The longest, most hectic season of my tenure at Shrewsbury Town is coming to a dramatic conclusion. With just one match to play in the League One season, we still have a chance of securing automatic promotion to the Championship. (On that note, if you’ve not read Part 7 yet, then you really should.)
I’ve already had two failed attempts to take this Shrews team into the second tier. If we were to fall short again, having been in such a strong position only weeks ago, I’m not sure I would have the stomach to grind through another campaign in League One. As the title says, it really is PROMOTION OR BUST.
THE FINAL WEEKEND
So that’s how things stand going into the final round of League One matches on Saturday 1 May 2021. Charlton are already promoted to the Championship, and either us or Portsmouth will join them in going up automatically. Whoever misses out must settle for the play-offs.
We finish off at home to Colchester, who are 12th and have nothing meaningful at stake. After drawing our last two games at New Meadow, we realistically need to beat the U’s to have a chance of moving back up to 2nd. Even then, though, it might not be enough.
Portsmouth’s final match is away to Bradford, who are battling for League One survival. A home victory would not only do us a huge favour, but it would also give the Bantams hope of avoiding relegation at our local rivals Walsall’s expense. However, an away win will promote Pompey and relegate the Bantams, regardless of results elsewhere.
The permutations are simple. Pompey must MATCH our result to be promoted; we must BETTER Pompey’s to go up.
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs COLCHESTER UNITED (League One, Match 46)
Instead of giving you one of my usual match reports, I’ll change things up a bit for the final day. I’ll leave you in the company of Jeff Stelling and Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday team:
5:44pm – JEFF: “Now let’s get the latest news from New Meadow, because there’s been a PENALTY… but to whom, Alan McInally?”
ALAN: “It’s terrible news for Shrewsbury, Jeff, because Colchester have won the penalty. Brennan Dickenson came in with the inswinging free-kick, and he tried to pick out the right-back Jordan Williams, but Mwandwe tugged at his shirt and pulled him down! Absolute stonewaller.”
JEFF: “And who’s going to take the penalty, Alan?”
ALAN: “It’s Alex Gilbey who’s coming forward to try and beat Freddie Woodman… and it’s cool as you like! Woodman dives to his right, but Gilbey drills it straight down the middle! 1-0 to Colchester!“
JEFF: “That news will go down a treat for Portsmouth fans at Valley Parade. If Shrewsbury lose, remember, then Pompey will be promoted regardless of their result against Bradford!”
6:00pm – JEFF: “Welcome back to this final Soccer Saturday of the EFL season. A penalty has been given at Valley Parade, and it could have HUGE consequences in terms of not only the race to get promoted from League One, but also to stay in it! Sue Smith?”
SUE: “Yes, Jeff, and it’s gone Portsmouth’s way! Jamie Walker sent a corner to the far post, and Ryan McGowan in the Bradford defence pushes Matt O’Riley to stop him getting his head to it. The referee pointed to the spot, and Zach Clough’s stepping up to put Portsmouth 1-0 up.”
JEFF: “This would be Zach Clough’s 14th league goal of the campaign if he scored. An away goal here would also push Bradford closer to relegation, even though Walsall are losing 1-0 at Scunthorpe.”
SUE: “Here he comes… but Walker saves it… and he stops the rebound as well! Oh my goodness! The Bradford fans are celebrating as if they’ve scored! Sam Walker with two big saves in a row keeps it at 0-0!”
6:09pm – ALAN: “Hang on… oh my… GOOOOOAL!”
JEFF: “Let’s go straight back to New Meadow! Alan?”
ALAN: “And it’s 2-0 to Colchester! Kane Vincent-Young feeds the ball to Brendan Comley on the edge of the box, and then young Jack North for Shrewsbury comes in with a wild slide tackle. The ball slides across into the area, and who’s there to finish? Ali Al-Hamadi curls it home! Shrewsbury are in some bother!”
JEFF: “That is Al-Hamadi’s seventh goal for Colchester this season since joining them on loan from Swansea. He’s 19 years old, and he’s destined for a bright future, that is for sure.”
6:11pm – JEFF: “I’m hearing there’s been ANOTHER goal at New Meadow… and it’s a lifeline for Shrewsbury! Alan?”
