'Anyone scored here?' Shrewsbury assistant Aaron Wilbraham on the joke that backfired on him
Aaron Wilbraham received a taste of his own medicine last weekend.
Many a time the recently-retired Shrewsbury Town assistant, 42, would poke fun at Town’s forwards as Steve Cotterill’s side rock up to an away fixture.
He would jest “eh lads, anyone score here? I have.” Wilbraham’s near 150 career goals over a lengthy career spanned all professional divisions. He scored at more stadiums than he didn’t, certainly in the lower leagues.
So last Sunday, as Town stepped out to inspect the Anfield pitch and their plush Liverpool surroundings, former Everton defender Matt Pennington took the opportunity to reverse the routine in well-rehearsed style.
The Salop squad gathered, ready to react with glee. Former striker Wilbraham recalls: “Yeah, yeah (they can get fed up of it), I just give them a little nudge on the way out ‘anybody scored here?’ it’s just a bit of banter between me and the younger strikers, but being about all these years I’d scored at a few of them.
“It was funny when Penno came up to me at Anfield before the game and said it to me, he got his own back and all the lads were waiting for it and started laughing. I think they’d been waiting for that one!”
Town head to Crewe today for a big League One clash. Wilbraham returns to the county of his birth. He often enjoyed a goal against the Railwaymen, but a Gresty Road strike eluded him.
Cotterill’s deputy added: “I know I’ve scored against Crewe a lot, but I don’t know if I’ve ever scored at Gresty Road.
“I usually wind the young lads up when we walk out on the pitch before the game saying ‘has anyone scored here?’ I don’t think I can say it this week (at Crewe) – and I can’t say it Anfield either like Penno and Dan Udoh have! So that’s a bit of a killer.”
Town and their travelling fans lived the dream of leading at Anfield in the FA Cup for just seven minutes as favourite Daniel Udoh fired them ahead through a memorable strike to send more than 5,500 fans into euphoria.
Udoh, Ryan Bowman, Nathanael Ogbeta and Co enjoyed a thrilling finale to the first half as, having already taken the lead and been pegged back, Bowman had a header ruled out narrowly for offside and tested goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher while Udoh hit the side netting.
For a relentless 10 or 15 minutes, Liverpool’s star-studded backline including Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Andy Robertson and defensive midfielder Fabinho were caught in a blur.
Udoh said of the experience of battling Van Dijk, with whom he swapped shirts afterwards: “For me I always think – I know this is going to sound crazy – but when I step on the pitch, regardless of who it is, it could be Ronaldo or Messi who I think are out of this world footballers, but as soon as we’re on the pitch together it’s me versus you.
“That’s all I thought about that day, it didn’t phase me I was playing against Van Dijk, I just tried the same as in a normal league game, that’s how I look at every defender.
“I try to get passed them, probably even more as it was Van Dijk, you hear stuff like nobody has got passed him since 2020 or something, so I tried but I didn’t in the end. But I scored the goal so I can’t complain!
“He giggled as well, in the end when I said ‘you want my top as well?’ He found it funny I was a bit shocked. Whatever he does with it fair play, it shows his class as a human being before a player.”
