Shrewsbury Town’s decade in League One: Mixed second season under Steve Cotterill

Steve Cotterill’s side had finished 17th in 2020-21 after he drastically improved the team after taking the job following the sacking of Sam Ricketts. 

But in his second season they were unable to build on that progress as they finished three places above the bottom four. They were well clear of the drop though with a comfortable 10-point margin and largely superior goal difference separating them and Gillingham who finished 21st. 

The season had started in fairly disastrous fashion as they lost their first four games consecutively. They lost to Burton at home on the opening day, before falling to defeats against Morecambe, Portsmouth and Plymouth all without scoring a goal. 

Salop finally got their first goal and their first three points of the campaign with a 2-1 home win against Gillingham - Sam Cosgrove and Tom Bloxham got the goals. The latter was a remarkable overhead kick, his first in senior football. 

The game was an ill-tempered affair as four red cards were shown by referee Sam Allison. David Davis was sent off for two yellow cards, while substitute goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne was also given his marching orders for Salop whilst not even being on the pitch.

While Town got that monkey off their back and kickstarted their season, they did only win one more game in their next seven clashes as the early season form was average at best. 

They turned that around though as they lost just once between mid-December and mid-February. 

In March, Salop won three games on the spin as they beat Morecambe 5-0 at the Meadow, Rotherham 3-0 away from home, followed by a 1-0 home victory over Lincoln. 

It was the second time they had beaten the Imps in Shropshire that season after triumphing on penalties against them in the first round of the Carabao Cup. That was before they were knocked out in disappointing fashion at home to Rochdale. 

They made it to the third round of the FA Cup after wins at Stratford and Carlisle, to set up another mouthwatering clash at Anfield. 

Salop were in dreamland when Dan Udoh scored just before the half-hour mark and celebrated in front of the away fans behind the goal. But the hosts would hit back, as Kaide Gordon, Roberto Firmino and a Fabinho brace eventually saw Jurgen Klopp’s side to a comfortable 4-1 victory. 

Marko Marosi, Luke Leahy, Matthew Pennington, Elliott Bennett and George Nurse all made more than 40 league starts. 

Udoh was one of Town’s star players that season with him netting 16 goals across all competitions. Leahy also showed his value netting eight times. His performances on the pitch would eventually see him go on to be named captain by Cotterill the following campaign. 

Wigan, who beat Salop 3-0 at the Croud Meadow on the final day of the season, were crowned champions with Rotherham going up alongside them. 

The Gills, Doncaster, Wimbledon and Crewe were all relegated from the third tier after feeble attempts at staying in the league.