ALAN: “Indeed it is, and it’s another peach of a corner from Shrewsbury captain Richie Smallwood! The big centre-back Adarabioyo gets his head to it and flicks it to the near post, where Lee Angol volleys it into the net! 2-1!“
JEFF: “There’s no keeping Lee Angol quiet, is there? It’s his 16th league goal of the season for Shrewsbury, and boy did they need it!”
6:18pm – JEFF: “The half-time whistle has gone at New Meadow, and Shrewsbury will need to come from 2-1 behind if they are to be promoted this evening. A penalty from Gilbey and a second goal from Al-Hamadi put Colchester in control, but Angol pulled one back for Shrewsbury just before half-time. Chris Fuller has a huge team-talk to give now!
“It’s also half-time at Valley Parade, and it’s still Bradford 0, Portsmouth 0 in a pivotal match at both ends of the table. As things stand, Bradford are going down to League Two, and Portsmouth are being promoted to the Championship, but that could all change in the next hour!”
6:37pm – JEFF: “Paddy Madden puts Yeovil 2-0 up at Burton, which will give their fans some solace after a miserable season that’s already seen them relegated to League Two…”
ALAN: “GOAL!”
JEFF: “You know I said Chris Fuller had a huge team-talk to give at half-time? Well, it looks like he’s REALLY fired Shrewsbury up, Alan!”
ALAN: “IT’S 2-2! Shrewsbury have been so dangerous from corners this season, and they’ve done it again! This time, the hanging ball comes in from Colkett, and he finds the head of Jack North! Jayson Leutwiler is well beaten at his left-hand post, and New Meadow is buzzing! Shrewsbury are back in the promotion race!”
JEFF: “It was Jack North’s 18th birthday on Thursday! Well, I’m sure he’ll relish that late birthday present, which might well be Shrewsbury’s golden ticket to the Championship… but only if Portsmouth lose at Bradford. It’s still 0-0 there, so as things stand, Portsmouth will still be promoted.”
6:51pm – ALAN: “Oh no, what a waste!”
JEFF: “Was that a golden opportunity Shrewsbury have wasted at New Meadow, Alan?”
ALAN: “Yes, Jeff, and it’s been wasted by Nathan Beard – the 17-year-old striker who came on at half-time. A beautiful cross comes in from the left from Luke Garbutt, but Beard’s header was well caught by Leutwiler.
“I have to say Shrewsbury have looked by far the better team since Chris Fuller switched to what looks like a 4-4-2 diamond. I suspect this won’t be the last opportunity they get, Jeff. Still 2-2.”
6:58pm – SUE: “Ooh, what a ball! GOAL!”
JEFF: “There’s a goal at Valley Parade, but have Bradford pulled themselves out of the relegation zone… or have Portsmouth just taken a huge step towards promotion? Sue Smith?”
SUE: “It’s 1-0 Portsmouth at last, Jeff! They’ve been threatening this for so long, and now they’ve made the breakthrough. Mason Greenwood threads a lovely through-ball to Jamal Lowe out on the left. Lowe gets past Alpha Dionkou to latch onto it and drill it across the face of the goal, and then Mateusz Mak prods in a simple finish at the far post!”
JEFF: “And that means Portsmouth WILL be promoted to the Championship as things stand, no matter what Shrewsbury do against Colchester. It also means desperate times for Bradford, who will be dropping into League Two unless they win. Walsall may be 2-0 behind at Scunthorpe, but they are staying up if Bradford can’t turn this around.”
7:08pm – SUE: “Oh! Own goal!”
JEFF: “Another goal in Sue’s game at Valley Parade! Are Bradford dead and buried now, or have they come back from the brink?”
SUE: “They’re staying alive, Jeff, because it’s 1-1! Jamie Allen with the outswinging corner to Hope Akpan, and it’s his header that goes in off… I think it’s Matt Clarke, the Portsmouth defender! There’s not much he or the goalkeeper Tom King could’ve done about it, but Akpan has given fresh ‘hope’ to Bradford fans.”
JEFF: “It’s fresh hope for Shrewsbury fans as well in their pursuit of automatic promotion to the Championship. There’s still work to do, as they either need to take the lead against Colchester, or hope Bradford can score again. As things stand at the moment, though, it’s still Portsmouth who’ll be promoted at full-time!”
