“Breaks the monotony” - Gavin Cowan on Shrewsbury Town’s Isle of Man trip

Boss Gavin Cowan says Shrewsbury Town’s pre-season trip to the Isle of Man will provide valuable bonding time ahead of the new campaign.

It was announced on Monday that Salop will travel to the Isle of Man in July to take part in a four-team tournament.

They will face National League North side Radcliffe before taking on either FC Isle of Man or Northern Premier League West champions Bury two days later.

With a summer rebuild on the horizon, Cowan is looking forward to the trip and believes it will play an important role in preparations.

“I’m over the moon,” he said. “It's actually an initiative that I've engaged in over the last couple of seasons, taking my teams there.

“It's a great place to be, it's a beautiful island. It's a way of us sort of getting away and breaking up the monotony of training, but also gives a chance for the fans to go there and enjoy it as well.”

He added: “We'll go over there and be ultimately professional playing two games, but it'll be a bit of downtime for the players to get to know each other as well.”

Ahead of the 2022/23 season, Shrewsbury travelled to Spain as part of their preparations, and Cowan is hoping supporters will make the journey this time around.

He added: “I don't want to sound spoiled because we've got unbelievable resources at the training ground. It just gives everybody a chance to be connected.

“Yes, we are there from a footballing perspective and there'll be a lot of hard work done out there.

“The people at the Isle of Man are absolutely fantastic, they're brilliant hosts. It's a really good tournament.

“It's an opportunity for the fans to come over, rub shoulders with us, come and support

their team.

“It's in touching distance, it's not a million miles away. That's why I just felt like it was a brilliant initiative, because we want the fans to come along and support us if they're able to.”