Dave Edwards: Shaun Whalley milestone reminds me of old Shrewsbury Town heroes

It doesn’t happen too often. It’ll really cement his allegiances with Shrewsbury Town. I look at my time in football, I wasn’t a Wolves fan when I was younger but feel a real allegiance having represented them more than 300 times. Shaun will have that.

He deserves to be the first person since another of my ex-colleagues, Kelvin Langmead, to do that.

The best thing about Shaun is he’s come into the professional game late and really wants to make the most of it. In the last three years he’s had managers who don’t necessarily play the formation to suit Shaun as an out-and-out winger, but it shows what ability he has to force his way in.

The fans should count themselves very lucky to watch Shaun Whalley over these seven or so years. He loves playing for the club.

It would be lovely to celebrate Shaun’s 300th game in the coming years.

There’s not much sentiment left in football but there doesn’t need to be with Shaun. His performances are enough to justify a new contract, he is still producing even in a different role in midfield.

He doesn’t have the body of a 34 or 35-year-old, he’s still fit, sharp, like he’s late 20s, I fully expect him to get another year. He’ll be playing for a good few years yet and I hope it’s here. He deserves to finish here.

It’s a bit of a throwback to a different time. Nowadays it’s one or two-year deals, fighting over every penny. If you go back to the 1990s, when I started going to Gay Meadow, there was quite a few to achieve that. I played with Kelvin, the most recent, he was a really good friend of mine. He really took the town seriously, he moved and set up his life here. He was a great servant and great lad.

It’s a recurring theme, the people who end up moving and staying for so long, are all great people.

Kelvin’s still going too, with Banbury United. It was amazing to think when he came in under Gary Peters he was a striker before being shuffled back to a centre-back, which he made his career.

He was a good striker, probably didn’t score enough to be an out-and-out No.9, but his attributes were brilliant for centre-half, brave in the air, a good tackler, a turn of pace.

The ‘90s were an era I remember very fondly. Going to Gay Meadow made me fall in love with football, it’s a special, special place.

Some of the players on the list who reached those kind of milestones when I started watching, the likes of Tommy Lynch, who was a big cult hero, a big, powerful left-back with massive quads! What a brilliant servant.

There was Mark Taylor, who was all-action in midfield, I specifically remember watching them from the stands, but some of the other lads I’ve been lucky enough to have relationships with them beyond football, which is quite special considering I was watching on the terraces as a little boy.

There was Dean Spink, someone all Shrewsbury fans loved, a goalscorer who also had spells at centre-half.

Deano was physio at Town for a little bit when I first came through the set-up, he helped me with injuries and became a good friend. We’ve played together in charity games since.

He always wanted to show me his ‘shark bite’ on his leg, he got a dead leg once, then was out eating and all of a sudden a pain came on and he was close to having his leg amputated, he was left with this huge scar, like someone took a chunk out of his quad.

I always enjoyed watching Kevin Seabury. He and Gareth Hanmer always looked so similar on the pitch at full-back! Seabs was a local lad, had come through the Centre of Excellence and was an unbelievable servant. A real quality full-back who I’m sure could’ve played at a higher level but loved Shrewsbury.

He’d put his body on the line, with sliding tackles into the goal to keep it out. He was only diminutive but full-blooded, with quality too. He was a proper Salopian which was great.

When he retired I was coming through the youth team, he was coaching us while doing his badges, we got on really well. He’s a great, down to earth lad.

Paul Edwards between the sticks got beyond 300 Town games. I remember distinctly watching ‘the Eagle’. He had his grey hair early doors in the Town goal!

A memory that sticks out was when I was mascot. Back then as mascot you could have a few shots at the keeper and I was really looking forward to that.

My dad said to me every time I scored I could have a pound, so I was really determined as a young kid in front of the Wakeman End. I got four or five past him, I imagine he let every single one in but he made me feel good and earned me five quid!

Probably the biggest legend of them all was Mickey Brown, with those two goals on the famous day down at Exeter.

I just loved to watch him. A tricky winger who ran at players and made things happen.

I was down at Exeter, I’d travelled with the Junior Blues, I remember I managed to get one of Ian Dunbavin’s gloves, all Town players were walking off in their pants because people were taking whatever they could get. Two years later I was playing with Ian, I never told him I’d taken one of his gloves!

I see Mickey quite regularly now at The Shrewsbury Club. He’s probably fitter than most players, he leads the way on most of the gym’s rankings, he’s fit as a fiddle. He looks younger than me.

He’s such a good guy, there’s that recurring theme again – although I try to steer clear of him in the gym because he makes me look bad.

These guys were heroes of mine but I’m grateful to have gone on to be close to them.