7:15pm – JEFF: “And what a massive, MASSIVE equalising goal that is for Wycombe against Rochdale! It’s moved them out of the League Two drop zone, and now it’s Stevenage who are heading into the National League with Cambridge… unless there’s another twist in the tale!”
SUE: “INCREDIBLE!”
JEFF: “Speaking of twists in the tale, that takes us to Valley Parade! What’s happened, Sue Smith?”
SUE: “Bradford have taken the lead, and it’s Talent Sibanda – the 18-year-old loanee from Brighton – who’s scored it! King hoofed Clarke’s back-pass upfield, but that allowed Bradford to build another attack. The cross comes in from Tyler Garrett on the left wing, it escapes the Pompey defence, and Sibanda is free to finish it! Bradford 2, Portsmouth 1!“
JEFF: “That has completely changed the picture at both ends of the League One table! Remember, if Bradford win – and they are winning now with that goal – they will be SAFE, and Walsall will be relegated instead! But this also means Portsmouth drop into the play-offs, and Shrewsbury – who are still drawing at Colchester – are going up automatically if things stay as they are!”
7:17pm – ALAN: “It’s a chance… WHAT A SAVE!”
JEFF: “Back to New Meadow, where Shrewsbury are going out all guns blazing to secure promotion to the Championship!”
ALAN: “They’re taking the game to Colchester, Jeff, and this really could have been their moment! It’s from another of their young rising stars – the midfielder Danny Hughes. He plays a cute one-two with Garbutt, turns past Williams, and then absolutely leathers it… but Leutwiler somehow gets his fingers to it! Thou shalt not pass! It’s still 2-2!”
7:22pm – JEFF: “Let’s go over to New Meadow now, where Shrewsbury are just minutes away from being promoted to the Championship! Is this one last attack I’m seeing from them, Alan?”
ALAN: “Well, it was… but Angol’s just nodded Mark Little’s throw-in straight out of play. That was surely Shrewsbury’s last chance to win the game, but now they’ll be hoping that Bradford can hold on against Portsmouth.
“Leutwiler takes the goal kick… and the referee blows his whistle, but it’s a free-kick to Shrewsbury. Comley’s just pulled on North’s shirt and got himself a booking for this. Adarabioyo needs to punt this free-kick as far as he can… but no, the ref says full-time! Shrewsbury 2, Colchester 2!“
JEFF: “And it’s full-time at New Meadow. Shrewsbury have drawn with Colchester, and they’ve done all they can. They now need to wait for that final whistle and hope Bradford stay 2-1 up against Portsmouth. If they do, Shrewsbury will be playing Championship football next seas-“
SUE: “IT’S A GOAL!”
JEFF: “But now it’s all change AGAIN at Valley Parade, Sue Smith!”
SUE: “This is unbelievable, Jeff! Jamie Allen had a corner for Bradford, but Tom King’s just plucked out of the air and punted it up for a counter-attack! As Bradford’s defenders are rushing back, Jamal Lowe takes the goal kick and spots the run of Mason Greenwood to his right. Greenwood chests it into the box, and Sam Walker’s completely stranded as he drills a shot past him to draw Portsmouth level! It’s 2-2!“
JEFF: “A penny for the thoughts of Chris Fuller and those Shrewsbury players and supporters! Just moments ago, they were 2nd and heading into the Championship, but now Portsmouth have jumped ahead and pushed them back down to 3rd!”
7:25pm – JEFF: “We’re into the last few moments at Valley Parade. Bradford just need to hold on to a draw to League One status – but if they score, they would deny Portsmouth a place in the Championship. How’s it looking for them, Sue?”
SUE: “Clarke’s got a throw-in deep in the Bradford half… and… yeah, it’s all over now! Portsmouth have scored again to win it 3-2! Clarke threw it to Greenwood on the edge of the area, and the ball was flicked on to Mak, who volleys it past the onrushing Sam Walker. Bradford are going down.”
JEFF: “And the looks of despair across the faces of those Bradford fans tell you everything you need to know. Just three minutes ago, they were about to complete the great escape, but two late goals mean that – after eight years in League One – they will be relegated back down to League Two.”
7:27pm – JEFF: “The final whistle has gone at Valley Parade! Bradford have been RELEGATED from League One… and Portsmouth have been PROMOTED! Congratulations to Darren Way and his team, because they will be playing Championship football next season – for the first time since 2013!
