The first combined Walsall side contained five former Town players - Jones, Lee, Shaw, Cope and Wykes; and six former Swifts - Tracey, Reynolds, Morley, Morris, Tapper and Arrowsmith.

Sadly, the replay was fixed for Small Heath or Perry Barr again and, after arguing with some justification that it should be staged on their own Chuckery Ground, Walsall Town Swifts withdrew from the competition and the trophy went to Aston Villa.

Though they did not gain a place among the 12 founder members of The Football League in 1888, Walsall Town Swifts beat Burnley - one of the selected 12 - in the first home game of that season. A striker by the name of Sammy Holmes achieved the distinction of scoring the first-ever goal for the Town Swifts.

Defender, Albert Aldridge was twice capped for England during that first season, in which another notable event came in the shape of an FA Cup tie against Wolves at the latter's Dudley Road ground. Despite an early goal the Town Swifts crashed to a 6-1 defeat.

For the next few seasons the club competed with varying degrees of success in the Football Alliance of that time, but they were natural choices for one of the places in the new Football League second division when it was formed in 1892. The other sides were Small Heath (now Birmingham City), Sheffield United, Darwen, Grimsby Town, Ardwick (now Manchester City), Burton Swifts, Northwich Victoria, Bootle, Lincoln, Crewe and Burslem Port Vale.

The first Football League game at The Chuckery Ground was against Darwen, the Town Swifts line-up being: Hawkins, Withington, Pinches, Forsyth, Whittick, Robinson, Marshall, Holmes, Turner, Pangbourn, Gray. Our first Football League goal was netted by Gray, but we still went down by two goals to one.

After three rather mediocre seasons we failed to gain re-election in 1895, but a year later we were back with a vengeance, beating Wolves in the Final of the Birmingham Senior Cup and Aston Villa in the Final of the Birmingham Charity Cup, just a few days after Villa had completed a Football League and FA Cup-winning double. What's more, the goals that Copeland and J.Aston scored in our 2-1 win were the first scored by visiting players there.

Even so the finances of the club were shaky at that time and it is interesting to note that for the following season Vice Presidents' tickets at a guinea each were made available.

Our best season in those early second division days was 1898/99 when we managed to secure a sixth place berth. Four more points would have taken us into Division One, but just two years later we failed to secure re-election and had to face some 20 seasons out of The Football League. This seemed particularly hard as we had finished above both Stockport and Burton, but our re-election case was not helped by the fact that there had been financial problems and the FA had taken a close look at one or two of the transactions carried out.

Symptomatic of the financial problems had been the swapping about between grounds. The club had started life at The Chuckery Ground, but in 1893 moved to a new ground in West Bromwich Road. Three years later the Hillary Street ground (later to be known as Fellows Park) was opened, but problems over tenure led to a return to West Bromwich Road in 1900.

The team were playing at West Bromwich Road when, in 1901, they moved into the Midland League and though they could finish no higher than fifth, they did gain a notable win over first division Burnley in the first round of the FA Cup.

Financially things were still at a low ebb and, in the hope of improving gates through more local interest, the move was made to the Birmingham League in 1903, the year in which we also moved back to Hillary Street. Expenses were now lower and matches against the reserve teams of Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Small Heath and Wolves provided a certain amount of interest.

Though Walsall never managed to top the table they did win the Keys Cup in 1914/15 as the best placed of the non-reserve sides. We also earned a little more FA Cup glory in 1911/12 with wins over Stoke and Accrington Stanley.

Football in Walsall was suspended from 1915 until 1919 because of World War I, but within two years of its resumption, Walsall - who had decided to drop the Town Swifts label some years earlier - became founder members of the new third division (north).

We ran into form too, and in our second season ended up in third spot, just four points short of promotion. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that we did not go up as Nelson, who pipped us, stayed up only one season and then went out of existence altogether.

In the course of the next six seasons in Division Three (North) one re-election application was survived and then came four seasons in Division Three (South), in the course of which Walsall played before a crowd of 74,600 in an FA Cup fourth round tie at Villa Park. The game was transferred there from Fellows Park in order to accommodate all the spectators but even so many thousands were locked out when the gates were closed. It remains as the biggest-ever crowd that a Walsall team have played in front of, and despite going down by three goals to one Walsall won many friends by giving a brave display and goalkeeper, Fred Biddlestone impressed the home side so much that they signed him shortly afterwards.

