Shropshire Wanderers F.C. was an amateur association football club based in Shrewsbury, England. The club was active during the 1870s.

Shropshire Wanderers

Full name	Shropshire Wanderers Football Club
Nickname(s)	the Salopians,[1] the Countrymen[2]
Founded	1870
Dissolved	c. 1882
Ground	Racecourse Ground, Monkmoor, Shrewsbury
Home colours

History

The club was founded out of the Shropshire Wanderers cricket club.[3] It entered the FA Cup competition in each of the years from 1873–74 to 1877–78.

Its greatest success came in 1874–75, when it reached the Semi-finals. In the first round the club conceded a late equalizer to the Civil Service F.C. at the Kennington Oval,[4] but the Service scratched from the replay, being unable to travel to Shrewsbury for the replay.[5] The club played the Old Etonians at the Kennington Oval in the semi-final; unfortunately the Countrymen were without their star half-back John Denning, and lost 1–0.[6] This was the club's only defeat in its first five years of existence.[7]

The club also has a unique place in FA Cup history, as the only team to be eliminated from the competition by coin toss,[8] the fateful coin toss taking place at the Raven Hotel in Shrewsbury, where the club and opponents Sheffield F.C. had retired to dine together after their Cup tie.[9]

The Shropshire Wanderers were notable as a team that employed passing as early as 1875.[10] The club shared a number of players (including John Hawley Edwards) with the Shrewsbury football club, which focussed on more local competition.

The club had ceased activity after the 1877-78 season, but reformed for a handful of matches at the start of the 1880s. The last recorded match of the club was a 5-3 defeat to Druids F.C. in March 1882.[11] A match was scheduled against a club named Shrewsbury Town the following week but seems not to have taken place; there was (as yet) no such club.[12]

Notable players

• John Hawley Edwards, who made his only international appearance for England in 1874 whilst a Shropshire Wanderers player,[13] scored for the more famous Wanderers club in the 1876 FA Cup Final and played for Wales against Scotland a week later.

• Llewelyn Kenrick, one of the founders of the Football Association of Wales played for the Shropshire Wanderers in the 1874–75 season, including the FA Cup semi-final.[14]

• John Wylie, chosen for the England v Scotland match in 1874 while a Salopian, but forced to withdraw through injury and replaced by Hawley Edwards.[15]

FA Cup history

• FA Cup 1873–74
  • 1st Round: Drew 0–0 with Sheffield; replay also drawn 0–0; eliminated on the toss of a coin
• FA Cup 1874–75
  • 1st Round: Walkover v Sheffield (scratched)
  • 2nd Round: Drew 1–1 v Civil Service; walkover in the replay
  • 3rd Round: Drew 1–1 v Woodford Wells; won replay 2–0
  • Semi-final: Lost 1–0 v Old Etonians
• FA Cup 1875–76
  • 1st Round: Scratched (v Sheffield)
• FA Cup 1876–77
  • 1st Round: Walkover v Druids (scratched)
  • 2nd Round: Lost 3–0 v Royal Engineers
• FA Cup 1877–78
  • 1st Round: Lost 1–0 v Druids

References

External links

• Shropshire Wanderers at the Football Club History Database