# 2008–09 Shrewsbury Town F.C. season

The 2008–09 season was the 109th season of competitive association football and 58th season in the Football League played by Shrewsbury Town Football Club, a professional football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Their eighteenth-place finish in 2007–08 meant it was their fifth consecutive season League Two. The season began on 1 July 2008 and concluded on 30 June 2009.
Paul Simpson, starting his first full season as Shrewsbury Town manager, made six permanent summer signings. They finished seventh in the table, and after beating Bury in the play-off semi-final, they lost 1–0 to Gillingham in the final at Wembley Stadium. Shrewsbury lost in their opening round matches in both the 2008–09 FA Cup and the League Cup, and were eliminated in the Southern section semi-final of the Football League Trophy.
32 players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were 17 different goalscorers. Grant Holt finished as leading scorer with 28 goals, of which 20 came in league competition, one came in the FA Cup and seven came in the Football League Trophy. Holt was recognised for his contribution to the season receiving the League Two Player of the Year award and was included in the PFA Team of the Year for League Two.

## Match details
### League table (part)

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 5 | Gillingham (O, P) | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 58 | 55 | +3 | 75 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 6 | Rochdale | 46 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 70 | 59 | +11 | 70 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 7 | Shrewsbury Town | 46 | 17 | 18 | 11 | 61 | 44 | +17 | 69 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 8 | Dagenham & Redbridge | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 77 | 53 | +24 | 68 | |
| 9 | Bradford City | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 66 | 55 | +11 | 67 | |

### League Two play-offs
## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | Club | Fee |
| 23 May 2008 | Stephen Hindmarch | Carlisle United | Free |
| 23 May 2008 | Paul Murray | Gretna | Fre |
| 24 June 2008 | Michael Jackson | Blackpool | Free |
| 24 June 2008 | Grant Holt | Nottingham Forest | £170,000 |
| 30 June 2008 | Shane Cansdell-Sherriff | Tranmere Rovers | Free |
| 31 July 2008 | Graham Coughlan | Rotherham United | Undisclosed |

### Out

| Date | Player | Club | Fee |
| 18 July 2008 | Darran Kempson | Wrexham | Free |
| 6 August 2008 | Jimmy Ryan | Accrington Stanley | Free |
| 25 September 2008 | Scott Bevan | Torquay United | Free |
| 1 January 2009 | Guy Madjo | Guangdong Sunray Cave | Released |
| 2 January 2009 | Marc Tierney | Colchester United | Undisclosed |
| 10 January 2009 | David Hunt | Brentford | Released |
| 31 May 2009 | David Maguire | — | Released |

### Loans in

| Date | Player | Club | Return |
| 4 July 2008 | Richard Walker | Bristol Rovers | End of season |
| 1 August 2008 | Luke Daniels | West Bromwich Albion | End of season |
| 12 September 2008 | Sean Thornton | Leyton Orient | One-month |
| 16 October 2008 | Gylfi Sigurðsson | Reading | One-month |
| 14 November 2008 | Jamie White | Southampton | 4 January 2009 |
| 21 November 2008 | Matt Gilks | Blackpool | One-month |
| 1 January 2009 | Joss Labadie | West Bromwich Albion | 6 January 2009 |
| 24 February 2009 | David Worrall | West Bromwich Albion | End of season |

## Squad

    Source:
    Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.
    Players with squad numbers struck through and marked † left the club during the playing season.
    Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Shrewsbury Town.
    Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
Players included in matchday squads :
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Other | Other | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | | |
| 1 | GK | WAL | Glyn Garner | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | WAL | Darren Moss | 28 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 34 (1) | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 3 | DF/MF | ENG | Neil Ashton | 24 (7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (2) | 0 | 28 (9) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Michael Jackson | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | IRL | Graham Coughlan | 42 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 50 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | CAN | Terry Dunfield | 15 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 † | DF/MF | ENG | David Hunt | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 (3) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Marc Pugh | 0 (7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (8) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | DF | ENG | Kelvin Langmead | 29 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 36 (5) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | David Hibbert | 9 (13) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 10 (15) | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 † | FW | ENG | James Constable | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | ENG | Michael Symes | 1 (7) | 2 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 2 (9) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | ENG | Ben Herd | 20 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 25 (1) | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | ENG | Ben Davies | 42 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 49 | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Paul Murray | 31 (1) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 35 (1) | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | ENG | Grant Holt | 43 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 51 | 28 | 14 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | JAM | Chris Humphrey | 24 (13) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 29 (14) | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | SCO | Steven Leslie | 12 (15) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (4) | 1 | 14 (19) | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 19 † | MF | ENG | Joss Labadie* | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 † | FW | CMR | Guy Madjo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | ENG | Stephen Hindmarch | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 (5) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 † | FW | ENG | Nick Chadwick | 9 (6) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 11 (7) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 † | GK | ENG | Scott Bevan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 † | DF | ENG | Marc Tierney | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | ENG | David Worrall* | 7 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (2) | 0 | 8 (4) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | AUS | Shane Cansdell-Sherriff | 27 (4) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 31 (4) | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | ENG | Richard Walker* | 16 (11) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 (1) | 1 | 20 (12) | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | GK | ENG | Luke Daniels* | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 † | MF | IRL | Sean Thornton* | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 † | FW | ENG | Jamie White* | 3 (6) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 (6) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | ENG | Kevin McIntyre | 25 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 34 (1) | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 29 † | FW | ATG | Moses Ashikodi | 4 (3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 4 (5) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 29 † | MF | ISL | Gylfi Sigurðsson* | 4 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 (1) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | IRL | David Maguire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 † | GK | SCO | Matt Gilks* | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | FW | TUR | Omer Riza | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (2) | 0 | 1 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | AUS | James Meredith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |