Former 16-goal Shrewsbury Town top scorer among eight ex-Salop players at PFA camp

Three more former Shrewsbury Town players, including an ex-top scorer, have joined the Professional Footballers’ Association's (PFA) free-agent pre-season training camp.

The arrivals of Fejiri Okenabirhie, Vadaine Oliver and Josh Emmanuel mean eight former Salop players are now taking part in the programme as they search for new clubs ahead of the new season.

They are among 47 free agents involved in week five of the initiative, which is open to out-of-contract PFA members who were under professional contracts last season. The programme combines training, friendly matches and wellbeing support.

Okenabirhie joined the camp after most recently playing for Modern Sport in the Egyptian Premier League. The 30-year-old spent 18 months at Shrewsbury between the summer of 2018 and January 2020, finishing as the club’s top scorer in his first season with 16 goals in 49 appearances.

He joined Doncaster Rovers for an undisclosed fee in January 2020 before later spending time with Cambridge United.

Former striker Oliver is also part of the camp. The 34-year-old joined Shrewsbury on loan from Bradford City in January and was unable to help the club avoid relegation from League One.

He scored twice and provided one assist in 13 appearances before returning to Bradford. Oliver was released at the end of the 2024/25 season and spent last season with Hartlepool United.

Another familiar face is Emmanuel, who spent the first half of the 2018/19 campaign on loan at Shrewsbury from Ipswich Town.

The 28-year-old made 14 League One appearances before being recalled by Ipswich in January. He was most recently with Chelmsford City.

The trio join several other former Shrewsbury players who have featured in the camp in recent weeks. James Bolton, Anthony Scully, John Marquis, Sam Hart and Josh Ginnelly have all been training and playing with the PFA during pre-season.

Marquis and Scully were both released by Shrewsbury when their contracts expired this summer. Former Salop captain Marquis has been among the goals for the PFA, scoring a brace against Barnet before also finding the net against Hednesford Town.

Former Town defender Bolton - who started both the 2018 EFL Trophy final and the League One play-off final at Wembley - joined the camp following his departure from Fleetwood Town.