25 YEARS IN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
(First published 14th August 2018 - research by Paul Lewis)
Wycombe Wanderers celebrate 25 years since their first ever game in the Football League during August 2018. Wanderers' well documented debut in the Football League came on Saturday 14th August 1993 at Carlisle United. Since that date, they have clocked up 1,146 games during an unbroken spell as members of the Football League - with 12 of those seasons spent in the third tier (Division Two and League One). Wanderers' 26th season in the Football League will see a return to the third tier for the first time in six years.
Manager for the 2018/19 campaign, Gareth Ainsworth, is Wanderers' 11th permanent boss during the quarter century spell and with more than five years in charge to his name, he is by far the longest serving man at the helm at Adams Park.
To reach the 25 year landmark, Wanderers have used 390 different players. Matt Bloomfield, still a squad member for the 2018/19 season, sits top of the rankings with 416 League appearances to his name. Behind Bloomfield is Steve Brown with 371 apps, followed by Keith Ryan on 351.
Goalkeeper Martin Taylor holds the current record for consecutive appearances in Football League matches for Wanderers with 115 back to back apps between January 2000 and August 2002. At the other end of the stats, Aaron Patton (May 1998) and Jerome Federico (Sep 2010) both appeared as 89th minute substitutes for Wanderers in the Football League but failed to add to their minute of fame in a Wycombe shirt.
 Top scorer is Nathan Tyson with 50 League goals as of the end of the 2017/18 campaign. Tyson rejoined the Wanderers during the 2017/18 season and was able to add to his previous 42 League goals in a Wanderers shirt. Scott McGleish clocked up the most in one season when he bagged 26 goals during the 2007/2008 season under Paul Lambert. Tyson also holds the record for a transfer fee received by the Wanderers when Nottingham Forest paid £675,000 for his services in January 2006. The most Wanderers have paid out for a player was £200,000 - Sean Devine and Darren Currie both commanding this fee when they moved from Barnet in March 1999 and July 2001 respectively.
 Jordon Ibe became the youngest player to date to appear in the Football League for the Wanderers when he came on as substitute in the game at Hartlepool on 15th October 2011 aged 15 years and 311 days. 14 days later he became the youngster player to score a League goal for Wanderers when he netted at home to Sheffield Wednesday. Ibe joined Liverpool in December 2011 for a fee in the region of £600,000.
 The oldest player to date to take the field for Wanderers in the Football League is Barry Richardson. Aged 46 years and nearly six months, Richardson famously made an emergency substitute appearance for Wycombe in the League meeting at Plymouth in Janaury 2016 - keeping a clean sheet in the process as Wanderers ran out 1-0 winners against the 'big'club' wannabes. Richardson's appearance broke the previous 'old-man' record held by Rob Lee by more than six years. Lee, a former England International, joined Wanderers in March 2005 when John Gorman was Manager. He made his final League appearance for Wanderers aged 40 years and 87 days in the penultimate game of the 2005/6 season. Lee surpassed the previous record held by Ray Wilkins, who was 7 days short of his 40th birthday when he made a one-off appearance for Wanderers in September 1996.
 If you are still counting grounds, then Wanderers have played at 102 different ones in League games. The most visited club in the Football League, as of May 2018, was Notts County with 16 meetings (all at Meadow Lane plus an extra one for good luck when the League meeting was abandoned there in April 2001).
The average home Football League attendance during Wanderers opening 25 years in the Football League was 4,980, while the average away attendance was 5,418. The total number of spectators to make their way to Wanderers' games in those 25 years in the Football League was 5.95 million, giving an overall average of 5,198.
Need more stats? chairboys.co.uk has compiled this lot.
