“I won’t even let my kids win at Monopoly” - Shrewsbury Town captain John Marquis on his drive to win

Winning is everything to Shrewsbury Town captain John Marquis - so much so he won’t even let his children beat him at Monopoly.

It has been a turbulent couple of years at Shrewsbury Town. Since joining in July 2024, Marquis was part of the side relegated to League Two last season, before a difficult start to the current campaign that saw Salop win just five games prior to Gavin Cowan’s arrival.

However, despite a recent injury setback, Marquis has earned significant praise from Cowan for his leadership and attitude, and remains the club’s top scorer for the second season running.

The 33-year-old said securing Shrewsbury’s Football League status was his main priority when speaking to Cowan during his time sidelined, regardless of his role on the pitch.

“After the first relegation in my career last season, I didn't want it to be two in a row,” Marquis told the Shropshire Star.

“On a personal level and as a club, we don't believe where we are on the table is a reflection of where we should be. We are where we are and we respect that.

“However, moving forward, we need to shift that almost like a losing mentality in the harshest way possible. There's been a lot of losses in the last two years and obviously that's down to the players as well. Definitely down to the players.

“We need to make sure that the mindset of accepting losing games is taken away.

“I'm one of those people who, as horrible as it sounds to admit it, I don't even let my kids win a game of Monopoly when I play at home, because I like to win and it eats me up inside when I'm not winning. I think that's something that's within a lot of the players.

“However, we need to put that practice into performance and make sure that we're doing it on a Saturday and not be an easy target.

“We don't want people thinking ‘we're playing Shrewsbury, we'll beat them’. We don't want that narrative put on us.”

Salop can now look ahead to a stress-free final three games of the season before a summer rebuild.

Marquis is one of several players whose contracts expire at the end of the campaign, but he has indicated he would be open to staying.

He continued: “We want to finish the season well and make sure that moving into next season that we can start shifting it the other way where you're winning often, drawing regularly and losing not often.”

As for Monopoly, Marquis sounds like a formidable opponent.

“I'm a bit of a hoarder to be fair, I’m a tough sale,” he laughed.

“I try to pick up some bits on the cheap and I sell high as well. The kids aren't too happy, but occasionally, occassionally they get the better of me.”