“And these are the live scenes at New Meadow, where Shrewsbury have been so cruelly denied promotion in the very last moments! They haven’t played in the second division since 1989, and a 2-2 draw against Colchester would’ve ended that wait had Bradford won their game at Valley Parade! But two late Portsmouth goal have turned these Shrewsbury fans’ tears of joy into tears of despair! For the FOURTH season in a row, they will have to settle for the play-offs!”
Christ. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a heart-breaking moment on Football Manager.
To be honest, we shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. Just two wins from our final three home games would have been enough to stave off Pompey’s late surge and claim promotion. We drew all three of those matches as we lost our nerve.
Now we had to pick ourselves off the floor and face 6th-placed Luton in the Play-Off Semi Finals. The Hatters had benefitted from some final-day drama themselves, with an 88th-minute equaliser from Rotherham denying Hull their play-off place. Kenilworth Road would host the first leg on 5 May, with New Meadow staging the return fixture on 9 May.
By coincidence, all three play-off losers from last season were back in the hunt 12 months later! A late surge had taken our old nemeses Fleetwood up to 5th place – and a Semi Final showdown with Coventry, who’d led the table for much of the season.
LUTON TOWN vs SHREWSBURY TOWN (League One, Play-Off Semi Final – Leg 1)
Since Steve Evans controversially bailed out on Luton’s play-off charge in March, the Hatters’ form had been mixed under new boss Keith Southern. Like us, they went into this match having won just once in five outings. A strong start for either team at Kenilworth Road would surely be vital.
We put together a few encouraging moves in the opening six minutes, though Charlie Colkett fired a couple of free-kicks against the Luton wall. When the hosts managed to launch their first attack in the seventh minute, they looked to make it count.
Luton had a throw-in deep in our half, which left-back Dan Potts sent to midfielder Luke Berry. Though our skipper Richie Smallwood executed an excellent slide tackle on Berry, he was too slow to stop Potts getting to the loose ball. The resulting cross to the back post was then headed into the net by Welsh winger Marley Watkins for 1-0.
The Hatters continued to put us under pressure after that opener, working Freddie Woodman pretty hard in our goal. Though we had a brief purple patch midway through the half, big misses from Rafa Mir and Jack North would ultimately cost us dear.
It was on the stroke of half-time when Luton asserted their authority on proceedings. Chief playmaker Berry was at the heart of things when he stroked the ball out to wing-back Jack Stacey, who had the freedom of the right flank. With nobody picking him up, Stacey was free to slide the ball across our penalty area for Kal Naismith to finish at the back stick.
Trailing 2-0 at the break, I got desperate. With Berry dictating things, I abandoned any notion of us winning any midfield battles and switched to a direct, counter-attacking 4-4-2. To that end, I brought on Ryan Haynes and Alex Gilliead as wingers, and Matt Smith as a target man. Would the huge gamble of using all my subs in one fell swoop pay off?
Erm… no. If anything, it made it even easier for Luton to run the show in midfield. Seven minutes into the second half, Tyreeq Bakinson fed the ball to Shaun McWilliams just inside our box. McWilliams played it short to Naismith, who powered in his second goal of the night – and the Hatters’ third.
One hopeless free-kick from Lee Angol aside, Luton hardly gave us a sniff at goal in the remainder of this first leg. Woodman once again deserved huge credit for keeping the margin down, but his underperforming colleagues had still left us with a huge mountain to climb.
While it wasn’t impossible to turn around a 3-0 deficit at home in the second leg, our recent form didn’t suggest that it was particularly likely. Promotion had surely slipped from our grasp again – and this time, we were entirely to blame.
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs LUTON TOWN (League One, Play-Off Semi Final – Leg 2)
Four days after being lacerated at Luton, we returned home to try and mount the comeback of all comebacks. My increasing desperation saw me switch to a 4-4-2 diamond from the outset, with Jack Clarke and Lifumpa Mwandwe heading our attack. Despite being our leading scorer on 18 goals, Angol wasn’t even named in the squad.
We attacked Luton from the start, pressing them hard to try and make their lives very uncomfortable. Unfortunately, it was Colkett who was left wincing in pain after just 13 minutes. An overhit square pass to Luke Garbutt at left-back strained Charlie’s hamstring, leading to an unexpectedly early recall in midfield for Bryn Morris.