1931 saw Walsall back in Division Three (North) and, despite an undistinguished League record, the greatest win in the club's history was achieved on January 14^th 1933 when first division champions Arsenal were beaten 2-0. What a great day it was for chairman H. L. Fellows, who had kept the club afloat financially and after whom the Hillary Street ground had by this time been renamed. Happily some of the 11,150 who saw Gilbert Alsop and Bill Sheppard get the vital goals in the second half are still alive and still take great pleasure in reflecting back on the game.

The last few seasons before World War II were generally a struggle, with the last two ending in re-election applications as the club battled it out at the wrong end of the third division (south).

Yet as so often has been the case, the club's fortunes were brightened by an FA Cup run. Carlisle, Clapton Orient, Newport and Notts County all bit the dust as Walsall reached the fifth round for the first time in 1938/39 before finally bowing out 3-1 at Huddersfield.

With the outbreak of war, The Football League programme was abandoned just three games into 1939/40, but the flag was kept flying at Fellows Park as Walsall competed in the various regional competitions on more or less equal terms with their first and second division Midland neighbours.

Amongst the guests who wore the claret and blue of The Saddlers at that time were such illustrious names as Irish International Peter Doherty and prolific Manchester United striker Jack Rowley. In fact, Rowley scored four times in a game on no fewer than four occasions in 1940/41. The scorelines for that first season were quite remarkable, with wins by an 11-4 margin against Notts County and 10-3 against West Bromwich Albion.

Then, early in 1943/44, we pulled off one of the outstanding recoveries in our history. Four goals down at half-time, we rallied to draw 4-4 with Aston Villa on their home ground. 13,000 were present at this game, but our biggest War-time gate was reserved for the Final of the Division Three (South) Cup at the end of 1945/46 when over 20,000 saw us go down 1-0 to Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge. This was a game we could well have won, but at least our progress in the competition showed that we had a team capable of holding its own when normal football resumed in August 1946.

With Harry Hibbs as manager we enjoyed two good seasons, finishing in fifth place in 1946/47 and third in 1947/48. Our line-up at that time was arguably as strong as at any period in our history. Dave Massart kicked off the 1947/48 season with a hat-trick in each of the first three home games; Ron Crutchley, Reg Foules and 'Nutty' Newman formed an outstanding middle line and in goal the diminutive Jackie Lewis performed wonders.

For much of that season promotion looked a distinct possibility, but the transfer of Doug Lishman to Arsenal during the following summer and the recall of Denis Wilshaw back to Wolves early in 1948/49 ended any immediate hopes of going up.

By 1951/52 the club was embarking on the first of four successive re-election campaigns. Players came and went, particularly during Major Buckley's spell in charge, and no fewer than 42 were used in 1953/54. Happily the team was well supported during these traumatic seasons, and the crowd figures were a major factor in sufficient re-election votes being cast in The Saddlers' direction.

Eventually the tide turned. Major Buckley's acquisition of Albert McPherson from Stalybridge Celtic and Tony Richards' letter requesting a trial proved to be the first pieces of what was to prove to be a promotion jigsaw. Before that, however, Walsall had become founder-members of Division Four after being in the bottom half of Division Three (South) in 1957/58.

Soon the goals were flowing freely and, after a near miss for promotion in 1958/59, Walsall topped Division Four a season later and netted 102 goals in the process.

Back in the third division we bagged another 98 goals the following season and duly went up again. In the two promotion campaigns Tony Richards and Colin Taylor totalled 113 goals between them. There was also major contributions from Roy Faulkner, Ken Hodgkisson and Colin Askey, who got the winner on that memorable night at Shrewsbury in April 1961 in front of what still stands at Gay Meadow's record crowd.

For a time Walsall matched the best in Division Two, but things went wrong after the long lay-off during the severe winter of 1963. Six successive games were lost as the weather improved, and despite a brave rally in the final few games, Walsall still needed a point from their last game against Charlton in order to stay up. In the event, a serious injury to goalkeeper Alan Boswell was a major factor in a 2-1 defeat that sent us back into the third division.

At one stage in 1963/64 there was serious danger of The Saddlers plummeting to Division Four, but the danger was averted and when Bill Harrison took over in the following autumn brighter times loomed again.

Allan Clarke developed into one of the country's top strikers, and for two seasons his dual spearhead with George Kirby gave the fans plenty to cheer about.

In January 1966 there was an incredible 2-0 win at first division Stoke with only ten men after Jimmy McMorran had been badly injured and substitutes were not allowed until the following season. Even after Clarke had moved on to Fulham and Kirby had been released, Walsall still looked odds on for promotion midway through 1967/68. Sadly though a five-point lead was lost and the death of Bill Harrison in the following summer heralded the end of an era.

