Walsall chief Ben Boycott on Mat Sadler sacking and multi-club model

Co-chairman Ben Boycott says Mat Sadler’s spell as Walsall head coach should be reflected upon in a “positive” light - despite his dismissal earlier this year.

Sadler guided Walsall to the top of League Two by Christmas in each of the past two campaigns, but was unable to sustain a promotion challenge on both occasions.

Walsall infamously registered a club record nine-match winning streak to move into a 12-point lead in January 2025, only to miss out on automatic promotion altogether and lose in the play-off final.

Their lead at the summit was much less slender last term, but a dismal run of just two wins in 14 games eventually cost Sadler his job in mid March.

On Sadler’s spell at the club, Boycott reflected: “I want to speak really highly of Mat Sadler. I think he’s a fantastic person and a fantastic football coach.

“I think he’s very talented and has a very bright career. I hope that both we and he can reflect on his time at the football club as being positive.

“He did oversee the longest winning streak in the club’s history and he oversaw some really good times.

“In reflecting back on the time with Mat, I’d really like for that to be the focus.”

Darren Byfield took interim charge of the final 10 games, but was unable to prevent Walsall slipping down the table to a 13th-place finish.

Boycott admitted he felt there was no other options than to start afresh across a number of departments at the club.

“That’s one of those items in football where those difficult decisions have to be made and unfortunately the results got to a place where weren’t able to replicate the success that we had in the fall, or in the fall of the previous year,” he added.

“Ultimately we just needed a change because the results weren’t at the level that they needed to be.

“Then on the back of that, you can really tell what the reflections have been because we’ve done like a whole rebuild of the technical department.

“We’ve added the layers in recruitment and the head of football in the process, but my biggest reflection is that Mat is a really talented football manager, who oversaw some really bright times at the football club, as well as some really challenging times.”

Walsall would embark on an extensive search for the next head coach and Boycott has revealed that Lee Grant was always the No 1 choice - despite a number of other applicants.

“It was very thorough. As you can imagine, there were many applicants,” Boycott revealed.

“I will say that Lee was our first choice. We didn’t make any other offers and get turned down.

“Lee was our preferred candidate, we made the offer and he accepted it.”

He continued: “But it was a super thorough process. One thing I will say for Matt Jordan is anything that he does is extremely thorough.

“There were multiple rounds of interviews and presentations, just to see if there was philosophical alignment.

“A big part of that is that we want to hear from those managerial candidates, what their vision is of how they want to play, how they want to set the culture and what they see as the coaching structure.

“Many rounds of interviews, presentations and discussions that culminated in the decision with many qualified applicants.”

Trivela have grown significantly since first purchasing Walsall in 2022 and have since added Trivela Togo, Drogheda United and Silkeborg IF to their CV.

The multi-club ownership model has become a topic of debate across the footballing landscape, but Boycott has been pleased with the standing of each of Trivela’s clubs at this stage.

“I think it’s going well and there has been some really good collaborations, specifically between Walsall and Drogheda.

“Some of the elements that we would want to see in terms of the synergies. There are some commercial partnerships such as NoFo that has both front-of-shirt sponsorship and in-stadium activation at both clubs.

“There has been some good player movement between the two clubs that I think have added meaningful value to both - including some right now like Jago Godden from Walsall, who is on loan at Drogheda and doing well.

“In that sense, I do think there has been some really good collaboration and overall I’m really happy with where things stand with Trivela and each of the clubs.

“There’s lots of scope for more collaboration in the future.”

When asked if Trivela are considering purchasing any more clubs in the imminent future, Boycott replied: “As for the future, I really can’t forecast that because I’ve still got plenty to be getting on with right now.

“That’s the focus with no sort of immediate plans I’d say.”