Category Archives: Shrewsbury Town

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Carabao Cup: Round One Draw Announced

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The Carabao Cup Round One draw was made on Thursday evening from Morrisons, Colindale, North West London.

There were two stand out ties from the draw with AFC Wimbledon playing MK Dons, while newly-promoted Salford City will face Leeds United.

The draw was conducted by two former England internationals in John Barnes and Ray Parlour and was split into two regions – North and South.

Huddersfield Town, the hightest-ranked team in the Northern Section, will face Lincoln City while the highest ranked Southern side, West Bromwich Albion, will face Millwall.

Every club from Sky Bet League One and League Two enter the Carabao Cup in Round One, along with 22 Championship clubs.

Only Cardiff City and Fulham – who finished 18th and 19th respectively in the Premier League last season, will enter in Round Two, alongside the clubs from the Premier League, not in European competitions.

The first round matches are scheduled to take place week commencing Monday 12thAugust, with the final due to take place on March 1, 2020.

Full Round One Draw can be seen below:

North Draw

Tranmere Rovers v Hull City

Grimsby Town v Doncaster Rovers

Wigan Athletic v Stoke City

Port Vale v Burton Albion

Nottingham Forest v Fleetwood Town

Bradford City v Preston North End

Blackpool v Macclesfield Town

Blackburn Rovers v Oldham Athletic

Mansfield Town v Morecambe

Accrington Stanley v Sunderland

Scunthorpe United v Derby County

Rochdale v Bolton Wanderers

Huddersfield Town v Lincoln City

Middlesbrough v Crewe Alexandra

Shrewsbury Town v Rotherham United

Sheffield Wednesday v Bury

Salford City v Leeds United

Barnsley v Carlisle United

South Draw

Colchester United v Swindon Town

AFC Wimbledon v MK Dons

Oxford United v Peterborough United

Queens Park Rangers v Bristol City

Plymouth Argyle v Leyton Orient

Wycombe Wanderers v Reading

Charlton Athletic v Forest Green Rovers

Gillingham v Newport County

Stevenage v Southend United

Luton Town v Ipswich Town

Walsall v Crawley Town

Bristol Rovers v Cheltenham Town

Brentford v Cambridge United

Coventry City v Exeter City

Swansea City v Northampton Town

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League One, Shrewsbury Town, Stoke City

Donald Udoh… A Rising Star!

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Daniel Udoh…  Daniel Who? Daniel Udoh is the star striker currently plying his trade for

AFC Telford, who play in the National League North and is a name that the league scouts have been flocking to see play, as he has been setting the National League North alight with his scoring prowess, by netting 26 league goals in all competitions, which is a record for AFC Telford, since they reformed

Udoh, was born in Nigeria and has shown good promise with his all round game, since joining Telford. His 26 goals have come in 46 appearances, which is better than 1 in two and would be the envy of any of the top strikers.

Shrewsbury Town, managed by Sam Ricketts, are the current front runners and favourites to secure his signature.

Should this happen, then it would mean a return to league football, for Udoh, who was a member of the famed Crewe Alexander academy and made 15 appearances in Leagues 1&  2 for the railwaymen before he was released last summer.

However the links between the two clubs, who are not far apart geographically, is not renowned, though Sam Ricketts the Shrews boss, once played for Telford in their previous guise

So with Udoh being out of contract this summer, could it be that he will be plying his trade at a higher level. If that is the case, then Telford would receive some nice compensation

HOME, League One, Shrewsbury Town

Are Shrewsbury going up this season?

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At the time of writing, Shrewsbury sit top of League One with a four point cushion over their closest rivals Wigan Athletic. Many expected Paul Hurst’s men to be battling at the other end of the table, especially when you consider they only survived the drop last season by two points. But they continue to prove fans and pundits wrong with their performances, and it begs the question, can they sustain their current form over the entirety of the season?

Yet to lose in the League after eleven games (9 wins 2 draws), including impressive wins over promotion rivals Scunthorpe and Wigan, Shrewsbury look a very good bet to carry their form on. After a summer transfer window that did not exactly deliver the big name players many Shrews fans had been craving, the highlights included forward Stefan Payne and goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray. Among losing first-team players Jayson Leutwiler and Adam El-Abd.