The early 1970s saw desperate struggles for financial survival before Ken Wheldon's rescue act late in 1972. By this time long-serving secretary Ernie Wilson had died and the new set-up of Wheldon (chairman) and John Westmancoat (secretary) made few friends but did put the club on a more even financial keel.

There was some success on the field too, with FA Cup wins over Manchester United and Newcastle United in 1975 and Leicester City in 1978 to take the club to round five on both occasions.

Alan Buckley proved to be one of the club's most prolific marksman ever, but was never quite the same player after spending most of 1978/79 with Birmingham City. After his return he had a number of labels - player-manager, joint manager, player, manager in that order - but could never quite put together a promotion-winning team.

Rumblings about ground-sharing upset the equilibrium of the early 1980s, but a promotion bid in 1983/84, allied to a remarkable run to the semi-final of the Milk Cup in which the mighty Liverpool were held to a draw at Anfield, raised everybody's spirits for a time. The fade-out in the last two months of the season left everyone disappointed and deflated and morale was at its lowest in the summer of 1986 when, after another promotion bandwagon had come off the rails, the ground-sharing scheme with Birmingham City, that had been denied at the Shareholder's meeting a few weeks earlier, was announced.

Happily the efforts of the ad hoc Action Group, spearheaded by Barrie Blower, won the day and the Terry Ramsden era got underway as the flamboyant London-based businessman literally dropped from the sky into Fellows Park with many grand plans and ideas. One of his first actions was to sack manager Alan Buckley and coach Garry Pendry.

New boss Tommy Coakley, unknown to many people, and his coach Gerry Sweeney, kept their heads and gradually lifted the team from their lowly berth to the very fringes of the play-off zone in 1986/87. Disappointment in not making the play-offs was tempered by a fine FA Cup run in which Chesterfield, Port Vale, first division Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City were beaten before three memorable games with Watford, including that never-to-be-forgotten 4-4 draw at Vicarage Road, eventually saw The Saddlers narrowly edged out at the fifth round stage.

Hopes were high for the following season, but it began badly both on and off the field with horrific price rises coupled with an opening day home defeat at the hands of Fulham upsetting supporters a great deal. However, only two of the next 24 matches were lost, thrusting The Saddlers into the promotion frame. There was a slight wobble in mid-season as the goals dried up somewhat, but with David Kelly developing well as a prolific marksman, a place in the play-offs was achieved and after overcoming the challenge of both Notts County and Bristol City, Walsall were back in the second division after a gap of 25 years.

Being only the second manager in the club's history to gain promotion, Tommy Coakley's job was made even more difficult at the start of 1988/89 by the August sale of David Kelly for a club record £600,000 to West Ham United.

A sound start suddenly went wrong as the confidence drained from the team, culminating in a run of 15 consecutive League defeats. Coakley lasted until just after Christmas when he was sacked, with John Barnwell appointed as his successor, whilst Ramsden's early enthusiasm had completely waned by this stage.

Barnwell couldn't prevent relegation back in the third division, but amongst the gloom saw work start on a new £3 million stadium in the early part of 1989. Another dreadful season was experienced in 1989/90, with the club once more rooted to the foot of the table and Barnwell receiving his marching orders in March 1990 as a place in Division Four greeted the opening of Bescot Stadium at the start of the 1990/91 campaign.

Under Kenny Hibbitt The Saddlers finished 16^th in their first season back in Division Four before mustering a 15^th place berth the following year after threatening to challenge for a play-off place at one point.

It was during this 1991/92 season that Barrie Blower resigned from his position as chairman and was replaced by Jeff Bonser. With between £7,000 and £8,000 being lost per week the club realised that they simply could not afford to rely on football alone for income and so explored other commercial activities such as Sporting Dinners, a Sunday Market and a pop concert featuring The Wonderstuff.

After coming perilously close to death, things on and off the field began to move in the right direction in 1992/93 with a fifth-place finish seeing a play-off place secured only for Crewe Alexandra to inflict a 9-3 aggregate defeat to deny the club a place at Wembley in the Final.

A mixed 1993/94 campaign saw a tenth place finish, missing the play-offs by four points and struggling in front of goal with only 48 goals scored in 46 League games. Attendances continued to steadily rise despite the mediocrity and with the arrival of the likes of Kevin Wilson, the 1994/95 season was approached with much excitement and anticipation.

