Historical Football Kits

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Shrewsbury Town

Formed 1886

Elected to Division Three (North) 1950. Relegated to The Conference 2003.
Promoted to Coca Cola League Two 2004.

Kit History

Background

The attractive county seat of rural Shropshire is a far cry from the grim industrial towns of the Midlands and Lancashire that spawned the growth of association football in the late 19th century but nevertheless, Shrewsbury is one of the cradles of the modern game. Boys attending the famous public school in Shrewsbury played a form of football in the 1860s and the modern club, founded in 1886, took their original blue and white colours from the school.

The club played at various venues and competed in the Shropshire & District Birmingham League and later the Midland League. In 1910 they moved into Gay Meadow, so called because of its previous use as a site for fair grounds. Adjacent to the River Severn, Gay Meadow was one of the most picturesque grounds in the League.

Situated on the Welsh border, Shrewsbury regularly competed in the Welsh Cup, winning the competition for the first time in 1938 and their reserve side had several spells in the Welsh League.

In 1950 the Football League decided to expand the two regional Third Divisions with the addition of two clubs in each section. “The Shrews” were successful on the first of three ballots and took up a place in the northern section. At the end of the season they were transferred to Division Three (South) where they remained until 1958 when they were placed in Division Four after the regional divisions were scrapped.

Promoted at the end of their first season in the lowest division, Shrewsbury remained in the Third Division until 1979 apart from one season in the Fourth Division (1974-75). It was during this brief spell back in the basement that Shrewsbury introduced their amber and blue colours for the first time.

In 1979 the club won the Third Division championship and promotion to Division Two for the first time in their history. For ten years, the Shrews held their own but relegation in 1989 and again in 1992 saw them back in the Fourth Division (renamed Barclays Division Three with the advent of the Premier League).

In 1994 Shrewsbury won the championship and promotion to Division Two but in 1997 they were relegated to Nationwide Division Three.

After nine years of mid-table performances, Shrewsbury finished at the bottom of the League in 2003 some seven points adrift and went down to the Conference. They finished third in the Conference the following season, 17 points behind second placed Hereford United to qualify for the play-offs. The Shrews reached the final after a penalty competition to decide their tie with Barnet. After extra time in the final against Aldershot Town the scores were 0-0 but the Shrewsbury players held their nerve to win another penalty shoot-out 3-0 and secure a return to the Football League.

Sources

• (a) Club Colours (Bob Bickerton 1998)
• (b) Aldershot Has It
• (c) Gillingham FC - Images of Sport (Roger Triggs)
• (d) Football Cards
• (e) Football Focus
• (f) empics
• (g) Shrewsbury Town Official Website
• (h) Classic Kits
• (i) Welsh Football Database
• (j) National Library of Wales
• (j2) National Library of Wales
• (j3) National Library of Wales
• (j4) National Library of Wales
• (k) The Official History of The Shrews - information provided by Greger Lindberg
• (l) David King
• (m) Football League Review
• (n) jumpers4goalposts.com
• (o) Alick Milne
• (p) "pallissmith"
• (q) matthewashtondotcom
• (r) James King
• (s) Ralph Pomeroy
• (t) Greger Lindberg

Photograph courtesy of Greger Lindberg.