All in all, this means Shrewsbury squad isn’t exactly packed with quality players who have played at a higher level but is more based around grafters, who will all work hard for themselves and each other, which is a vital part of any successful side. Among the squad, one of the most influential players is striker Stefan Payne. Top scorer with six goals and two assists in his ten appearances, his goals have won The Shrews ten points so far, including scoring a late winner on his debut to make him an instant hero in Shropshire.

Shrewsbury don’t have to look very far for inspiration, with the ultimate underdogs, Leicester City winning the Premier League in 2015/16 anything can be achieved with a group of players who work hard and believe in themselves. And if Stefan Payne can continue to bang in the goals, and a well organised defence can continue to keep them out, there’s no reason Shrewsbury can’t be the Leicester of League One.

Shrewsbury Town fans let us know your thoughts! Will you get promoted this season? 

 

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Checkatrade Trophy: Is The Format Working?

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Last season the EFL brought in a new format for the old Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and really it hasn’t helped teams in lower leagues. The new format encourages teams in the Premier League and the Championship to submit an Under 21’s squad into the competition. So is this format still a good idea?

The final of last season’s Checkatrade trophy was between Coventry and Oxford and broke the attendance record for the competition with 74,434, but all of last season the attendance figures at games across the competition was still low, Peterborough United as an example had an attendance of 1696 at their game against Norwich Academy which is a 4,000 less then their average attendance last season.

Last season as well clubs got fined for not fielding full strength squads,  on the 16th November Luton Town and Portsmouth were fined £15,000 for breaching this rule for all three of their group games, whereas Bradford, Blackpool, Bristol Rovers, MK Dons, Millwall, Charlton, Peterborough, Sheffield United and Southend all got fined £3,000 and Fleetwood were fined £5,000. That doesn’t sound like a lot to big clubs but in lower levels it is a lot to those clubs.

The group format is a nice new addition to the competition but for me I think if you took out participation from the Under 21’s it would be a good competition for lower league clubs and will hopefully increase ticket sales for the clubs as that can help boost finances. They also need to remove the full strength squad rule as fining teams for putting different squads out isn’t fair on teams that need to make sure people in their team stay fit and get a chance to show what they’re worth.

*Feature image courtesy of EFL.com*

 

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Is football for the fans anymore?

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It’s been a crazy summer for football this year with some crazy numbers coming from the amount that clubs have spent with Neymar and Mbappe etc. The money from the new Premier League television rights deal is well and truly coming to fruition with Premier League spending and revenues on the up. Even in the Championship spending has increased with Wolves paying 14 million pounds for Ruben Neves (just one player!)

 

With all of this money you would think that this would benefit English fans who follow their teams week in week out right? It couldn’t be more wrong as the price of season tickets are going up and kick off times for matches are set to change for an international audience.

 

So this begs the question do clubs really care about their local fans who pay their money to support them through the good and the bad times?

 

The answer to that question has to be a no. English clubs are charging a monumental amount of money to go to football matches and even when they are there the cost of food and drink is extortionate.

 

Premier League newcomers Huddersfield are the only exception from that statement as their cheapest season ticket comes in at just 175 pounds which is amazing considering the start they have had. In reality Arsenal’s cheapest season ticket comes in at just over 1000 pounds. That is a ridiculous amount of money to expect from a working class fan base.

 

Even in League One Bradford City fans were charged 28 pounds at Peterborough for a pay on the gate match. 28 Pounds for an away game in League One is scandalous and shows the director that English Football has taken.

 

On top of the prices clubs have all gone into the corporate fan bases which gives people the opportunities that most fans can’t afford. An example of this is Manchester City’s new Tunnel Club which offers people the chance to meet players and get up close and personal with the management team in exchange for a hefty price. City have alienated their fan base by taking opportunities away from their traditional working class fanbase and giving them to people who can afford to pay for the privilege. It’s not just Man City who are guilty of this as it can be seen up and down the country.

 

I’m not saying that the people who go to matches in corporate hospitality are wrong because they have paid for the service and fair play to them. Whats wrong is that most English clubs no longer see their traditional fan bases as the most important.

 

Another example can be taken from the recently named Carabao Cup. The third round draw for the competition took place live from China at 4:15 AM (GMT) meaning most British fans were sleeping when their teams draw took place. A spokesman for the FSF said: “In our 2017 national supporters’ survey fans expressed increasing frustration at instances of overseas audiences apparently being prioritised over domestic supporters. Holding the draw in Beijing at that time can only increase the sense of disconnection many domestic fans feel.”

 

Do you think that English Football is losing touch with its fans and becoming corporatised? Let us know in the comments section below…