A stuttering start signalled the end of Kenny Hibbitt's tenure in September 1994 and he was replaced by Chris Nicholl who brought with him a new lease of life for the players.  Brave Cup displays against West Ham United - who were beaten 2-1 in the first leg of a League Cup second round tie - and Leeds United - who were held to a 1-1 draw at Bescot in the FA Cup - didn't upset our flow in the League and we held our nerve to claim promotion, finishing in second place after getting the point that we needed on a warm Thursday evening in Bury.

There was much anticipation surrounding the 1995/96 campaign, and after taking a while to settle, a play-off spot looked well within reach until a down-turn in the weather coincided with a down-turn in results and at one point the club hovered dangerously just above the relegation trap-door. There was no need to worry, though, and in the end an 11^th place finish was achieved.

The loss of influential players and lack of incoming transfer activity meant that 1996/97 started poorly with just one win in our first eight games. Happily things picked up and once more a place in the play-offs was a possibility. Again a poor run of results ended any promotion hopes and the club had to settle for another season safely tucked in the middle of the table.

Chris Nicholl decided that he had taken the club as far as he could and handed over the reins to Jan Sorensen who became the first foreign manager of the club. A former Ajax player and Denmark International, Sorensen had an extremely cavalier attitude to the game and although League form was not good he led the club on an exciting Cup adventure which saw Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United beaten in the League Cup and a fantastic 7-0 FA Cup win at Macclesfield Town on the way to a memorable day out at Old Trafford for an intriguing fourth round tie with Manchester United, which was eventually lost 5-1 in front of a 54,669 crowd. On top of that the club came within a whisker of getting to the Wembley Final of the Auto Windscreens Shield, losing 4-3 on aggregate to Bournemouth at the Area Final stage.

League form left a lot to be desired and we could only muster a 19^th place berth, for which Sorensen paid the penalty with the sack shortly after the end of the season.

His replacement was Ray Graydon, an experienced coach who was given his first opportunity as a manager and he wasted no time in sorting out the playing staff, bringing in a number of new faces and injecting a strict code of conduct throughout the club.

This bore fruit immediately with promotion as runners-up in his first season at the helm after starting the season as one of the favourites to face the drop. The likes of big-spending Manchester City and Preston North End couldn't overhaul The Saddlers who went up with an outstanding team spirit as the likes of Andy Rammell and Darren Wrack really came to the fore in a team of heroes.

The start of the new Millennium saw Walsall as members of the first division competing against the likes of local rivals Wolves, West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City as well as Nottingham Forest and Blackburn Rovers.

After victories against Wolves, West Bromwich Albion (twice) and Birmingham City, the team quite rightly earned the Pride of the Midlands tag, however it was not enough to keep us in the division as a brave battle right up to the very last day of the season saw us narrowly fall back into Division Two.

Unlike previous relegation seasons there was much positivety surrounding this one and this attitude continued into 2000/2001 when the club made an explosive start out of the blocks and proceeded to stay within the top four throughout the campaign after leading the way for much of the opening three months. In the play-offs Stoke City were overcome over two legs to set up one of the biggest days in the club's history at the Millennium Stadium as around 17,000 supporters roared the club on to promotion at the expense of Reading following an exciting 3-2 triumph, to present us with another crack at establishing ourselves as a first division club.

Once more our eyes were opened to the harsh realities of first division life early on in the 2001/2002 campaign as, despite beating West Bromwich Albion on the opening day, we made a generally spluttering start. In fact, we remained in the bottom four or five places throughout much of the season, and it was a struggle that saw the club take drastic action at the turn of the year when the much-loved Ray Graydon was relieved of his duties and within days Colin Lee was charged with the task of steering us away from the drop.

Lee was given 16 games to save our skin, and his arrival not only saw an upturn in League results, but we also made it to the fifth round of the FA Cup where we narrowly lost out by two goals to one against Fulham.

Division One survival was always our main objective, though and as the season came to a close, a run of just one defeat from ten games was enough to see our place in The Football League's top flight secured with one game still to play.

This achievement, coupled with League and Cup success for the reserves, Under-19s and Under-17s, meant that the club ended the 2001/2002 campaign with plenty of reason to look forward to the future with great optimism.

Hopes were high going into the 2002/2003 campaign as the club had arguably the strongest-ever group of players at its disposal. Work had also commenced to turn the Gilbert Alsop Stand into a two-tier cantilever construction that would dwarf the other stands, whilst development work was underway to improve the very fabric of the club with a new media room, gymnasium and laundry room.

