Nicky Wroe recalls his fond memories of first Shrewsbury Town spell

Initially making the switch from Devon to Shropshire as he swapped Torquay for Shrewsbury, the midfielder joined a Graham Turner side looking to push for promotion from League Two.

A cruel twist of fate denied Wroe, now 34, promotion as he was unable to prevent Town going down to his former club in the play-off semi-finals – in two-legged clashes remembered for Gulls loanee Jake Robinson, who was involved in Wroe’s swap deal, featuring for Torquay against his parent side.

But Turner, Wroe and Co were not to be denied as they sealed automatic promotion the following season, 2011/12, as part of a talented side who also had the memory of a League Cup trip to Arsenal to cherish.

Wroe, who netted six times that season including three penalties, was out of contract and snapped up by League One Preston. He impressed in his first campaign with the Whites before a two-month loan shortly into the next season, where he was part of a side that struggled for form and ended in Turner’s resignation.

“Obviously the team were struggling and I’d not been playing, so it was hard to get my fitness up,” said Wroe, who has since played in non-league for Halifax, Bradford PA, Boston and Curzon Ashton.

“There were a lot of loans that season as well, with me being one of them, and sometimes that just doesn’t work out. There were a lot of young lads who sometimes have got their own agenda, so it just didn’t work out unfortunately.

“I was disappointed because I’d obviously had such fond memories of the place from my first spell and then I came back and didn’t really do myself justice, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to help the team out as much as I would have hoped.

“It was a totally different atmosphere as well from what I was used to down there. When everyone’s doing well everybody gets along well. When it’s not everybody tries looking after themselves and things get scrutinised a little differently.

“At the time I thought it was a great chance to go back, get them going again, get myself going again career-wise, but it just didn’t quite happen unfortunately.”

But, during a first spell consisting of 71 games, Wroe is remembered for playing his part in a solid and functioning midfield who looked after the ball extremely well allowed the side’s flair players and goalscorers to deliver.

“It can go one of two ways, you can either get your head down and sulk about it or roll your sleeves up like we did,” Wroe, speaking to shrewsweb.com, reflected on Town’s 2011/12 recovery from play-off disappointment.

“Graham Turner added to the squad, which made a difference, and it was a good season, probably one of my most enjoyable seasons.

“I think there was a good squad of about 20 lads that all could play, which meant there was plenty of competition. I think there were at least two people for every position, which drove everybody on, knowing that somebody would take your place if you weren’t performing. That’s probably one of the best squads I’ve played in. Everybody knew their jobs and we were well drilled, but we played some quite attractive football as well, so as a midfielder it was a good team to play in.”