From pitch to dugout: Gavin Cowan and the players who went on to manage Shrewsbury Town
Gavin Cowan's appointment has added his name to a select and historic Shrewsbury Town list - players who have gone on to manage the club.
Cowan has become the ninth man to both pull on a Salop shirt and later take charge from the dugout since the club joined the Football League in 1950.
He joins an illustrious group comprising Arthur Rowley, Alan Durban, Graham Turner, Phil 'Chic' Bates, Asa Hartford, Jake King, Jimmy Quinn and Mike Jackson.
Cowan, who signed for Shrewsbury in March 2005 before leaving in January 2007, returns to the Meadow tasked with securing Salop's Football League status.
He is joined by Town legend Dave Edwards as his joint assistant, alongside former Salop youth player Jamie Haynes.
Here are some of the other figures to make that transition:
Arthur Rowley: 1958-1968
Rowley joined Shrewsbury in June 1958 and served as player-manager.
He scored a club-record 152 goals, including an astonishing 38 league goals in the 1958/59 season. Rowley guided Town to promotion to the Third Division in his first season in charge and finished his playing career at Gay Meadow in 1965, but continued as manager until 1968.
Born in Wolverhampton, Rowley also starred for Leicester City, where he became their all-time leading scorer, before spells managing Sheffield United and Southend United. He later returned to Shrewsbury, remaining a familiar figure around the club.
Alan Durban: 1973-1978
Durban began his managerial career at Shrewsbury Town in 1973, and appointed former Derby County teammate Richie Barker as his assistant.
He led Salop to promotion in the 1974/75 season and helped consolidate their position in the Third Division.
Durban also delivered silverware, winning the Welsh Cup in 1977, before leaving to manage Stoke City.
Graham Turner: 1978-1984 & 2010-2014
Turner is regarded as one of Shrewsbury's greatest managers.
He made more than 350 league appearances for Salop and became player-manager in the 1978/79 season, leading the club to the Third Division title.
Under Turner, Shrewsbury spent ten seasons in the Second Division and reached the FA Cup quarter-finals twice.
In June 2010, Turner made a remarkable return to Salop, 26 years after his initial departure. After narrowly missing out on promotion via the play-offs in his first season back, he led Shrewsbury to League One in 2011/12, setting a club record points tally and going unbeaten at home throughout the campaign.
Phil 'Chic' Bates: 1984-1987
First signed from non-league Stourbridge in 1974, Bates scored 17 goals in his debut season at Salop and played a key role in securing promotion to the Third Division.
After spells away from the club, Bates returned to Shrewsbury and succeeded Graham Turner as manager in 1984. He retired from playing the following year to take up full-time management.
Bates guided Town to their highest-ever Football League finish - eighth in the Second Division in the 1984/85 season.
He enjoyed a 50-year association with Salop as a player, manager, coach and supporter, and was inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame in 2013.
Jimmy Quinn: 2003-2005
A Northern Ireland international, Quinn enjoyed a prolific playing career, scoring 210 Football League goals.
He joined a relegated Shrewsbury Town in 2003 and delivered immediate success, leading the club back into the Football League by winning the Conference play-off final in 2004.
Remarkably, at the age of 44, Quinn also made 15 appearances that season, scoring four goals.
Asa Hartford: 1990-1991
After his role as player-manager at Stockport County, Hartford joined Shrewsbury, which proved to be the final club of his illustrious playing career. That career included more than 200 appearances for West Bromwich Albion and 180 for Manchester City.
He became a player-coach under Ian McNeill and, following McNeill’s departure, took over as manager. Among his players was centre-back David Moyes, now manager of Everton.
Hartford managed 55 games between January 1990 and January 1991 before leaving the club. He was out of work briefly before being appointed to the Blackburn Rovers coaching staff, where he worked alongside Kenny Dalglish.
Jake King: 1997-1999
Born in Glasgow, King began his playing career as an apprentice at Town before making his professional debut for the club in 1973.
He became part of the most successful spell in Shrewsbury’s history, helping the club secure promotion to the Third Division. King then scored six times in the final two months of the 1978/79 season, as Salop were crowned champions.
King became only the fifth player in the club's history to make more than 300 appearances, and he returned 15 years later to become manager in May 1997.
He was sacked in 1999 after two mid-table finishes in the Nationwide Third Division.
Mike Jackson: 2014-2016
Jackson was appointed caretaker manager in January 2014 following the departure of Graham Turner.
He had been with Shrewsbury since signing as a player in 2008, before joining the coaching staff when injury forced him to retire in 2010.
After initially succeeding Turner in a caretaker role, Jackson was then installed until the end of the season. However, Shrewsbury won just three times in 19 games following Turner's departure, and Jackson was unable to prevent relegation to League Two.
Despite this, the club opted to retain his services as assistant to new manager Micky Mellon. After securing just two wins in the opening 11 matches of the 2016/17 season, Jackson left the club by mutual consent in October 2016.
