Town set for Wembley

Monday 11th May 2009, 10:59AM BST.

Jubilant Shrewsbury Town players, supporters and officials were today celebrating after the club secured a second Wembley trip in three years following an afternoon of high drama in the League Two play-off semi-final.

The Town sealed a dramatic penalty shootout win over Bury at Gigg Lane yesterday thanks to the heroics of young goalkeeper Luke Daniels, who saved three penalties, including two in the nailbiting finale.

The victory leaves the club just 90 minutes away from promotion to League One – with thousands of supporters able to make the trip to London on May 23.

Shrewsbury Town officials said the club had been given an initial allocation of 21,000 tickets for the showpiece final.

Talks were being held this morning to finalise details of when the tickets will go on sale.

Ticket prices will range from £26 to £56 with concessions starting at £13.

On-loan goalkeeper Daniels, 21, today spoke of his delight. He said: “I’m really pleased. I was involved in a mix-up on Thursday night so it’s good we’ve managed to turn that around and put in a decent performance. It’s great to get through to Wembley.”

Speaking of stopping the penalties he said: “You’ve got to take each one as it comes and look at how people line up and try to read them.”

He also praised the supporters for their backing yesterday and throughout the rest of the League Two campaign.

He said: “The fans have been great all season. They’ve stuck with us when we’ve had our rough patches and hopefully we can go there and end the season on a high get promoted.”

Shrewsbury Town general manager, Jon Harris said: “It was a tremendous all-round performance from the team. They did all the supporters proud.”

Mr Harris said the club now had a great chance for promotion and also praised the fans for their support.

He said: “The fans got behind the team from start to finish. In the face of adversity when we went down to 10 men the noise levels behind the one goal seemed to get bigger and bigger.

“It’s a great experience. It’s great for the club to be going back there for the second time in three seasons.”

One fan who hailed the win was unable to make the trip to Bury – as he lives in the USA.

But Alastair Young watched the match on television and spoke of his hope for a play-off final win at Wembley for the Shrews.

He watched it in Dallas, Texas – only the second time he had seen Shrews on television there in more than 25 years.

He said: “Best of luck to the players and supporters in the final. There will be a few expats cheering you on in the US.”

By John Kirk


  1. 1
    Jeff Leppard

    What a match!

    Daniels was simply awesome.

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  2. 2
    Anthony Lamb

    A fantastic match! Nail Biting all the way!
    Although i have to say that maybe we are a bit too close to the wire……. Luke Daniels was Man Of The Match Yesterday, but i feel it was very harsh how fans reacted to his poor performance against Macclesfield…… he’s a young player and i’ts not an easy job, especially when you have thousands of fans behind ur goal shouting a jeering/cheering etc.

    PLayed well, but maybe we need to press more and put a bit more effort into it……. plays can sometimes be just purely lazy and sloppy which needs working on, but the team pulls together well and the morale over all is good, the players have 2 weeks to rest now, and hopefully we can thrash Gillingham at Wembley!!!!

    Come on Salop!

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  3. 3
    TommyLunch

    I’ve started saving my pennies – I’ve already got enough for a cup of coffee at Wembley (£45) and I’m going to mortgage my house (and sell the wife) to pay for a hot dog at half-time!!

    Well done Salop. This time its not a day out, its a game we need to win. Congrats to Neil Ashton, its not often you score an own goal, give away a penalty and still finish on the winning team mate!

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  4. 4
    Andrew Hughes

    Yet another great ocassion for the Shrews and our supporters. Having suffered a season of pretty dire away form, the run in has seen great spirit grow through the team. The signs were there at Aldershot, Wycombe and even losing at Bury last time round, and to be where we are today is all the more remarkable given that away form.

    Ok we led a charmed life on Sunday at times but great credit to the whole team, the belief was there.

    A Great performance, a great crowd ….. Look out Wembley, HERE WE COME AGAIN…….. Catch us if you can you Gills.

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  5. 5
    sarah

    well done shrewsbury, up we go!

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  6. 6
    Martinshrew

    Luke Daniels should be made a freeman of the town, he can graze his livestock on my front lawn anytime, Thought he looked up for it and really showed aggression, didn’t put a foot wrong and looked supremely confident throughout. Early season he showed he was a bit special, then he lost a bit of confidence, yesterday was the perfect stage for him to show he has what it takes, perhaps privately he knew he could have done better on Thursday. I bet Neil Ashton got a good nights kip last night. (no mug of Horlicks needed) Any truth in the rumour Neil was down to take the 5th penalty??

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  7. 7
    Mick (Canada)

    Well done Shrewsbury. players and fans.

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  8. 8
    sven

    my hangover is only just going now!!
    well done simmo n the boys! what a great day up north!!

    Daniels is a legend!!

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  9. 9
    the cothercot kid

    come on lads keep practising penalty taking and luke well played and keep the penalty saves practice going. then next season we can set about charlton, norwich,southampton, millwall or leeds. eeeee its like being in the premier league. well done everyone

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  10. 10
    porter shrews

    well don town bring on wemberly
    we can do it
    i no we can
    bring on the gills
    UP THE SALOP

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  11. 11
    porter shrew

    up the shrews
    this is our year this year i got a feelin

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  12. 12
    David Pritchard

    Well done Shrews. Two years ago I made the trip from Houston Texas to Wembley and this year I will be doing it again. As we did 2 years ago my brother will also be coming from Edmonton Canada. I am putting out a plea to Town supporters who may be willing to buy us two tickets for the match and they will be happily reimbursed of course. Last time we went through a period of anxiety trying to get tix before the match on game day after having flown in and I would rather not do that again! Anyone prepared to help out if you could kindly email me on macymru@yahoo.com. C’mon Town!

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  13. 13
    david gregg

    WE HAVE 8 COACHES GOING FROM MONTGOMERY’S TOWER TO WEMBLEY, FIRST COME FIRST SERVED.
    CONTACT US FROM 6PM ON 13/05/2009 WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR YOUR CHANCE TO GO.
    £10 RETURN ON THE COACH!!!

    CALL US ON SHREWSBURY 01743 239080

    Report abuse

  14. 14
    david gregg

    WE HAVE 8 COACHES GOING FROM MONTGOMERY’S TOWER TO WEMBLEY, FIRST COME FIRST SERVED.
    CONTACT US FROM 6PM ON 14/05/2009 WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR YOUR CHANCE TO GO.
    £10 RETURN ON THE COACH!!!

    CALL US ON SHREWSBURY 01743 239080

    Report abuse

  15. 15
    Smellie

    Where have all these fair weather fans come from ? All happy to jump on the band wagon now Shrewsbury Town are on the verge (hopefully) of something great in their long history.

    Where were you all on the cold and wet Saturday afternoons when attendance barely nudged 4,000 ? No doubt you’ll be a Wembley next weekend claiming to be life-long, die-hard supporters.

    Should what we are all hoping for happen (another 7 – 0 drubbing), let’s see 21K supporters every weekend – even if only for home games that would be a start.

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