A couple of Hatters were nursing knocks later in the first period, but – importantly – their aggregate lead was still intact at half-time. Having failed to give Marek Stech anything meaningful to do in Luton’s goal, Clarke was sacrificed at the break, with Nathan Beard taking his place up front. We had 45 minutes to score three goals, and I was putting all my trust in a 17-year-old.
Unsurprisingly, the youngest player in our team couldn’t produce the goods. Beard’s only attempt on goal was a swerving free-kick in the 78th minute, which Stech caught with ease. At least Nathan was still on the pitch, though, which was more than could be said of our most experienced campaigner.
12 minutes earlier, I had barked at my team from the touchline to show some passion. Literally seconds later, David Edwards showed his passion… by lunging in on Bakinson with both feet. It wasn’t like Dave to lose his cool at all, and the 35-year-old knew instantly that a red card was coming his way. An impossible task had just become… impossible-er?
Our last fleeting hopes were snuffed out in the 84th minute. Luton’s on-loan Derby teenager Louis Sibley rounded off a fantastic midfield display by powering a Bakinson pass into the top-right corner of Woodman’s net. With that, the Hatters claimed a 1-0 away win to comfortably go through 4-0 on aggregate.
Shrewsbury had fallen short in the Play-Offs yet again and would have to endure ANOTHER season in League One. Following three successive Semi Final defeats, my patience with this team had worn out.
Just minutes after the final whistle, I called an emergency press conference to make a sudden announcement.
THE END
Yeah… that’s all, folks.
If you’ve read my recent posts and/or follow me on Twitter, you might have suspected that this was coming. A family bereavement, various health issues, and continued frustration on FM19 have all had a significant effect on my mental health over the past three weeks. This state of affairs can’t continue, so I’m calling time on the Shrewsbury story before things get worse.
Just like my “Shades of Deep Purple” chronicles with Fiorentina, “Floreat Salopia” has been a story full of near-misses and wasted opportunities. While Fiorentina was only a short-term save to get me warmed up, it’s more difficult to come to terms with my failures at Shrewsbury. The plan was for this to be a long-term save, but I didn’t mean it would take more than three seasons to get out of League One!
Losing in the Play-Off Semi Finals once was gutting, but I could recover. Failing for a second time was similarly heartbreaking, but it only made me more determined to make it third time lucky…
…except it wasn’t. Losing 2nd place to Portsmouth in the final minutes of the regular season, and then watching my team perform so dismally against Luton in the Play-Offs – those are two blows I’m not getting up from. I’ve had the stuffing knocked completely out of me.
It’s dispiriting to watch a team you’ve assembled consistently collapse like Devon Loch so late in the season. I’ll admit part of the blame lies at my feet. While the squad I leave is unquestionably stronger ability-wise than the squad I inherited, it isn’t much stronger mentally. Too many of my signings have had questionable big-game mentalities and have let me down when the chips are down.
When I arrived in 2018, Shrewsbury had almost a completely different squad to the side which had lost in the Play-Off Final just months earlier. I continued to chop and change my squad so many times over the last three seasons that only six original first-teamers are still here: Angol, Colkett, Gilliead, Haynes, Mwandwe and Ryan Sears.
Here’s the thing. It’d probably take another summer overhaul to build a squad with the resilience to secure promotion, especially if Woodman and North – two players coveted by Premier League clubs – are sold for big money. I’ve been down this road so many times before in my FM past, and it’s rarely ended well.
So I’m going to take the advice of a gambling awareness campaign. When the fun stops, STOP.
All that’s left for me to do is to say my goodbyes to the Shrewsbury players and staff, and wish them all the best for the future. I’m sure the board will find a top-quality tactician and squad builder who has what it takes to push Salop to the next level.
Oh, for Christ’s sake.
And there you have it. My time at Shrewsbury has come to a sad and premature end, but there will be one final Season Review later in the week before I close the book on this sorry tale. Beyond that, I don’t know where I go from here.
I’m not sure if I want to carry on this save with another team, or even if I want to set up a new career on FM19. Indeed, I could just stick a fork in FM19 and switch to playing a retro Championship Manager game instead (like my brief foray into CM Italia from 1993). When I do decide on what’s next, I’ll be sure to let you know – either on here, or on Twitter.
In the meantime, thank you so much for reading.
Fuller FM 
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