2016–17 Walsall F.C. season
# 2016–17 Walsall F.C. season

The 2016–17 season was Walsall's 129th season in their existence and their tenth consecutive season in League One. Along with competing in League One, the club participated in the FA Cup, League Cup and EFL Trophy.

The season covers the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.

## Transfers

### In

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 July 2016 | CM | Milan Butterfield | Robin Hood | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2016 | CM | Florent Cuvelier | Sheffield United | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2016 | DM | Joe Edwards | Colchester United | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2016 | AM | Erhun Oztumer | Peterborough United | Free transfer |
| 8 July 2016 | CB | Theo Vassell | Oldham Athletic | Free transfer |
| 11 July 2016 | AM | Franck Moussa | Southend United | Free transfer |
| 18 July 2016 | CF | Simeon Jackson | Blackburn Rovers | Free transfer |
| 1 August 2016 | RW | Andreas Makris | Anorthosis Famagusta | £250,000 |

### Out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 July 2016 | RB | Jason Demetriou | Southend United | Rejected contract |
| 1 July 2016 | CB | Paul Downing | Milton Keynes Dons | Rejected contract |
| 1 July 2016 | LW | Anthony Forde | Rotherham United | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2016 | LW | Milan Lalkovič | Portsmouth | Rejected contract |
| 1 July 2016 | CM | Sam Mantom | Scunthorpe United | Rejected contract |
| 1 July 2016 | LW | Jordan Murphy | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | AM | Levi Rowley | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | AM | Romaine Sawyers | Brentford | Rejected contract |
| 1 July 2016 | LB | Andy Taylor | Blackpool | Rejected contract |
| 5 July 2016 | SS | Jordan Cook | Luton Town | Rejected contract |
| 14 July 2016 | CF | Tom Bradshaw | Barnsley | Undisclosed |
| 31 August 2016 | LB | Rico Henry | Brentford | £1,500,000 |

* ↑ Following Demetriou turning down a new contract, he signed for Southend United.
* ↑ Following Downing turning down a new contract, he signed for Milton Keynes Dons.
* ↑ Following Lalkovič turning down a new contract, he signed for Portsmouth.
* ↑ Following Sawyers turning down a new contract, he signed for Brentford.

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Date until |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 July 2016 | CB | George Dobson | West Ham United | End of season |
| 1 July 2016 | CB | Jason McCarthy | Southampton | End of season |
| 28 July 2016 | LW | Josh Ginnelly | Burnley | 3 January 2017 |
| 26 August 2016 | CB | Kevin Toner | Aston Villa | 3 January 2017 |
| 31 August 2016 | LB | Scott Laird | Scunthorpe United | 3 January 2017 |
| 12 January 2017 | LB | Scott Laird | Scunthorpe United | End of season |
| 12 January 2017 | CB | Eoghan O'Connell | Celtic | End of season |
| 31 January 2017 | LW | Will Randall | Wolverhampton Wanderers | End of season |

* ↑ On 1 January 2017, Jason McCarthy's loan from Southampton was extended until the end of the season.

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Date until |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 4 July 2016 | GK | Liam Roberts | Chester | End of season |
| 11 July 2016 | RB | Theo Vassell | Chester | 1 January |
| 17 January 2017 | RB | Theo Vassell | Chester | End of season |

## Competitions

### Pre-season friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

### League One

**League table**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 12 | Milton Keynes Dons | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 60 | 58 | +2 | 61 |
| 13 | Charlton Athletic | 46 | 14 | 18 | 14 | 60 | 53 | +7 | 60 |
| 14 | Walsall | 46 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 51 | 58 | −7 | 58 |
| 15 | AFC Wimbledon | 46 | 13 | 18 | 15 | 52 | 55 | −3 | 57 |
| 16 | Northampton Town | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 60 | 73 | −13 | 53 |

### EFL Trophy

| Pos | Div | Teamvte | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | L1 | Walsall | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 9 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | ACA | Leicester City U21 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | L1 | Sheffield United | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | L2 | Grimsby Town | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 0 | |

## 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; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Trophy | EFL Trophy | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| 1 | GK | PHI | Neil Etheridge | 41 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2 | MF | ENG | Joe Edwards | 43 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 47 (1) | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| 3 † | DF | ENG | Rico Henry | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Scott Laird * | 26 (2) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 29 (2) | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ENG | James O'Connor | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Jason McCarthy * | 46 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 52 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | ENG | George Dobson * | 9 (12) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 14 (12) | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Adam Chambers | 43 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 45 (1) | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | BEL | Florent Cuvelier | 15 (7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 (7) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | CAN | Simeon Jackson | 24 (14) | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27 (14) | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Erhun Oztumer | 34 (7) | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 (7) | 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Kieron Morris | 28 (7) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 30 (7) | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Craig MacGillivray | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | ENG | Isaiah Osbourne | 27 (3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 (3) | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | IRL | Liam Kinsella | 5 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 (4) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Matt Preston | 25 (5) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 31 (5) | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 18 † | MF | ENG | Josh Ginnelly * | 4 (5) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 8 (6) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | ENG | Will Randall * | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | SLE | Amadou Bakayoko | 18 (21) | 4 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 4 | 6 | 22 (23) | 10 | 6 | 1 |
| 21 | MF | BER | Milan Butterfield | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | ENG | Jordan Sangha | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Kory Roberts | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | AFG | Maziar Kouhyar | 2 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 (4) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | GK | ENG | Chandler Hallwood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | IRL | Callum Cockerill-Mollett | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | ENG | Will Shorrock | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | FW | ENG | Cameron Peters | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | ENG | Sam Tonks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 † | DF | IRL | Kevin Toner * | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 32 | DF | IRL | Eoghan O'Connell * | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 33 | FW | CYP | Andreas Makris | 17 (15) | 1 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 17 (18) | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | ENG | Dan Vann | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | DF | ENG | Tobias Hayles-Docherty | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | FW | ENG | Mitchel Candlin | 1 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | GK | ENG | Brandon Ganley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | MF | BEL | Franck Moussa | 14 (8) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 17 (9) | 4 | 2 | 0 |

Players not included in matchday squads :

| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name |
| - | - | - | - |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Reece Flanagan |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Theo Vassell |
| 23 | GK | ENG | Liam Roberts |
| 26 | MF | ENG | Rory Oliver |
