PU PREVIEW 43: WALSALL

Walsall FC was formed in 1888 as an amalgamation of Walsall Town FC and Walsall Swifts FC. The club, then named Walsall Town Swifts, was a founder member of the Football League Second Division in 1892, but has never played in the top flight. Walsall played their first games at the Chuckery, moving to West Bromwich Road in 1893 and Hilary Street in 1895. The ground was later renamed as Fellows Park. Walsall failed to gain re-election in 1895 and the club changed its name to Walsall FC a year later. In 1897, the club returned to the Football League. The club again dropped out of the League in 1901, returning in 1921 as founder members of Third Division North. In 1933, the club won 2-0 against First Division champions Arsenal in the FA Cup, still considered one of the greatest shocks in the competition's history. Following reorganisation of the Football League, Walsall became founder members of the Fourth Division in 1958. The club won successive promotions in 1960 and 1961 and achieved their highest League finish of fourteenth in Division Two in 1962. Walsall reached the League Cup semi-finals in 1983-84, losing 4-2 on aggregate to Liverpool, including a 2-2 draw at Anfield. The club narrowly avoided folding in the late 1980s and moved to their present ground, the Bescot Stadium, in 1990. Former Pompey captain Paul Merson became the club's manager in May 2004, having first served in the role on a temporary basis. Merson was sacked in February 2006. Walsall won the League Two title in 2007 and played for the first time at Wembley in the 2015 Football League Trophy final, where they lost to Bristol City.

Walsall are nicknamed The Saddlers and are managed by Darrell Clarke (appointed May 2019). The club finished the 2018-19 League One season in 22nd place and was relegated to League Two.

Pompey and Walsall have met on twenty-nine occasions. The first meeting came in August 1962 in Division Two when Pompey won 4-1 at Fratton Park. Of the twenty-eight League meetings, Pompey have won twelve and Walsall seven with nine finishing as draws. Pompey won the only Cup meeting between the sides, a League Cup match in September 1970. The most recent meeting was in March 2019 at Bescot Stadium when Pompey won 3-2.

(Information via Wikipedia and www.11v11.com)