PREVIEW – Shrewsbury (H)

Year Founded: 1886
Nickname: The Shrews
Major Honours: Football League Third Division (third tier) champions 1979

Shrewsbury Town Football Club is an English professional football club in based in Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England, which plays in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at New Meadow.

The club was formed in 1886 and was elected to the Football League in 1950. The club has since competed in each of the lower three tiers of the Football League, in addition to one season spent in the Conference Premier in 2003–04. It has also competed in the Welsh Cup, winning it six times.

Between 1910 and 2007, the club was based at Gay Meadow on the banks of the River Severn. Since 2007, the club have played at the New Meadow, with a capacity of 9,875.

AFC Wimbledon 1 Northampton 0 – League One

A dire game came to life in the closing minutes when Joe Pigott forced the ball home from close range to seemingly snatch a vital win.

The hosts conceded a spot-kick in the final seconds but Tsanev denied Hoskins with a stunning stop.

A first win in eight games saw Wimbledon climb to 21st and move level on points with the Cobblers with two games in hand.

In the early stages, Dons striker Ryan Longman seized on a loose back-pass only to be thwarted by goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell, who raced off his line to block.

As befitting two teams fighting for survival, there was little fluidity from either side and creativity was sorely lacking throughout.

With time and hope running out, Pigott was on hand to convert Cheye Alexander’s cross.

But the drama was not done there as a late scramble saw the Dons penalised, only for Tsanev’s heroics to ensure the Dons took all three points.

Shrewsbury 1 Portsmouth 2 – League One

Marcus Harness and John Marquis, who was later sent off, put Pompey 2-0 up before Nathaniel Ogbeta netted in the second half for the hosts.

Aside from an early Daniel Udoh chance the first half was dominated by the visitors.

Ryan Williams went close with a header before a superb curling Harness effort broke the deadlock midway through the half.

Ten minutes later it was two when Marquis tapped into an empty net, with Danny Cowley’s side looking in complete control.

But six minutes after the restart Shrewsbury were back in the game when Ogbeta took on three players before firing the ball home past keeper Craig MacGillivray.

Pompey were reduced to 10 men 22 minutes from time, when Marquis received a straight red card for a heavy tackle on Harry Chapman.

But Shrewsbury failed to capitalise on their man advantage as Pompey kept them at arms length to make it two wins from two under new boss Cowley.

19 September 2020 – Shrewsbury 1 The Cobblers 2

Goals from Mark Marshall and Sam Hoskins for the Cobblers came either side of a Shaun Whalley equaliser in a match that was one of seven English Football League fixtures selected to stage a pilot event for up to 1,000 fans.

Northampton took the lead in the 12th minute as Joseph Mills delivered a low cross from the left which was confidently drilled first time high into the net by Marshall from inside the penalty area.

Shrewsbury responded positively and Rekeil Pyke was denied by goalkeeper Steve Arnold as they went in search of an equaliser.

Arnold, facing his former club, then saved a long-range effort from Scott Golbourne.

Shrewsbury pulled level nine minutes into the second half when Whalley – set up by Cummings – finished coolly to the bottom corner of the net.

But Northampton struck what proved to be the winner in the 65th minute as Hoskins reacted well to score after Shrewsbury goalkeeper Matija Sarkic miskicked as he tried to clear a ball forward from Matt Warburton.

Played	Won	Draw	Lost	F	A
54	21	11	22	84	95

Biggest Win over Shrewsbury	08/12/1951 – 6-0W – Bob Dennison
Biggest Loss over Shrewsbury	31/03/1975 – 6-0L – Bill Dodgin Jnr
First-Ever Game	08/12/1951 – 6-0W – Bob Dennison

Played for both – Shrewsbury

Heres a look at a selection of players that have played for both the Cobblers and Shrewsbury.

The Cleveland-based official travels to the PTS Academy Stadium for his 26th game of the campaign and his tenth in Sky Bet League Two. Joyce is currently in his sixth season as an EFL match official.

His first game of the campaign was Preston North End’s emphatic 4-0 home win over Mansfield Town in Round One of the Carabao Cup – a game in which he issued four cautions. Meanwhile, his latest encounter was 2-1 win for MK Dons at Jimmy Floyd Hasselback.

He will be assisted by Darren Blunden and Michael Webb Fourth Official is James Adcock.

His latest Cobblers Game

Date	Comp	Match	Y	R
11/01/20	Leauge Two	Salford 1 Northampton 2	6	0
10/10/19	FA Cup	Chippenham 0 Northampton 3	0	0

Shrewsbury Games

Date	Comp	Match	Y	R
06/10/20	Leauge Trophy	Shrewsbury 2 Bolton 1	6	0

All season ticket holders will have access to watch the Shrewsbury Town game on Friday on iFollow.

To check….

1. Log in to iFollow
2. Click your name in the top navigation bar to get to the ‘My Account page’
3. Click the + sign next to ‘Purchased Packages

If you have access, you will see ‘Season Ticket – Northampton Town’ listed here.

If you experience any issues, please email ifollow@ntfc.co.uk

After winning the reverse fixture in September (1-2), a home win for the Cobblers would see them record their first Football League double over Shrewsbury Town since the 1961-62 season.
Shrewsbury Town have come away with one point from each of their last three league visits to Sixfields, and are unbeaten in their last five games there in the Football League (W2 D3).
Northampton Town have lost just one of their last five league matches at home (W3 D1). They have conceded just two goals while keeping three clean sheets during this run.
Shrewsbury Town have lost one of their last six away matches in League One (W3 D2), scoring at least once in each of these outings.

Stats	NORTHAMPTON	Shrewsbury
Games Played	38	35
Goals	32	40
Shots on target	114	115
Shooting accuracy	41.80%	57.10%
Goals conceded	54	41
Clean sheets	10	9
Yellow cards	74	61
Red Cards	3	2

OnThisDay Morecambe 1 The Cobblers 1

Lee Collins

Interview – Andy Holt

Looking back on our last long campaign in the League Trophy back in the season 2003/2004 UnderI interviewed ex-cobbler Andy Hot, Andy played for the Cobblers between 2004 – 2012 making over 190 appearances scoring over 15 goals.