Fog-gotten game denied goal ace Arthur a crucial score
Arthur Rowley rises to head home – but this is one goal you won't find in the record books.
Because the Shrewsbury Town goal machine scored in a game which never was, and that goal, which would have taken him closer to a goalscoring record, never counted.
However that match at the Gay Meadow played on Easter Tuesday, April 4, 1961, did create history of sorts, as it was the first to be abandoned due to fog since the Town had entered the Football League. Have there been any others since? We'll leave that to our knowledgeable readers to enlighten us.
The opposition was Newport County and as you can see, visibility wasn't that bad when Rowley, on the right, opened the scoring early on with a "brilliant" header despite the attentions of Newport defender Alan Herritty.
Some fans were able to peer through the increasing gloom to spot Starkey score Shrewsbury's second after 37 minutes, but by this time fog had blotted out most of the field. Somehow the first half was completed and they all then had to wait about for 35 minutes while the officials made periodic trips to see if they could see each other from vantage points. All though was in vain, as the fog did not lift and the match was called off.
It was a pity for Shrewsbury's player-manager Rowley, because it meant that his goal, which had taken him closer to the aggregate scoring record of 379 set up by Dixie Dean, was scrubbed off, meaning he was still six goals short of his target.
Arthur was not to be denied for long, as on April 29 he joined the ranks of football immortal's by heading home at Bradford to beat Dean's record.
Apart from the fans' disappointment of the fogbound tie, it was a busy and relatively profitable Easter period for the Shrewsbury team, although talisman Arthur was missing through injury for the other matches played.
The Saturday saw a visit to Ashton Gate and a deserved point against Bristol City in a goalless draw. Then Easter Monday took them to Somerton Park for the first encounter with Newport County – remarkably, they were to face them on consecutive days – when the Town had to fight hard for a point. A goal by inside left Roy Ambler secured a 1-1 draw.
The match was an experimental morning kick-off which was described as a "complete flop" by sports reporter Stan Hall, as only 2,785 people attended.
In the wake of the fog-hit fixture, Shrewsbury played Newport in the re-arranged match on April 17 and gave them a 5-0 thumping.
It wasn't a bad 1960/61 season for Shrewsbury, with the Town ending their campaign in 10th position in the old Third Division.