On the pitch things went steadily rather than spectacularly and although the club ended the month of September in 15th place it was the highest position we would reach as the rest of the season saw us battle just above the relegation zone. However, with players such as Junior and Jorge Leitao scoring regularly and Player of the Season Ian Roper solid at the back, we rarely looked in serious danger of going down.

A strong finish saw us secure our status with two games still to play as we ended up in 17th place and also reflected upon another year in which we made it to the fifth round stage of the FA Cup.

The summer of 2003 brought about the most significant signing in the history of the club when former England International Paul Merson put pen to paper on a deal that really captured the imagination of The Saddlers' faithful.

It thrust Walsall into the national spotlight and made our intentions perfectly clear as we prepared for a record-breaking third consecutive season at first division level.

With the likes of Vinny Samways and Simon Osborn also snapped up, the season couldn't have got off to a better start on a bright and sunny afternoon as local rivals West Bromwich Albion, fresh from a season in the top flight, came to town and were comprehensively beaten by four goals to one.

The victory only acted to raise expectations levels still further, but we failed to reach those high standards often enough despite the fact that going into 2004 we sat in 13th place in the table, within easy reach of the Play-Off zone.

To say that the second half of the season was a disappointment would be a gross understatement. It took us until March 13th to pick up our first victory of the New Year (as we scrambled a single-goal victory over bottom-of-the-table Wimbledon), whilst a host of off-the-field problems added to the tale of woe.

It all culminated with the departure of manager Colin Lee as we crashed towards the relegation zone at great speed. He was replaced for the final four games of the season by Paul Merson, who despite not being able to save the club from relegation albeit as we went down on goal difference, did enough to earn the job on a permanent basis.

Hopes were high at the start of the 2004/2005 campaign as we prepared for life in League One. A number of promising youngsters from the youth team had been given professional deals, allied to the experience of the likes of former Republic of Ireland International, Mark Kinsella who was snapped up on a free transfer from West Bromwich Albion.

There were goals galore at both ends of the field in the opening fixtures but as the season progressed, and various members of backroom staff came and went, The Saddlers' eyes were well and truly opened to the harsh realities of life at this lower level as we struggled in the bottom half of the table for virtually all of the season.

Some inspired loan signings just prior to the transfer deadline in March 2005 gave Merson's men an impressive end to the season that saw us unbeaten in the final six games and reach a finishing position of 14th - not a bad achievement considering that relegation was still a possibility going into the final month of the campaign.

With some impressive signings and numerous youngsters emerging from the youth ranks, 2005/2006 was approached with real relish and determination. Things started well and after three games we found ourselves top of the table, however we started to slip further and further down the table as the season progressed and the slump culminated with the departure of manager, Paul Merson following a heavy 5-0 defeat at Brentford in February 2005.

Having used no fewer than 46 different players in all competitions and with discontent amongst the supporters, The Saddlers found themselves involved in a real relegation battle at the time of Merson's departure. Head of Youth, Mick Halsall stepped in for three games as caretaker-manager before Kevan Broadhurst took over the reins on February 22nd 2006 with the task of securing League One status.

After a positive start to Broadhurst's reign with some impressive performances away from home, The Saddlers soon fell back into old ways and upon relegation being confirmed with defeat against Huddersfield Town in the penultimate home game of the season, Broadhurst's tenure was ended.

Mark Kinsella took over on a caretaker basis for the final two games of the season as we completed a truly miserable campaign by finishing bottom of the table. Richard Money was given the task of reviving our fortunes in 2006/07 as he ended a three-year spell working abroad to return to these shores.

He quickly stamped his authority on things during the summer of 2006 and brought in numerous new players as we looked to make an immediate return to League One.

That dream was realised with three games still to play when The Saddlers clinched automatic promotion with a 2-1 victory at Notts County.

With Dean Keates weighing in with a career-best 13 goals from midfield to leave him top scorer and goalkeeper, Clayton Ince contributing a record-breaking 22 clean sheets in all competitions, we were crowned League Two Champions following a 1-1 draw at Swindon Town on the final day of the season.

It was a deserved achievement for a team that had lost just seven times in 46 League games and had been in the top two since September.

There were numerous key changes during the summer of 2007, including our first-ever stadium sponsorship deal as Bescot Stadium became known as the Banks's Stadium. The club badge also changed and we reverted to the white shirts and red shorts combination that served us for much of the 1970s as well as spells in the 60s and 80s.