2019/20 Prediction League; Game 31 v Shrewsbury Town (away)

Div3North · 09-02-2020, 00:39

Shrewsbury Town

v

Accrington Stanley

2019/20 Prediction League; Game 31 v The Pointy-Nosed Furry Things (away)

Back in 2015, someone told the Board at Bolton Wanderings that – if you want to win games – “it would be politic to score after 2 minutes” …………. “politic” of course meaning “seeming sensible in the circumstances”. So they ‘ad a think, and a ponder, and they went out and signed (now) 19 year-old Romanian midfielder Dennis Politic from Man U ………….. and on 1st February 2020, when they played Tranmere, he scored Bolton’s opener in their 2-0 win after just 2 minutes ……………………………. thus, proving that it was indeed “Politic to score after 2 minutes” ……………

Actually, the results on 1st Feb were quite strange ………… Bolton (23rd ) won, Southend (22nd ) won, Tranmere and the Wombles (21st and 20th ) both lost, MK Hammers (19th), Rochdale (18th) and the Stanley (17th) all won, and the Shrews, Blackpool, Lincoln and Brizzle (16th – 13th) all lost, as did Burton ………….. so 5 of the bottom 7 won, and the 6 above them all lost, save for the Gills, who didn’t have a game …………….. I think I should have been born a statistician, although I’d have preferred to be born as Sexwulf ……………

This Saturday, though, was a Good Day for Stanley …….of the teams below us, Bolton, Southend, Tranmere and the Wombles lost, and the MK Donuts and the Rochdoodles drew; above us, Lincoln lost to Matt Crooks’s Merrie men on Friday, and the Shrews drew – so no one got a jump on us. Tranmere have lost their last five straight, and only taken six points from their last 14 games; Bolton are 18 points from safety (including negative GDs), Southend are 13, and the Trans are 7, and Tranmere and Sarfend only have 15 games left and Bolton 17, so it’s Not Looking Good for them but it’s LookingBetter for us!

Shrewsberry was the early capital of the Kingdom of Powys, known to the ancient Britons as Pengwern, signifying "the alder hill", and in Old English as Scrobbesburh, which apparently means "the fortified place in the bushes" and which sounds like a location for a touch of Eric’s "hello folks and what about the workers". The name gradually evolved into Sciropscire, which became Shropshire, into Sloppesberie, which became Salop (an alternative name for both town and county), and into Schrosberie, which eventually became the town's name, Shrewsbury. Its known history commences in the Early Middle Ages, having been founded c. 800 AD, and it was once heavily involved in the wool trade.

Charles Darwin ("No, I think you'll find that we're all descended from Davy Jones and the Monkees") was born there, and Major-General Robert Clive KB, FRS ("Clive of India") came from near Market Drayton ........... Clive's "achievements" included seizing control of most of India and the surrounding parts of Asia, and laying the foundation of the entire British Raj, though he actually worked for the East India Company. He was vilified for his methods by his contemporaries in Britain, and put on trial before Parliament; modern historians have criticised him for atrocities, for high taxes, and for worsening famine. And having a silly nickname

The town centre of Schrosberie apparently has a largely-unspoilt medieval street plan and over 660 listed buildings (rather like Rachmann had in 1960s London, but “listed” for different reasons), including several examples of timber framing from the 15th and 16th centuries. It's also home to the Ditherington Flax Mill, the world's first iron-framed building, which is commonly regarded as "the grandfather of the skyscraper".

There was a medieval prison (aren’t they all?) there, known as the Dana Gaol which was later replaced by HMP Shrewsbury. In 2005 a report named HMP Shrewsbury as the most overcrowded prison in England and Wales; by 2008 there were 326 prisoners with space (correctly) for 178, and by 2012 – things having moved on a tad - the Prison Reform Trust awarded HMP Shrewsbury Second Place in the entire country for overcrowding, beaten only by Kennet in Liverpool (they seem to be winning everything at the moment), although that too was closed at Christmas 2016

HMP Shrewsbury was in the town centre, near the old Dana Gaol site and adjacent to the railway station; in fact it had its own dedicated platform (Platform 8) which was masked by a high wall from the other platforms and was used between 1868 and WW1 (at least) to transport prisoners; no doubt it was also very useful for any who escaped, because in a very short time (no corridors to the trains then, remember, so if you had bladder weakness you needed short journeys – or low windows and long tunnels)) they could be on their way to the seaside, still in their prison garb….. between 1902 and 1961 there were seven judicial executions there too – all males, all under 60, and all for murder (usually of women related to them), except Donald Neil Simon in 1952, who did in his estranged wife Eunice AND her lover Victor – an early example of “buy one, get one free” (they could only hang him once!)

And this week’s starter for ten; The Shrews were elected to the Football League in 1950, on its expansion. In their first two seasons, without being promoted or relegated, they played league matches against 46 different teams; why?

