We continue our series looking at the seven new teams joining League One in 2018/19.
Next up is Wycombe…
Overview:
Promoted last term, the Chairboys are back in League One after a six-year absence.
The Buckinghamshire club narrowly missed out on promotion in 2015 after losing the play-off final on penalties – a year after surviving relegation from the EFL on goal difference.
Last Season:
Wycombe clinched automatic promotion back to League One after finishing third in League Two, four points clear of fourth-placed Exeter.
Gareth Ainsworth’s men sealed their third-tier return with a 2-1 victory at bottom club Chesterfield in their penultimate match.
The Chairboys won 24 of their 46 matches, amassing 84 points, and finished as the division’s second-highest scorers with 79.
Bustling centre forward Adebayo Akinfenwa top-scored with 17 goals and was named in the PFA League Two Team of the Year.
Manager:
Former Walsall loanee Gareth Ainsworth is the second longest-serving manager in English football’s top four tiers, having held his current post since September 2012.
The ex-Preston, Lincoln and QPR midfielder won League Two promotion with the Chairboys as a player in 2011, and then as a manager last season.
Five-year Record:
2017/18 League Two – 3rd (Promoted)
2016/17 League Two – 9th
2015/16 League Two – 13th
2014/15 League Two – 4th
2013/14 League Two – 22nd
Stadium:
Adams Park has been Wycombe’s home ground since 1990 and holds a capacity of 10,137.
The ground is dominated by the two-tiered Frank Adams Stand on one side, while the other three stands are small single-tiered affairs, with a terrace behind one goal.
Distance from Banks’s Stadium: 104 miles – 1 hour 42 mins
Head-to-Head:
The Saddlers are unbeaten in eight matches against Wycombe – and boast the better overall head-to-head record with nine wins to the Chairboys’ six.
Second-half goals from Kevan Hurst and George Bowerman earned Walsall a 2-0 victory over Wanderers when the teams last met in February 2012.
A Foot in Both Camps:
Barnsley right-back Jason McCarthy won Player of the Season at both Walsall and Wycombe.
The former Southampton defender was an ever-present for the Saddlers in 2016/17, scoring five goals in 52 appearances, while he netted twice in 39 outings for the Chairboys.
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