Salop Social: Leon Clarke capture brings back happy memories

Chris Hudson

The signing of striker Leon Clarke late last week was a real statement of intent from Shrewsbury Town and brought back a few happy memories for me.

That’s because it’s not the first time Salop have turned to a distinguished Clarke to boost their attacking prowess.

If Leon can have the same impact as namesake Wayne Clarke did some 27 years ago, then we could yet be in for a very exciting season.

I well remember Wayne signing in August 1993, just two days before the start of the season, and going on to form a deadly partnership with Dean Spink.

Clarke had won the old First Division title with Everton in 1987, and also turned out for Manchester City, Wolves and Birmingham.

He oozed class in a Town team that recovered from losing all of its first three League games to win the old Third Division (now League Two) title.

If Leon can have the same impact on this current Shrewsbury side, then we could have some fun over the coming weeks and months (albeit most of us will have to settle for watching it on iFollow).

Steve Jones

Town fans have few fond memories of 2013/14 for obvious reasons. But, if history teaches us anything, it is how much of a missed opportunity that season was.

While the team were quite frankly hopeless, finishing 23rd, the same group could compete for promotion to the Premier League today.

The long list of loanees includes Rangers captain James Tavernier, Nathaniel Mendez-Laingand Sheffield Wednesday regulars Adam Reach and Dom Iorfa.

Even Cristian López (remember him?) went on to enjoy a prolific spell in Ligue 2 with Lens before playing in France’s top division.

Tom Eaves was also a Championship regular last season, as were Tom Bradshaw and Ryan Woods. Homegrown talent was aplenty with Connor Goldson and Jon Taylor also featuring heavily before going on to bigger and better things.

Goldson is joined in the SPL by Sam Foley and Curtis Main. Miles Storey, another striker who couldn’t score for Shrewsbury, also enjoyed four years in Scotland’s top tier.

Meanwhile, Joe Jacobson remains a key player for Wycombe in the Championship. It’s a cliché, but things really do change quickly in football.

Nathan Rowden

The new normal really hit home last weekend. There I was sat in my front room eyes glued to a still on the television displaying ‘Plymouth v Shrewsbury’ as BBC Shropshire’s commentary got underway on iFollow.

And for 25 scintillating minutes Town dominated Plymouth, took the lead through Josh Vela but unfortunately conceded a sloppy equaliser. That’s about as much as the first half I can talk about.

The curse of iFollow struck again. Suddenly the screen went blank and the spinning circle of death started.

I’d followed the iFollow troubleshooting tips, no luck. I tried to speak to someone via the iFollow chat, but no answer other than an automated reply.

My wallet was £10 lighter and all I seemed to be doing was getting stressed out in my front room. This was, for a second weekend, not working.

The second half got underway, according to Twitter, and I was still staring at a blank screen and was on the verge of giving up. Then out of nowhere on 55 minutes, it suddenly sprang to life.

Credit to Brian Caldwell, I emailed him to let him know about the issues and he speedily contacted the EFL. This Saturday’s visit of Gillingham is the first game where iFollow is being used as a substitute for a match ticket through the season ticket, and I have already somewhat lost confidence.