Shrewsbury Town players scrambling to avoid unwanted egg shirt
Paul Hurst has a method to ensure training doesn’t stink at Shrewsbury Town.
It involves one of the more vulgar football kits in recent decades.
Town’s infamous ‘scrambled egg shirt’ of the 1992/93 season is now a cult classic worldwide.
And it still exists at Sundorne Castle – where a filthy, unwashed version goes to one unwilling recipient each week.
Shrewsbury’s squad vote every Friday on the week’s worst trainer and the unlucky winner is stuck with the stinking horror for the following week.
Skipper Abu Ogogo revealed that the initiative, brought in by the Town staff, is a real deterrent to keep the standard of training raised throughout the week.
It mixes Hurst and No.2 Chris Doig’s demand of a hard work ethic, mixed with a light-hearted spirit that builds togetherness.
Ogogo said: “I haven’t had it this season yet, touch wood. I got it quite a lot last year. Basically everyone votes for the worst trainer on a Friday, you have to wear it for the week.
“It’s not a very nice shirt to wear because it never gets washed, it smells – you don’t want to get that.
“It’s fun, it’s good banter. We take training seriously and work hard but it’s good to have a laugh and the gaffer encourages that as well.”
The shirt also has a name printed on the back – one best left to the imagination.
Committed midfielder Ogogo also explained how the fine jar at Sundorne Castle is monitored. The system, not uncommon at clubs throughout the country, is crucial in maintaining standards in areas like time-keeping and cleanliness.
Some of Town’s senior figures are in charge of the system.
Ogogo said: “I’ve been fined, I get fined all the time to be fair, usually it’s for nutmegs! I get nutmegged all the time in training so I always have to pay a fine.
“Sads (Mat Sadler), Doddsy (Louis Dodds), Junior (Brown) and a few other boys are on the committee.”
Meanwhile, Ogogo, in his 10th season as a pro, is relishing a new experience of leading the pack with League One table-toppers Town.
The 28-year-old former Dagenham man experienced a promotion via the play-offs with the Daggers before he suffered the heartache of relegation by just a point the following campaign.
He said: “We got to the play-offs where we won at Wembley.
“It (promotion) was good but I’ve never been top of the league like we are now. It wasn’t easy that (promotion) year but we had momentum.
“We were doing really well and heading into every game with confidence and even when we weren’t playing well we were coming away with results.
“On this run we’ve been on so far there’s been games where we haven’t played very well and maybe come away with a point or nicked three points.”
