Shrewsbury Town out to defend unbeaten league record at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough
Shrewsbury Town have a proud and perhaps unlikely record to protect ahead of their first league game at Sheffield Wednesday in almost 40 years.
Town have not lost in eight league visits to the historic Hillsborough stadium, an arena the club have not played in league action for almost 38 years.
That run is put to the test tomorrow as an entire new generation of Shrewsbury fans prepare to watch their side at the home of the Owls for the first time.
The sides have not shared the same division since 1984, when Wednesday won promotion to the top flight.
But a home match against Shrewsbury was always something of a curse for the South Yorkshiremen.
Of those eight league clashes at Hillsborough, six were draws and two were victories for the side from Shropshire. Town were renowned for punching well above their weight in the second tier throughout the 1980s and this was certainly the case against Wednesday.
The teams’ last Hillsborough league clash in late 1983 – there was a 2-1 defeat in a League Cup replay in 1987 in which Bernard McNally scored for the visitors – ended 1-1 in front of almost 18,000 after Colin Robinson had the visitors ahead at half-time.
Prior to that Town had drawn 0-0 twice on the spin, in 1982 and then 1983.
There was a Boxing Day 1-1 draw in 1980 – Town’s second season in the second tier – in which Ian Atkins netted.
After a fitting 1-1 draw in their first trip to Hillsborough in October 1975 – Alan Tarbuck was on target – Town 1-0 wins came in 1976 and 1977 courtesy of Brian Hornsby and Paul Maguire.
Little wonder Shrewsbury fans would say they fancied their chances in a neutral semi-final played at Hillsborough, were they to ever get a chance in cup competition.
