Shrewsbury assistant outlines ambition within the local community

Dobson and Gareth Ainsworth arrived at the Croud Meadow at the end of November as they replaced former boss Paul Hurst. 

The duo had an incredibly successful period in charge of their former club Wycombe, where they achieved multiple promotions, in the more than a decade they spent at Adams Park.

And while the pair are focused on improving Town's bleak on-field position, Dobson is aware of the impact football has on people away from the 90 minutes they watch on a Saturday and Tuesday. 

“Football clubs can play a part in improving people's lives," he said. “On a Saturday if we win at the Croud Meadow, 6,000 people go home a little bit happier. But if we only ever look at football through the black-and-white lenses of winning and losing, we miss all the colour that sits in between.

“There are some moments in games that people talk about 20 years later, I was there that day when, those sorts of moments. But we can affect people's lives so much more and we can affect them in a far deeper way than just winning and losing.

“People still turn up again the following week when we've lost and they still turn up in a season where we're bottom of the league. Why? People's reasons to come into football is far, far bigger than just winning and losing. They always come in the hope of winning, they want success, but it runs much deeper than that.

"So if we can inspire people by what we're doing here, I think the club and the town are going to grow very quickly together. And that's the long-term goal for me.

“We obviously want to build a better side and win more matches but at the same time our behaviours and the way that we conduct ourselves and the way that we interact with our local communities is so important to more stories."

Salop have been in a tricky spot this season, they are bottom of the league table with nine games remaining. 

They are going to drop into the fourth tier of English football for the first time in more than a decade. 

Regardless of Shrews' battle on the pitch, Dobson and Ainsworth have been received well by the Town supporters, and that is something Dobson is very grateful for.

He said: “As somebody who's come to this ground several times as one of the opponents, you literally drive up in the coach, get out, go into the away dressing room, out onto the pitch, back into the away dressing room, and you leave. 

“So travelling up here to meet the chairman, we went into town to have a coffee beforehand and you kind of go, wow, this place is actually quite beautiful.

“I'm really thankful to everybody for the reception that we've got and the welcome that we've had. 

“Walking through town and people will walk past you and just subtly go up the town as they walk past. It's just lovely because you know it means something to the people of the local area.

“Salopians are very proud of their area, I've found. As the chairman said to me when I first came here, he said they built the M54 and allowed the outsiders to come in.

“It's a beautiful area as well, and rightly so."