| Wycombe Wanderers' Football League record |
Div 3 Pl W D L GF GA Pts Pl Top scorer
1993-94 42 19 13 10 67 53 70 4th Scott 10
Div 2 Pl W D L GF GA Pts Pl Top scorers
1994-95 46 21 15 10 60 46 78 6th Garner & Regis 9
1995-96 46 15 15 16 63 59 60 12th DeSouza 18
1996-97 46 15 10 21 51 56 55 18th Carroll 9
1997-98 46 14 18 14 51 53 60 14th Stallard 17
1998-99 46 13 12 21 52 58 51 19th Devine 8
1999-00 46 16 13 17 56 53 61 12th Devine 23
2000-01 46 15 14 17 46 53 59 13th Rammell 10
2001-02 46 17 13 16 58 64 64 11th Rammell 11
2002-03 46 13 13 20 59 66 52 18th Faulconbridge 6
2003-04 46 6 19 21 50 75 37 24th Tyson 9
Leag 2 Pl W D L GF GA Pts Pl Top scorer
2004-05 46 17 14 15 58 52 65 10th Tyson 22
2005-06 46 18 17 11 72 56 71 6th Mooney 17
2006-07 46 16 14 16 52 47 62 12th Easter 17
2007-08 46 22 12 12 56 42 78 7th McGleish 26
2008-09 46 20 18 8 54 33 78 3rd Harrold 9
Leag 1 Pl W D L GF GA Pts Pl Top scorer
2009-10 46 10 15 21 56 76 45 22nd Harrold 8
Leag 2 Pl W D L GF GA Pts Pl Top scorer
2010-11 46 22 14 10 69 50 80 3rd Rendell 14
Leag 1 Pl W D L GF GA Pts Pl Top scorer
2011-12 46 11 10 25 65 88 43 21st Beavon 21
Leag 2 Pl W D L GF GA Pts Pl Top scorer
2012-13 46 17 9 20 50 60 60 15th McClure 11
2013-14 46 12 14 20 46 54 50 22nd Morgan 8
2014-15 46 12 14 20 46 54 50 3rd Hayes 12
2015-16 46 12 14 20 46 54 50 3rd Harriman 7, Thompson 7
2016-17 46 19 12 15 46 58 53 9th Akinfenwa 12
2017-18 46 24 12 10 79 60 84 3rd Akinfenwa 17
Totals Pl W D L GF GA Pts Top scorers
1146 412 352 390 1440 1396 1580 Tyson 50, Carroll 41,
Devine 41
Top ten Football League appearances for Wycombe:
Matt Bloomfield (416) - December 2003 to May 2018
Steve Brown (371) - February 1994 to May 2004
Keith Ryan (351) - August 1993 to April 2005
Dave Carroll (302) - August 1993 - January 2002
Jason Cousins (296) - August 1993 to January 2002
Michael Simpson (285) - January 1997 to April 2004
Danny Senda (276) - March 1999 to May 2006
Martin Taylor (238) - March 1997 to December 2002
Chris Vinnicombe (221) - August 1998 to May 2004
Paul McCarthy (212) - August 1996 to February 2003
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| Goalscoring Records - League games |
| Biggest winning margin (home) |
Biggest winning margin (away) |
5-0 Burnley 15 April 1997
5-0 Hartlepool 4 Feb 2012
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5-0 Northampton Town 4 Jan 2003
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| Biggest losing margin (home) |
Biggest losing margin (away) |
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0-6 Huddersfield 6 Jan 2012
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0-6 Stockport 8 Dec 2007
0-6 Huddersfield 14 Nov 2009
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| Highest scoring draw (home) |
Highest scoring draw (away) |
3-3 Mansfield 17 Aug 2002
3-3 Chesterfield 23 Aug 2003
3-3 Chester City 1 Oct 2005
3-3 Cheltenham Town 8 Apr 2017
3-3 Cheltenham Town 28 Oct 2017
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3-3 Stockport 10 Sep 2005
3-3 Peterborough 31 Mar 2007
3-3 Brentford 14 Mar 2009
3-3 Plymouth Argyle 26 Dec 2016
3-3 Carlisle United 17 Oct 2017
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| Highest aggregate score (home) |
Highest aggregate score (away) |
|
L 4-5 Macclesfield 2 Jan 2006
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L 3-6 Peterborough 28 Sep 1996
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| Attendance Records - League games |
| Top 5 highest home attendances |
Top 5 highest away attendances |
9,625 v Notts County (2nd May 2009)
9,250 v Reading (26th Feb 2002)
9,217 v QPR (27th Aug 2001)
8,802 v Stevenage (5th May 2018)
8,567 v Southend (7th May 2011)
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38,082 v Sheff Wed (5th May 2012)
29,337 v Man City (24th Apr 1999)
24,383 v Leeds Utd (9th Jan 2010)
23,428 v Norwich C (22nd Aug 2009)
19,596 v Sheff Wed (30th Jan 2004)
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| Lowest home attendance |
Lowest away attendance |
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2,185 v Fleetwood (11th Feb 2014)
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1,050 v Accrington S (15th Dec 2012)
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| Other stats - League games only |
Most consecutive wins - 6 (19 Aug 2006 to 16 Sep 2006)
Longest spell unbeaten within season - 21 (6 Aug 2005 to 10 Dec 2005)
Most consecutive defeats - 6 (March/April 2006)
Most consecutive draws - 5 (Jan/Feb 2004)
Longest spell without a win - 13 - three times
(twice during season 2003/4 and once during 2007/8)
Most consecutive games without a draw - 15 (15 Nov 2015 to 12 March 2016)
Most consecutive games goals scored - 16 (13 Sep 2014 to 26 Dec 2014)
Most consecutive clean sheets - 5 (16 Aug 2008 to 13 Sep 2008)
Most consecutive games goals conceeded - 20 (3 Mar 2012 to 6 Oct 2012)
Most consecutive games without scoring - 5 - three times
(March 1995, Oct/Nov 1996 and Aug/Sep 2011)
Most common results - 1-1 (164 times), lost 0-1 (119), won 1-0 (117), 0-0 (108)
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