Last season Shrewsbury finished 18^th in League 1.

This season they are currently in 20th place having played 6 times (once more than FGR) with 6 points having scored 3 and conceded 6 goals.

They have won once, drawn 3 and lost 2.

Last time out they drew with Bristol Rovers.

The Shrewsbury Manager Stephen Cotterill is no stranger to Gloucestershire as he was born in Cheltenham

Cotterill had a nine-year career as a footballer, as a striker, playing for Burton Albion, Wimbledon, Brighton and Bournemouth before becoming a football manager. He began with Irish side Sligo Rovers but after a year he returned to England and took over at his hometown club, Cheltenham Town. He did well at Whaddon Road guiding the club from the sixth tier to the third in five years.

His success at Cheltenham led to Stoke City appointing him as their manager prior to the 2002/03 season. After 13 games as manager, he left to become assistant manager to Howard Wilkinson at Sunderland only to be dismissed from this post with Wilkinson in March 2003 after 27 games in the role.

He joined Burnley in June 2004. After three years at Turf Moor, he moved on to have a short spell at Notts County in 2010 and spent a season-and-a-half at Portsmouth. In October 2011 he was appointed manager at Nottingham Forest guiding the club out of a relegation battle. He was dismissed by Forest in July 2012 after the club was taken over by the Al-Hasawi family. In January 2013, he joined QPR’s coaching staff remaining until the end of the 2012–13 season. Cotterill was appointed manager of Bristol City in December 2013, taking them to the Championship before being dismissed in January 2016. He was manager of Championship club Birmingham City from September 2017 to March 2018. He became Shrewsbury manager in 2020.

Luke Leahy

Defensive midfielder Leahy joined Shrewsbury in May 21 when Bristol Rovers were relegated from League One. Leahy is originally from Coventry, but a large part of his career has been north of the border with Falkirk. This season he is currently Shrewsbury’s top scorer with 2 goals.

Dan Udoh

Striker Udoh is a much-travelled player mainly at non-league level. He joined Shrewsbury in May 19. He scored fifteen goals last season including the opening goal against Liverpool at Anfield in a FA Cup 3rd round game on 9 January 2022. However, Shrewsbury went onto lose the game 4-1. He is Shrewsbury’s equal second top scorer this season with one goal.

The Shrewsbury Assistant Manager is Aaron Wilbraham who played centre forward at the highest level (25 league appearances, no goals) for Crystal Palace including all 120 minutes of their famous thrashing 1-0 of Watford in the 2013 Championship Play Off Final.

David Davis played for Shrewsbury initially in 2001 on loan from Wolves – 19 appearances, 2 goals and then almost 10 years later permanently 2020-21 – 48 appearances 1 goal.

Davis joined FGR from Shrewsbury in June 22.

Founded in 1886, the club were inaugural members of the Shropshire & District League in 1890. Shrewsbury were admitted into the Football League in 1950 and won promotion out of the Fourth Division at the end of the 1958–59 season. They were promoted again in 1974–75 after being relegated the previous year and went on to win the Third Division title in 1978–79. They returned to the fourth tier following relegations in 1989 and 1992, where they won another league title in 1993–94. The club lost in the 1996 Football League Trophy Final and dropped into non-League football after suffering relegations in 1997 and 2003.

Shrewsbury immediately regained their Football League status after winning the 2004 Conference Play Off Final. They subsequently lost League Two play-off finals in 2007 and 2009 before they won automatic promotion in 20011-12 and again in 2014-15 after relegation in the previous season. They finished as runners-up in the 2018 EFL Trophy Final and 2018 League One Play Off Final.

Cowbunga! – The Annual Shrewsbury Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lookalike contest.

Television and newspapers regularly used to feature pictures of a man called Fred Davis’ coracles.

Shrewsbury’s long-term home was Gay Meadow (1910 to 2007) next to the River Severn. For many years, Shrewsbury coracle maker Fred Davies achieved legendary status football fans, by a unique service he and his coracle provided. He would sit in his coracle during Shrewsbury Town home matches and retrieve any stray footballs that went into the River Severn. In 2020 the coracle was returned from Manchester Museum and has now taken pride of place on display in the corner of Shrewsbury Town’s Sovereign Suite at the ground.

An unhappy man at Gay Meadow – Unfortunately, being next to the Severn meant Gay Meadow was famously prone to flooding so the club moved to its present home in 2007.

In 2018 Shrewsbury Town were the first club in England and Wales to install a 555 capacity safe standing area at their stadium. This has proved popular with Shrewsbury supporters particularly amongst those who still have concerns about flooding.

Get your coat you’ve pulled!

Shrewsbury’s mascot is imaginatively named Lenny the Lion. In this picture he seems to have pulled Penny the Lion (or vice versa).

Experts have said that technically the Shrewsbury crest actually features leopards not lions; hence the look of shock on Lenny’s face.