2007–08 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

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Wolverhampton Wanderers
2007–08 season
Chairman Steve Morgan OBE
Manager Mick McCarthy
Football League Championship 7th
FA Cup 5th round
League Cup 2nd round
Top goalscorer League: Ebanks-Blake (12)
All: Ebanks-Blake (12)
Highest home attendance 27,883 (vs. West Bromwich Albion, 15 April 2008)
Lowest home attendance 9,625 (vs. Bradford City, 15 August 2007)
Average home league attendance 23,496
Home colours
Away colours
Third colours
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 season was the 109th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played the season in the 2nd tier of the English Football system, the Football League Championship. The season saw them finish seventh, narrowly missing out on a play-off place only by virtue of goal difference.

This season was the first under the ownership of Steve Morgan, ending the seventeen-year reign of Sir Jack Hayward.[1] Morgan had bought the club for the nominal sum of £10, with the proviso that he invested £30 million into the club.[2]

Season review

The close season saw businessman Steve Morgan take control of the club for a nominal £10 fee in return for a £30 million investment into the club, resulting in the departure of Sir Jack Hayward after 17 years as chairman. The protracted takeover, originally announced in May, was finally completed on 9 August 2007.[1] The announcement of the deal saw the club set out their future ethos:[3]

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It is intended that the new capital, over a period of time, will be used to help re-establish Wolves as a Premiership club. Although this is a significant amount of money there will not be an ’open cheque book’ approach to signing players; instead the club will build on the current strategy of steadily and progressively developing a team of young, hungry and talented players. — Club Statement

After last season's unexpected play-off finish, hopes were high for the club to go one step further this time, with manager stating automatic promotion was his aim.[4] The side was strengthened by signing Freddy Eastwood,[5] Stephen Elliott[6] and Michael Gray,[7] but last season's Player of the Year, goalkeeper Matt Murray - who had only just recovered from a broken shoulder - missed the whole campaign after suffering a knee injury in pre-season training.[8]

On the field, the team started the season inconsistently, but a strong October and November saw them push as high as third, just three points from the summit. However, an injury suffered by key player Michael Kightly[9][10] seemed to severely weaken the team's creativity and preceded a dismal Christmas period that saw them pick up just 4 points from a possible 21, leaving them mid-table and without hopes of an automatic finish.

More players were brought in during the January transfer window, most crucially striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake from Plymouth Argyle,[11] who scored 12 goals in the remainder of the season, finishing the division's top scorer on 23 goals. However, his goals alone could not bring about a second successive play-off finish as the side finished outside the final spot on goal difference, two goals short of Watford. Despite suffering just two defeats in their final 15 games, several crucial late goals that were conceded in the second half of the season ultimately proved costly. Indeed, just two more goals on the final day of the season would have booked them a playoff place.

Results

Pre season

"Wolves XI" pre season results: 0–0 v Brighton & Hove Albion (26 July; home), 7–0 v Holyhead Hotspur (28 July; away)

Football League Championship

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See also: 2007–08 Football League Championship

A total of 24 teams competed in the Championship in the 2007–08 season. Each team would play every other team twice, once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Three points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. The provisional fixture list was released on 14 June 2007, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage.[12]

Final table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 West Bromwich Albion 46 23 12 11 88 55 +33 81
2 Stoke City 46 21 16 09 69 55 +14 79
3 Hull City 46 21 12 13 65 47 +18 75
4 Bristol City 46 20 14 12 54 53 0+1 74
5 Crystal Palace 46 18 17 11 58 42 +16 71
6 Watford 46 18 16 12 62 56 0+6 70
7 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 18 16 12 53 48 0+5 70

Results summary

Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
46 18 16 12 53 48  +5 70 11 6 6 31 25  +6 7 10 6 22 23  −1

Source: Statto.com

Results by round

Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46
Result L W W D L L W D D W W W L D D W D W W L L D D L D D L W W L L D W W D L W W D W D L D W D W
Position 18 10 2 5 10 15 11 12 11 7 4 3 5 5 6 5 5 4 3 6 6 8 7 8 9 10 12 10 9 11 12 12 10 10 10 11 11 8 9 6 7 8 9 7 7 7

Source: Statto.com

FA Cup

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See also: 2007–08 FA Cup

League Cup

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See also: 2007–08 Football League Cup

Players

Statistics

Key

      ‡ On loan from another club       * First appearance(s) for the club

Correct as of end of season. Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances in parentheses where applicable.


