Shrewsbury Town's George Lloyd recalls near FA Cup upset against Manchester City ahead of Wolves tie
Shrewsbury Town striker George Lloyd has recalled the time he nearly helped pull off one of the biggest shocks in recent FA Cup history.
Cheltenham Town were just nine minutes away from beating Manchester City in the fourth round in 2021. Alfie May had given Cheltenham the lead after a chaotic throw-in, with Lloyd, then a Robins player, credited with the assist.
Cheltenham looked set for a major upset until the 81st-minute, when Phil Foden levelled. Gabriel Jesus added a second soon after, and Ferran Torres sealed the win in extra time.
"That was a memorable game," Lloyd said ahead of Shrewsbury's second-round tie with Sutton United.
"It was weird because it was during the Covid-19 pandemic. There were no fans, it was on the TV.
"It felt like a massive game, but there was no atmosphere, and, to be honest, that probably helped us.
"We were 1-0 up. Alfie May had scored a long throw-in from Ben Tozer. It came off my shoulder, and somehow I got the assist. It was a class game.
"They had a lot of big boys playing and brought on some big boys from the bench when they needed to, and then finished the job on us.
"But they were obviously a different class, and we took them to the end. It was really good."
Lloyd made more than 130 appearances in all competitions for Cheltenham, scoring 12 goals.
The 25-year-old admits the City tie is something he will talk about for the rest of his career.
"As soon as someone says about the FA Cup, it's always the first thing that comes into my head," he continued.
"It'd be nice to get another one in there that I can say I've played against them as well or even beat one of them."
And Lloyd got his wish as Shrewsbury were drawn away to Wolves in the third round. More than 3,000 Salop supporters are set to make the trip to Molineux on Saturday.
