| Full name | Shrewsbury Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Salopians | |
| Founded | 1868 | |
| Dissolved | c. 1880 | |
| Ground | Racecourse Ground, Monkmoor, Shrewsbury | |
| Secretary | B. V. Randall, J. F. Cooper | |
Shrewsbury F.C. was a football club based in Shrewsbury, England. The club is recorded as playing its home games at Monkmoor Lane, Shrewsbury. [1]
The club was formed in 1868 and its first match was on 22 January that year, a 3–2 defeat at a side from Whitchurch. [2] The club seems to have gone into abeyance, as it was re-founded in 1875 with 30 members. [3] By 1879 the club had 80 members. [4]
The club's captain from 1876 to 1880 was John Hawley Edwards, [5] who also played for Shropshire Wanderers and Wanderers. The club was an early member of the Birmingham Football Association and first came to prominence in 1877 by beating Stafford Road F.C., who had reached that season's Birmingham Senior Cup final, in a friendly. [6]
The following season, the club won both the Birmingham Senior Cup and the Shropshire Senior Cup. Shrewsbury beat two Wednesbury clubs to win the Birmingham cup; Wednesbury Old Athletic in the semi-final [7] and Wednesbury Strollers F.C. in the final, both by 2–1, the latter played at Aston Villa's Wellington Road ground in front of 5,000 spectators. Shrewsbury came from 1–0 down at half-time, the equalizer being scored from a Wace corner "cannoning off" Shrewsbury half-back A. T. Ward, and forward J. E. Sprott scoring the winner after Shrewsbury had struck the bar - an early use of the crossbar. [8] The Strollers protested (unsuccessfully) that Wace was not a genuine resident of Shrewsbury. [9]
In the Shropshire competition, the club beat Oswestry F.C. 3–0 in a semi-final replay, Oswestry wearing black armbands after their player A. F. Jones had died in a match the previous Saturday, [10] and beat Wellington Parish in the final, 1–0, thanks to a shot from distance from half-back W. H. Holt that passed just under the tape. [11]
Despite the success, the club seems to have dissolved around 1880, as Edwards retired through injury, and other clubs in the region emerged. The club never defended its Birmingham Senior Cup crown, the town's representative for 1878–79 being the Shrewsbury Engineers club, who lost to the W.O.A.C. in the first round. [12]
The club shared its shirt colours, ground, and a number of players with Shropshire Wanderers. The Wanderers entered the national competitions while the town club entered the local.
The club's colours on re-founding were scarlet and royal blue jerseys, stockings, and cap, with white knickers, [13] but by 1878 were all white. [14]
Henry Wace – 1877 and 1878 FA Cup winner with Wanderers and winner of three England capsWanderers Football Club was an English association football club. It was founded as "Forest Football Club" in 1859 in Leytonstone. In 1864, it changed its name to "Wanderers", a reference to it never having a home stadium, instead playing at various locations in London and the surrounding area. Comprising mainly former pupils of the leading English public schools, Wanderers was one of the dominant teams in the early years of organised football and won the inaugural Football Association Challenge Cup in 1872. The club won the competition five times in total, including three in succession from 1876 to 1878, a feat which has been repeated only once.
The Old Etonians Association Football Club is an English association football club whose players are alumni of Eton College, in Eton, Berkshire.
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Shropshire Wanderers F.C. was an amateur association football club based in Shrewsbury, England. The club was active during the 1870s and once reached the FA Cup semi-finals.
John George Wylie was an English amateur footballer who played as a forward. He won the FA Cup with Wanderers in 1878 and played once for England in 1878. He also took part as an athlete, winning the Pentathlon at the National Olympian Games in 1879.
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Henry Wace was an English amateur footballer who made three appearances for England and played for Wanderers, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1877 and 1878. By profession he was a lawyer who specialised in bankruptcy law.
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Shrewsbury Engineers F.C. was a football club based in Shrewbury, England.
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