Manager: Graham Turner
Stadium: Greenhous Meadow – 9,875 capacity
Travelling distance from Bramall Lane: 84.6 miles
Nickname: The Shrews
How did they fare in 2011/2012? Graham Turner, someone who you could most definitely regard as ‘Mr Shrewsbury Town’, lead the Shropshire club to a second placed finish in England’s fourth division last season, certainly no mean feat considering some of the opposition they faced in League Two; including a resurgent Crawley Town, Paolo Di Canio’s Swindon Town, and United’s South Yorkshire counterparts Rotherham United. The runners-up spot was secured four points ahead of third placed Crawley, but five points behind champions Swindon. Along the way, Turner picked up the Manager of the Month award for April.
Last season’s promotion provided double delight for Shrews fans, considering they had missed out on automatic promotion the season before by just a single point, and then further going onto losing in the play-offs, so resilient is certainly a word you could best describe Town.
Last time we met: Shrewsbury Town 0:0 Sheffield United – Blades win 4:3 on penalties. Hold the back page! Sheffield United have actually won a penalty shoot-out before. You wouldn’t have thought so going on our recent history with spot-kicks, but indeed we did beat Shrewsbury on penalties in the League Cup in 2005 – in our only meeting this century! It was in fact Joe Hart who missed the decisive penalty to send the Blades through, some comfort for Steve Simonsen maybe? Err, no.
Player to watch out for: Jermaine Grandison. In his first season, the 21-year-old really stamped his authority in the team and made the right-back position his own. His defensive abilities contributed to the Shrews keeping an impressive 18 clean sheets last season, and the attacking prowess he possess should not be taken lightly.
Town’s previous match: Leeds United 4:0 Shrewsbury Town. Neil Warnock’s Leeds United were in no mood for messing around at Elland Road last Saturday when they thrashed sorry Shrewsbury 4:0 in the first round of the Capital One Cup. Whilst the Shrews were playing a team from a division higher, it provided a stark warning that life outside League Two is far from easy.