The Traveling Shrewsburys were formed in 1886, but didn’t join the League until expansion in 1950 (3rd Division North); they’ve stayed in the League (once reaching the Championnat) ever since, save for season 2003/04, which they spent in the Bananarama; that year they finished third on 74 points (Chester won the League) and then they did Barnet in the Semis before beating Aldershot 3-0 on pens after a 1-1 in the Playoff Final ……… that same season we finished 10th in the Conference, with Paul Mullin joint 6th on the leading scorers’ list with 20, and Lutel James joint 10th with 17 ………………. And Northwich Victoria finished rock bottom on 23 points, 6 below Leigh RMI, but survived because 12th placed Telford went bust and Margate, who finished 16th, were relegated because of “ground concerns”

We met on 20th August in Game 3 (would have been Game 4 if Bury had survived), were coasting at 2-0 (the Bishop of Wham on 67 from the spot, and Lord Charles 5 minutes later, and then gave them three goals in the last 13 minutes to lose a cert winner, which isn’t very clever really…………… last season we lost 1-0 at theirs but won 2-1 at ours (Clark on 1 and Billy Whizz on 21). Off the back of a season’s record of P46 W12 D16 L18 GF51 GA59 and 52 points for 18th place they raided the transfer market (see the game 3 information); since we met them in August they’ve paid good money out for Notts Forest striker Jason Cummings and GK Harry Burgoyne from Wolves, and didn’t pay anything for Oldham’s DMF Ousmane Fane or Hibs’s CMF Josh Vela ………… they also LoanSigned Wigan striker Callum Lang, Blackburn’s LB Sam Hart (which, if you say it quickly, comes out as “Smart”), Fleetwood striker Conor McAleny and Southampton’s RB Kayne Ramsay ………………. To balance the books, they sold (for “£undisclosed”) CMF Anthony Grant to Swindon and LW Fejiri Shaun Chima Okenabirhie (not related, is he Chimer?) to Donnie, and released striker Lenell John-Lewis ………….

Their home record so far is W5 D5 L3 GF16 GA16, and away it’s W3 D6 L6 GF9 GA16, giving them P28 W8 D11 L9 GF25 GA32 for 35 points and 16th place; they haven’t won in 8 (D4 L4) ………… in the Cups they reached Round 4 of the FA Cup, losing 1-0 after a Desmond to Liverpool under-7s reserves; they got a whipping in the EFL Cup (4-0 at home by Rotherham); and they reached Round Two of the Troffy before losing 6-5 after a half Desmond to Man City u12s ……….. 12 Cup games, 16 scored and 13 conceded ……………. In all, 40 games, 41 goals scored; they put four past Southend in the League, and three past us and Brizzle, and they’ve failed to score 12 times in 28 League games (which is hopeful!) Leading scorers are Jason Cummings with 6, Josh Laurent with 4, and Omar Beckles (who spent one season with us), Ollie Norburn and Aaron Pierre with three each ……………..

Chic Murray – no, sorry, Chic Bates – managed the Shrews three times; other incumbents were Harry Gregg, some Potts (Harry) and a Mellon (Mickey) ……….. Cult Fans’ Favourite was Dean Spink, who became a physiotherapist at the club before moving to a similar post at Solihull Moors, which he combined with Asst Manager at Alvechurch Town …………….. famous players include David Moyes, who did three seasons there between 1987 and 1990, despite which the club survived ………. Club all-time leading scorer is Arthur Rowley with 152 (including 38 in season 58/59), and most appearances (418) is Mickey Brown ………… Record victory is 21–0 against Mold Alyn Stars in the Welsh FA Cup 1st round in 1894, and their worst-ever defeat came 15 months later, 13-0 against Small Heath (the reserve team of Large Heath, presumably) ………. And First Team coach is Dean Whitehead (a name you might remember), while GK coach is Danish-born Brian Big Beast Jensen …..

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 7.45pm on Tuesday 11th February ……………… Bolton (relegated last season), Southend (saved from relegation last season on the final day) and Tranmere (promoted from League Two last season) look doomed (“Doomed, Doomed, We’re all Doomed”), unless the Voodoo Gods of Football have a Funny Turn before the Season ends ………….. and that nice Mr Westlife’s Stevenage side – which he claimed in January ‘could reach the Championship’ are currently Bottom Dogs in League Two, five points worse off than Morecambe …………. And those two sides play at the Globe on 21st March ………. And I reckon we should all go and cheers for Morecambe! …………… and the reason why the Shrews played 46 different teams in two seasons is that they were originally placed into Div3North, but at the end of the 1950/51 season Grimsby and Chesterfield were relegated from Division Two, so the Shrews were moved into Div3South for the season after!

Good luck to everyone! ……….. Keep the Faith! ……………. And thanks for playing!