Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne banking on home support

The goalkeeper is enjoying his best run between the sticks for Shrewsbury Town since he joined the club in January.

Burgoyne was influential in helping Sam Ricketts’ side through to the second round of the FA Cup last Saturday. A welcome clean sheet, secured after a stunning reflex save from close range in the first half at Cambridge, comes as a boost to a Town side looking to halt a poor run of form.

The 23-year-old, who had various loans from former club Wolves, has required patience this season having lost his place to loan goalkeepers on two occasions, but injuries have provided him a run in Ricketts’ side.

Asked if he was determined to succeed on behalf of Ludlow, Burgoyne said: “Definitely. I’m hoping when fans are allowed back in, and that if I’m in the team, we can get bus-loads of people coming up from Ludlow.

“Even though it’ll just be a little bit more support, the more the merrier, I’m looking forward to those times coming back again.”

The south Shropshire shot-stopper recalls a fixture against Stretton Magpies as a youngster which played a key role in him becoming a goalkeeper.

He also paid tribute to goalkeeping coach Allan Hawkins, whose Hawxsport goalkeeper gloves he now wears, in his progression

“From when football had started to get serious I was a goalkeeper,” Burgoyne added. “I did play outfield when I was a proper (young) kid but I remember a goalkeeper didn’t turn up for a game against Stretton Magpies and I went in goal. I did well.

“A goalkeeper coach for Allan Hawkins, who did a bit for West Brom at the time, was doing his own goalkeeping schools down at Ludlow and he took me in.

“I had two years with him and he got me a trial at West Brom, then Birmingham and eventually I signed for Wolves.

“He did lots for me as a kid, he taught me the basics about goalkeeping so I have a lot to thank him for.

“Now I’m wearing his goalkeeping gloves, he has his own gloves out, so I have a lot to thank him for to be honest.”

Burgoyne, who now lives just a short distance from Town’s Montgomery Waters Meadow, travelled far and wide on six loan spells away from Molineux.

He turned out for non-league outfits Corby Town and Lowestoft Town, before a stint closer to home at AFC Telford United.

A short trip to Barnet followed before Burgoyne broke his ankle early on in a spell at Football League side Plymouth. The keeper then spent part of 2018/19 in the Scottish Championship with Falkirk.

He said: “I’ve done some mileage on my miles to be honest! They were all learning curves, when you go out on loan you never know you have to impress. It might be in five or 10 years time, you might have had a good relationship with someone because of what you’d done all that time ago.

“Football is such a small world you never know who you are going to bump into again.

“If you can do all of the loans and set good first impressions on somebody then you’ll always be in their thoughts going forward.

“To be at Telford, Corby Town, Lowestoft, Barnet and Plymouth, even though it wasn’t good at Plymouth, you still make good connections with people, not just football staff, but also fans around the country, that sticks with you and you stay in touch with people.”