How Joe Hart’s surprise Shrewsbury Town role sparked behind-the-scenes laughs

Joe Hart's surprise one-off role in Shrewsbury Town's backroom team led to plenty of “who would have thought it” jokes among the club's management team.

Salop assistant boss Dave Edwards recently reflected on a memorable night at Salford City, where Town secured a dramatic comeback victory with Hart part of the backroom staff.

With Salop waiting for Harry Burgoyne to officially take up his role as goalkeeping coach, the Shrewsbury-born former England international stepped in to help warm up Matt Cox and Will Brook. The evening ended with Hart celebrating with the travelling Town supporters.

For Hart and the Shrewsbury management team, who know each other well from their playing days and have remained close friends, it was a surreal occasion.

Asked whether there had been any jokes with his former team-mate, Edwards said: “Yeah we did, we said almost ‘who would have thought it’.

“I know coaching's not on Joe's radar. It was definitely only one game for Joe.

“But I remember before our first game against Barnet, me, Gavin, Jamie and a few other members of the coaching staff were sat in the coaches’ office at the Meadow and I had a voice note from Joe - he'd sent one to Gav as well - just wishing us luck.

“I sent him a little selfie back and he just thought it was crazy. He was like ‘what the hell's going on here? Gav, Dave and Jamie are just about to lead Shrewsbury out’. He thought it was wild.

“But we've kept in contact with Joe a lot, so he's always stayed in touch with what's going on at Shrewsbury. I think even more so over the last few months.”

Born in Shropshire's county town, Hart was still a pupil at Meole Brace School when, aged 15, he was first named in a senior matchday squad as a substitute for Town in 2003.

The goalkeeper went on to make 58 appearances for Shrewsbury before joining Manchester City in a deal worth more than £1 million in 2006.

Hart's appearance at Salford was kept under wraps, with supporters arriving at Moor Lane surprised to see the former England number one helping with the pre-match warm-up.

“It was brilliant,” Edwards said.

“We had a few weeks where we didn't have Harry Burgoyne at the club and we were using contacts to make sure that the goalkeepers were still being worked.

“I spoke to Joe initially about if he knew anyone and he was trying to put me in touch with different people. Then he just said that if he was free and available then he would happily come and do it as well.

“We were very careful. Gavin in particular was very careful that he didn't want it to become a distraction, because we're on a good run at the time. He didn't want it to feel like a bit of a circus and we're parading Joe out there like some sort of media stunt.

“We thought it'd be great for the football club, great for Coxy and Will and we decided let's do it but keep it under wraps for as long as possible, because we don't want the fanfare around it.

“But he hit it off straight away, the lads loved it, he was brilliant for Coxy.

“To get the win then we could enjoy the scenes and enjoy the media side of it after that. It'd be very different, we'd have gone there and lost but fortunately we won.”