Renewal of rivalries ends in a stalemate

Here's a historic result. Shrewsbury Town 0, Telford United 0.

The date was Tuesday, December 9, 2003, and the significance of the match played at the Gay Meadow was that it was the first league encounter between Shropshire's two top teams since 1937.

While honours were shared on that December night, in the context of the situation the real losers were Shrewsbury because of the fact that the two sides were meeting at all.

For it marked the season when the Shrews, having been dumped from the Football League after 53 years the previous April, were now playing in the Conference, meaning they were eye-to-eye and toe-to-toe with their county rivals.

It was a big occasion with a big crowd to match. The attendance of 6,738 was at the time the highest in the Conference for the season and the 10th highest in its history.

As for the action on the pitch, it was a derby which turned out to be something of a damp squib. It was Jimmy Quinn's men in blue who had most of the possession and the better chances but highlights were few and far between.

With 21 minutes to go Telford were down to 10 men when defender Andy Wilkinson was given his marching orders for a foul on Colin Cramb.

Town were unable to capitalise on their man advantage and Telford United boss Mick Jones praised the battling performance of his team after the stalemate extended their run to just one defeat in 11 games.

The derby brought with it a major police operation involving more than 120 officers and costing over £25,000.

Police said afterwards that there had been groups of troublemakers who attached themselves to both teams but that the police operation had kept them apart and in the event there were just two arrests, both people detained being from Shrewsbury.

While the game was no great shakes, there was an element of intrigue for the crowd at half time when the Tannoy announcer broadcast a message from a boyfriend asking if his girlfriend would marry him.

Fans were left wondering because the girlfriend never gave her answer.

So when had the teams last met in a league game?

Flashback to Good Friday, March 26, 1937, and the Bucks Head ground, home of Wellington Town – the club was renamed Telford United in 1969.

What turned out to be a significant prequel came on the Wednesday evening, when Wellington secured the transfer of Joe Griffiths from Dudley to lead their attack for the upcoming needle match.

Griffiths was a former Wellington player and his arrival solved a problem at centre-forward – the regular was injured, and the deputy had been ordered not to play because he had been selected to play for Wales in an amateur international game.

Before the start of the match snow fell heavily for a time. Shrewsbury were the better team, and at 5.25pm were leading 2-1. By 5.27pm they were losing 3-2 thanks to two whirlwind goals by Wellington's last minute signing, Griffiths. And that was the final score.

Shrewsbury Town and Wellington Town both played back then in the Birmingham League and in the final placings at the end of the season Shrewsbury were runners-up on 50 points, six points behind champions Bristol Rovers, and Wellington were fourth.

In the following 1937-38 season, the two Shropshire heavyweights were separated.

Shrewsbury Town played in the Midland League, making their debut on August 28, 1937, beating Nottingham Forest 2-1 at the Gay Meadow.

Wellington Town continued to play in the Birmingham League.

At the time of the 2003 clash which reunited them, the clubs seemed to have contrasting fortunes, with Shrewsbury Town having a hard time and Telford seemingly on the up with a gleaming new stadium at the Bucks Head.

In their four meetings that season, two being FA Trophy ties, Telford were unbeaten, winning two and drawing two. The return league fixture was at the Bucks Head on April 6, 2004.

The next month Shrewsbury regained their pride by winning back a place in the Football League at their first attempt, thanks to some high drama in the playoffs – and Telford United went bust with debts of £6.5 million.

And although a new new club, AFC Telford United, rose from the ashes of the calamity, the demise of the original club meant that that league match played in April was the last ever encounter between Shrewsbury Town and the old Telford United, successors to Wellington Town.

In the match, Telford won 1-0, the scorer being Telford defender Sam Ricketts. Yes, that's right – the scorer of the last ever goal in the last ever match between the two Shropshire sides was the recently departed Shrewsbury Town manager.