Shrewsbury induct club legends into Hall of Fame

Fond memories were rekindled last night of the Salop side which defied the odds when striding boldly into the old Second Division in 1979.

Memorable conquests over the might of Chelsea and Newcastle followed during a lengthy stint in the second tier.

Cross, Bates and King and Cross proved to be key figures in Graham Turner's epic side. The latter duo were later to share the distinction with Turner of playing and managing their beloved club.

Loyal club man Starkey's long service began as an inside forward in 1959, but he returned as secretary and director and is currently club president.

Football League TV?pundit Steve Claridge may have been the evening's high-profile guest speaker, but the accent was on the past when Bates, Starkey and Cross took to the mic.

King couldn't attend the event because of a pre-booked holiday, but his son Ryan was on hand to pick up his plaque.

Bates, who became player-boss after mentor Turner moved on to manage Aston Villa, acknowledged how the club had been the making of him after plucking him from the obscurity of non-league football at Stourbridge.

"My lucky break was signing for Shrewsbury. I came to live in the town and the football club has become a big part of my life.

"When you look back we were in the Championship and there were plenty of big teams, but we managed to survive," recalled Bates.

Now 63, Bates later managed the club again on a caretaker basis twice (1999 and 2004) after a short and stormy stint in the Britannia Stadium hot seat with Stoke (1997/98).

"I enjoyed management too until the noose tightened around my neck. But Lou Macari invited me to help him out at Swindon, Birmingham, Stoke and Celtic, so I have been very lucky in my career," he added.

King, a goalscoring full-back in his hey-day, took over from Fred Davies in 1997 but found a club heavily mired in debt.

While some astute house-keeping saw him balance the books with the sales of Dave Walton and Paul Evans, it was not enough to extend his tenure beyond a third campaign.

"I loved playing for Shrewsbury during that era as it was such a great achievement for a small club to get into the Second Division," he recalled.

"Probably the highlight for me was thrashing Exeter 4-1 in the last game to clinch promotion.

"I scored a couple of goals and beating Ipswich in the FA Cup when they had players like Arnold Muhren and John Wark in their side.

"We also beat West Ham, Chelsea and Newcastle in the league which was just fantastic.

"As a manager I made money selling players and started a youth policy which produced the likes of David Edwards and Billy Jones."

After serving the club in many roles, Starkey, 76, is now its president.

He recalled how he started his career playing alongside Stanley Matthews in the famous Blackpool side of the 1950s.

"I've had numerous jobs at the club, the only one I've not had is the cushiest one – chairman," he joked, right in front of the gaze of Salop's current supremo Roland Wycherley.

Cross made over 260 appearances in a decade before earning a big move to Derby.

He remembered how he and King perfected a free-kick routine along the lines of the infamous Ernie Hunt-Willie Carr routine with stunning results.

After a short-lived spell in management with Bristol Rovers, the Wolverhampton-born legend opted for a career change and now works locally as a physioptherapist.

He is also well known as a BBC Radio Shropshire Town pundit.

"When we (management team) were sacked at Bristol it was horrible, so I decided to cut my ties with coaching and get a normal job.

"I came back from Derby and worked with adults with learning difficulties.

"It's amazing the number of ex-players who still live in the area," said the 53-year-old.

The quartet join 10 other club legends who were inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2011, including current Shrewsbury Town manager Graham Turner, Alf Wood, Ken Mulhearn and Mickey Brown.