Will Boyle: It’s an honour to become Shrewsbury Town captain

Will Boyle says it is an “honour” to become Shrewsbury Town’s new captain.

Boss Gavin Cowan confirmed the defender will wear the armband during the 2026/27 season, stepping into the role left vacant following John Marquis’ departure this summer.

Boyle served as Salop’s vice-captain last season, captaining the side on numerous occasions, and is relishing the opportunity and responsibility that now comes with the role.

Shrewsbury’s newly appointed skipper said: “I’m really pleased, first and foremost.

“We’ve got an honest, good group of lads who it is an honour to lead.

“There’s a few who could have been captains in there (changing room) and have been in the past. So, it’s not something that I take lightly.

“It’s something I do feel I’ve done in the past and my personality sort of lends itself to it.

“But I’ll be doing the best I can for the lads, on the pitch first and foremost. That’s ultimately it.

“Then off the pitch, it’s a good place to come in. We’ve got a good group of lads and if we can all buy into what we’re trying to do on the pitch and off the pitch, then you never know what can happen.

“I’ve seen that, lived that. So, yeah, I’m pleased.”

Boyle joined Salop from Wrexham last summer after helping the Welsh club secure back-to-back promotions from League Two and League One.

He now enters his second season in Shropshire and had been viewed as the leading contender to take on the captaincy after serving as vice-captain last term.

With Marquis sidelined through injury between mid-February and late March last season, Boyle captained Shrewsbury for 10 consecutive matches and wore the armband in 17 of his 43 League Two appearances.

Asked whether Cowan had given him any specific instructions for the role, Boyle added: “Nothing in particular that he’s told me so far.

“He is very personal with all the players, so he does have good relationships with all the players.

“That’s something I’ve probably had already. So, carrying that on, I’d imagine.”

Boyle captained Town during Saturday’s 4-1 pre-season defeat to Championship side West Brom.

Salop conceded for the first time in pre-season, excluding penalty shoot-outs, and were denied a third consecutive friendly victory as they came under sustained pressure from the Baggies.

“Overall it was a good exercise for us,” Boyle said. “I think we’ll look back on it and it’ll be a good step forward for us.

“It’s the first pre-season game where we’ve played against higher opposition and the first couple of days in training where we’ve been working on stuff out of possession, and that was a perfect exercise for us to try and put it into practice.

“We know there's loads that we can work on. It was exactly what we wanted from it.”