Walsall FC is an English football club from the large industrial town of Walsall in the West Midlands. It was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club were one of the founder members of the Second Division in 1892, but have spent their entire existence outside of English football's top division; their highest league finish was sixth in Division Two in 1898–99.  The club were first admitted to the Football League in 1892, as founder members of the new Second Division, but in 1894–95 finished 14th out of 16 teams and failed to be re-elected to the Football League. They changed their name to Walsall F.C. and joined the Midland League. Struggling financially, the club moved down to the Birmingham League in 1903 and having reduced their outgoings, managed to survive with an undistinguished twenty-year career at this level. Despite a modest fifth place finish in the Birmingham & District League, they were invited to join the new Third Division North in 1921.  Because of their central location, Walsall competed in both the Northern and Southern sections of the Third Division during the period between the wars. In 1933, while playing in Division Three (North), the club gained their greatest ever FA Cup win, beating Arsenal, then Division One champions by 2-0. Performances in the League did not improve, however, and the club had to apply for re-election in both 1938 and 1939. After the Second World War Walsall made a promising start, finishing fifth and third in 1947 and 1948 respectively in Division Three (South). They finished in the re-election zone for the next four seasons. Lucky to survive, the club’s fortunes took an upward turn at the end of the decade. Successive promotions in 1960 and 1961 took them all the way to the Second Division. In 1963 Walsall were relegated back into the Third Division where they stayed for the next 25 years, apart from one season spent in Division Four (1979-80). In 1988 Walsall were promoted to the Second Division via the play-offs but suffered successive relegations that took them to Division Four in 1990. Five years later the club was promoted again. In 1999, Walsall were in Division One (the old Division Two) but were relegated the following season. In 2001 the club returned to Division One after beating Reading 3-2 in the play-off final but were relegated in 2004 and again in 2006 to return to the lowest division, now known as League Two.  The following season they finished as champions and returned to League One. Their 11 year stay in League One ended with relegation in 2019.   Walsall moved into their Bescot Stadium in 1990, having previously played at nearby Fellows Park.