No. Pos Name P G P G P G P G A yellow card A red card Notes
League FA Cup League Cup Total Discipline
1 GK England Matt Murray 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 DF England Darren Ward 30 0 2 0 0 0 32 0 1 0
3 DF Scotland Neill Collins 34(4) 3 2 1 1 0 37(4) 4 5 0
4 MF Nigeria Seyi Olofinjana 34(1) 3 1 0 0 0 35(1) 3 8 0
5 DF Republic of Ireland Gary Breen (c) 18(1) 0 1 0 0 0 19(1) 0 3 0
6 DF England Jody Craddock ¤ 22(1) 1 1 0 1 1 24(1) 2 2 0
7 MF England Michael Kightly 20(1) 4 0(2) 1 1(1) 0 21(4) 5 1 0
8 MF England Karl Henry 38(2) 3 2 0 2 0 42(2) 3 8 0
9 FW Republic of Ireland Andy Keogh 33(10) 8 3 2 2 1 38(10) 11 2 0
10 FW England Jay Bothroyd ¤ 13(9) 3 3 1 0 0 16(9) 4 3 0
11 DF Republic of Ireland Stephen Ward 23(6) 0 1 0 0(1) 0 24(7) 0 3 0
12 DF Wales Rob Edwards 4(4) 1 1(1) 0 2 0 7(5) 1 3 0
14 MF Republic of Ireland Darren Potter 11(7) 0 3 0 1(1) 0 15(8) 0 3 0
15 DF England Mark Little ¤ 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0
16 MF England Mark Davies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 MF England Matt Jarvis 17(9) 1 2 0 0 0 19(9) 1 0 0
18 MF Republic of Ireland Stephen Gleeson ¤ 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
19 FW Republic of Ireland Stephen Elliott 18(11) 4 1(1) 1 0 0 19(12) 5 0 0
20 DF Scotland Charlie Mulgrew ¤ 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0
21 DF England Daniel Jones ¤ 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0
22 MF England Lewis Gobern 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
23 FW Wales Freddy Eastwood 10(21) 3 0(2) 0 2 1 12(23) 4 1 0
24 MF Republic of Ireland Darron Gibson 15(6) 1 1(2) 0 0 0 16(8) 1 5 0
25 GK Republic of Ireland Graham Stack 0(2) 0 0 0 2 0 2(2) 0 0 0
26 MF Wales David Edwards 10 1 0 0 0 0 10 1 0 0
27 FW England Sylvan Ebanks-Blake 20 12 0 0 0 0 20 12 2 0
28 DF England Jamie Clapham ¤ † 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0(1) 0 0 0
29 MF Republic of Ireland Kevin O'Connor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
30 GK Nigeria Carl Ikeme 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 GK Wales Wayne Hennessey 46 0 3 0 0 0 49 0 0 0
32 DF Republic of Ireland Kevin Foley 42(2) 1 3 0 2 0 47(2) 1 1 0
33 MF England Michael Gray 29(4) 3 2(1) 0 1 0 32(5) 3 3 0
34 MF England Martin Riley † 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
34 FW Scotland Kevin Kyle 3(9) 1 1 0 0 0 4(9) 1 0 0
35 MF England Elliott Bennett ¤ 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0
36 DF England Lee Collins ¤ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
37 FW England Liam Hughes ¤ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
38 MF Republic of Ireland Mark Salmon ¤ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
39 MF Hungary Dénes Rósa 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0(1) 0 0 0
40 DF Cameroon George Elokobi 15 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 3 0
41 DF England Matt Bailey ¤ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Awards

Award Winner[13]
Fans' Player of the Season Wayne Hennessey
Players' Player of the Season Wayne Hennessey
Young Player of the Season Elliott Bennett
Academy Player of the Season Ashley Hemmings
Goal of the Season Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
(Second goal vs Charlton Athletic, 29 March 2008)

Transfers

In

Date Player From Fee
20 June 2007 England Matt Jarvis Gillingham Undisclosed[14]
3 July 2007 England Darren Ward Crystal Palace Undisclosed[15]
6 July 2007 Wales Freddy Eastwood Southend United £1.5 million[5]
17 July 2007 Republic of Ireland Stephen Elliott Sunderland £750,000[6]
25 July 2007 England Michael Gray Unattached Free[7]
14 August 2007 Republic of Ireland Kevin Foley Luton Town Undisclosed[16]
11 January 2008 England Sylvan Ebanks-Blake Plymouth Argyle £1.5 million[11]
14 January 2008 Wales David Edwards Luton Town £675,000[17]
31 January 2008 Cameroon George Elokobi Colchester United Undisclosed[18]

Out

Date Player To Fee
18 May 2007 Scotland Jackie McNamara Aberdeen Free[19]
8 June 2007 Guyana Carl Cort Leicester City Free[20]
June 2007 England Michael Oakes Released Free[21]
June 2007 England Rohan Ricketts Released Free[21]
12 July 2007 Scotland Michael McIndoe Bristol City Undisclosed[22]
31 August 2007 United States Jemal Johnson Milton Keynes Dons Undisclosed[23]
31 August 2007 Poland Tomasz Frankowski Released Free[24]
3 December 2007 England Martin Riley Released Free[25]
31 January 2008 England Jamie Clapham Leicester City Free[26]

Loans in

Start date Player From End date
9 August 2007 Republic of Ireland Graham Stack Reading End of season[27][28]
19 October 2007 Republic of Ireland Darron Gibson Manchester United End of season[29][30]
30 January 2008 Scotland Kevin Kyle Coventry City End of season[31]

Loans out

Start date Player To End date
8 June 2007 England Keith Lowe Port Vale End of season[32]
3 August 2007 England Daniel Jones Northampton Town 26 January 2008[33]
17 August 2007 England Jody Craddock Stoke City 19 September 2007[34]
20 August 2007 England Jamie Clapham Leeds United 21 November 2007[35]
25 October 2007 England Elliott Bennett Crewe Alexandra 3 January 2008[36][37]
14 November 2007 England Lee Collins Hereford United End of season[38][39]
22 November 2007 Republic of Ireland Mark Salmon Port Vale 6 January 2008[40]
22 November 2007 England Liam Hughes Bury 2 January 2008[40]
10 January 2008 England Mark Little Northampton Town 12 March 2008[41][42]
31 January 2008 England Elliott Bennett Bury End of season[43]
31 January 2008 Scotland Charlie Mulgrew Southend United End of season[44]
31 January 2008 England Matt Bailey Kidderminster Harriers 27 February 2008[45]
21 February 2008 Republic of Ireland Stephen Gleeson Hereford United 23 March 2008[46]
29 February 2008 England Liam Hughes Stafford Rangers 16 March 2008[47]
6 March 2008 England Daniel Jones Northampton Town End of season[48]
14 March 2008 England Jay Bothroyd Stoke City End of season[49]
27 March 2008 Republic of Ireland Stephen Gleeson Stockport County End of season[50]

Kit

The season saw a new away kit, navy blue with an old gold and white trim.[51]. The home kit remained the same as the previous campaign and that season's white away kit was retained as a third kit for this term. The kits were manufactured by Le Coq Sportif, Chaucer Consulting sponsored the club for a fourth season.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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