Shrewsbury Town FC - History
2006-07 Season
7th in League Two; lost 3-1 in the play off final to Bristol Rovers.
League Cup: 1st round; Birmingham City a. 0-1
FA Cup: 1st round replay; Hereford United a. 0-2
JP Trophy: Southern Semi Final; Bristol Rovers h. 0-1
Highlight:
3-0 win at Hartlepool United, 16/9/06
Low Spot:
3-1 defeat against Bristol Rovers in the play off final, 26/5/07
Good:
Ben Davies
Really excelled after moving from Chester in the summer scoring 12 goals (mainly penalties) and creating even more. Combined hard work with genuine ability and while losing him to injury before the play off final was a massive blow to the club the news that he may well be out till Christmas is little short of devastating.
We wish him as speedy a recovery as possible.
Richard Hope
Another season of excellent service from this stalwart centre half. Getting better every year.
In Brief:
The Shrews performed steadily throughout the season to remain in touch with the play off places and managed to sneak into them after enjoying a productive spell during February and March.
The club were not fancied to do well but edged out MK Dons in a tight semi final to set up a Wembley meeting with Bristol Rovers.
The Shrews took an early lead and had real opportunities to add to their advantage but having passed these up they ended up losing 3-1.
The outcome of the final may well have been different had starman Ben Davies not gone down injured in the semi final but the club will have to do without him in the early months of next season as well so may struggle to make a similar impact.
Football was of early importance in Shrewsbury through the presence of Shrewsbury School, an establishment which provided players to both England and Wales in the early days of international football.
The present day Shrewsbury Town Football Club was formed in 1886 and the team were able to claim an early prize, winning the Welsh Cup (Eng-er-Land!).
Shrewsbury Town did not gain entry into the Football League until 1950 when they were elected into Division Three North. The following year they were transferred into the southern section and stayed there until Division's Three and Four were established in 1958.
Shrewsbury took up their place in Division Four but the exciting appointment of Arthur Rowley as player manager heralded a bright spell for the club.
Rowley joined Shrewsbury from Leicester City where his goalscoring exploits were legendary. In his first season at Gay Meadow Rowley set a new club record with 38 league goals as he led his team to promotion.
Rowley would also end up Shrewsbury's leading all time league goalscorer with 152 before hanging up his boots in 1965. In total Rowley netted 434 league goals during his career, also a record.
In their first season in Division Three, Shrewsbury finished third although only two clubs were promoted at that time.
Shrewsbury would suffer the same fate in 1968, finishing only one point behind Bury and two behind the champions, Oxford United.
During this period the club also reached the fifth round of the FA Cup on two occassions, losing 0-2 at Leeds in 1965 and 2-3 at Chelsea in 1966.
They also reached the semi finals of the first ever League Cup competition in 1961 before losing 4-3 on aggregate to Rotherham United.
After Rowley left the club in 1968, however, Shresbury regressed and suffered relegation to the fourth division in 1974.
They immediately won promotion back to Division Three as runners up, however, and in 1979 won promotion to the second division as champions for the only time in their history.
The groundwork for this success was done by Alan Durban and completed by Graham Turner after Durban left for Stoke City.
In this heady season Shrewsbury also reached the sixth round of the FA Cup. They disposed of Manchester City, 2-0 in round four, and drew at Wolves in the quarter finals before losing the replay, 1-3 at Gay Meadow.
Life in Division Two was never anything other than a struggle for Shrewsbury although they did manage to hang on to their status for a decade before being relegated in 1989.
In 1982 the club had again reached the sixth round of the FA Cup, knocking out the great Ipswich Town side in the fifth round before losing to Leicester, 5-2 at Filbert Street.
In 1987 Shrewsbury Town travelled to Birmingham City for the last game of the season occupying a relegation play off position and ensured survival with a 2-0 win, goals coming from Gary Hackett and Colin Robinson.
Birmingham were spared having to play off for their safety by Sunderland's 2-3 home defeat to Barnsley.
In 1992 the club were relegated again into the fourth tier of English football after a disastrous run which saw them slip from 8th place at the end of January to 22nd in May.
Two years later Shrewsbury won promotion as champions but after three seasons in the third tier dropped back down and in 2003 suffered relegation to the Conference.
Fortunately, the club immediately regained their league status after a play off success.
Shrewsbury were runners up in the 1996 Auto Windscreens Shield, losing 1-2 to Rotherham United in the final.
The clubs record attendance is 18,917 for the visit of Walsall for a Division Three fixture towards the end of the 1960-61 season.
Although Walsall were chasing promotion, Shrewsbury were only mid table with nothing to play for.
How many did Walsall take?
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