1-0 win saw us just about hold on for 3 points, 3 away wins in a row. A great day it was as well.





THE GROUND:

The Bescot Stadium has been home of Walsall Football Club since 1990. Walsall previously played at Fellows Park and played there from 1896-1990. The Bescot Stadium holds 11,300. Away supporters are housed in the University of Wolverhampton Stand which can hold up to 2,000 supporters, which is located behind the goal. Walsall is really to easy to get to, as The Bescot Stadium has it's own train station which is located on the Birmingham New Street-Walsall line.