Kelvin Langmead hoping Shrewsbury do it at Wembley this time
Kelvin Langmead, having had the heartache of playing in both of Shrewsbury Town’s Wembley play-off final defeats, is optimistic it will be his former club’s turn to celebrate on the big stage this weekend.
Langmead twice lined up at the heart of the back four as Town were beaten in League Two play-off finals at the national stadium, writes Stuart Dunn.
Neil Ashton, alongside Langmead, is the only other man to have started both the 2007 final, when Town were unable to build on taking an early lead as they lost 3-1 to Bristol Rovers, and also the 2009 final when Shrewsbury conceded a decisive last minute goal to Gillingham.
Town have also lost two Football League Trophy finals at Wembley, to this weekend’s opponents Rotherham in 1996, and more recently to Lincoln City just last month.
But Langmead hopes that Shrewsbury fans will have much to get excited about on Sunday.
He said: “They’re there on merit and because they deserve it. There’s a lot of big clubs in League One these days and they’ve got to where they are off the back of hard work, a team ethic, a work ethic. You can’t buy that. That comes from within.
“I don’t know the manager personally but it’s clear he had a thought process on what type of players he wanted to bring in, what he wanted to do with the team and everyone has bought into that.
“That must feel great as a manager, great to be part of as players, and for supporters to get involved in that.
“One hundred per cent they can go and do it. There’s no reason whatsoever why they shouldn’t.”
Langmead, 33, who played more than 250 games for Town in all competitions, has been greatly impressed with Shrewsbury’s season under Paul Hurst.
“It’s just an incredible team, an incredible work ethic,” he stressed. “You’ve got a group of lads that are massively all in it together with the staff and the supporters buy into that and there’s a real feel.
“I always see the hashtag ‘love this team’ and that’s what I’ve always loved, being part of a team, and for those lads what a season it’s been.
“They’re one game away and I know that feeling. There’ll be excitement, there will be nerves, there will be a bit of everything.
“But they’ve had such a fantastic season, a season that no one expected them to have maybe except themselves.
“I believe you don’t get to where they’ve got to without an inner belief regardless of what anyone else says at the start of the season.
“They’ve just gone out and performed week in, week out and it would be great for the club to go there – more importantly to get themselves into the Championship – but go there, win the game and enjoy everything that comes with that.”
As for his own Wembley experiences, Langmead well remembers the sense of disappointment at twice coming so close to helping Town gain promotion via the play-offs.
Stewart Drummond headed Town into an early lead in front of a crowd of more than 61,000 against Bristol Rovers before the Memorial Stadium side hit back to win 11 years ago.
Langmead said: “Looking at it now, it’s obviously a huge disappointment that we couldn’t go on and win the game, but at the time it was the new Wembley, it was off the back of a fantastic two-legged victory over MK Dons, who were one of the favourites to go up. We got there off the back of hard work and on merit and it’s just pure excitement.
“I always remember (at 2-1 down) Derek Asamoah had a chance. A cross came in and the keeper made almost a point-blank save from six or seven yards out. Another day that goes in and the whole game is different.
“Their third goal came when we were pushing on right at the death and I think Chris Mackenzie had come up for a corner from goalkeeper. It wasn’t a 3-1 defeat so to speak, it was a lot closer than that.”
Two years later saw Town tasted more Wembley frustration as a late goal from Simeon Jackson sealed a 1-0 win for Gillingham.
“Again, a real feeling of what if and what could have been,” added Langmead, who now plays for Nuneaton.
“You’ve got the pride of getting to a play-off final and playing at Wembley, the excitement of that, but at the end of the day you go there to win.
“However much those feelings are there and maybe when I’m older, I’ll look back even more with pride, but the bottom line is you go there to win.
“It could have been very different and how I’d love to have been not stood on the pitch watching the opposition lift the trophy.
“It would have been nice to have been part of the winning team.
“But it’s a fantastic occasion and you work all season to get to the final - but you go there to win.”
