Shrewsbury Engineers F.C.
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{{Infobox football club
| clubname = Shrewsbury Engineers
| image =
| fullname = Shrewsbury Engineers Football Club
| nickname = the Engineers{{cite journal |title=Shrewsbury Engineers v Druids |journal=Wellington Journal |date=13 December 1879 |page=3}}
| founded = 1876
| dissolved = 1881
| ground = Underdale
| capacity =
| chrtitle = President
| chairman = G. J. Holt{{cite journal |title=Shrewsbury Engineers' Football Club Supper |journal=Wellington Journal |date=23 October 1880 |page=6}}
| mgrtitle = Secretary
| manager = David Rees, J. C. Stone
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File:Trial of floodlit football in Shrewsbury, Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal, 11 December 1878.png.]]
Shrewsbury Engineers F.C. was a football club based in Shrewsbury, England.
History
The first reference to the Shrewsbury Engineers is as an athletic club in July 1878,{{cite journal |title=Athletic sports |journal=Wellington Journal |date=13 July 1878 |page=5}} although the club had been in existence since 1876;{{cite journal |title=Shrewsbury Engineers' Football Club Supper |journal=Wellington Journal |date=23 October 1880 |page=6}} its earliest known match was a 2–0 win over Shifnal in October 1878.{{cite journal |title=Football - Shrewsbury Engineers v Shifnal |journal=Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal |date=9 October 1878 |page=10}}
The club was the region's representative in the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1878–79, but lost at home to Wednesbury Strollers.{{cite journal |title=Shrewsbury |journal=London Daily Chronicle |date=21 October 1878 |page=6}} At the end of 1878, the club experimented with hosting floodlit matches, the Monkmoor pitch being surrounded by 10' high canvas;{{cite journal |title=The electric light |journal=Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal |date=11 December 1878 |page=7}} four Siemens lights were put up, although only two worked properly.{{cite journal |title=The trial of the eletric light in Shrewsbury |journal=Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal |date=18 December 1878 |page=9}}
By 1879 the club had 40 to 50 members, making it around half the size of the more established Shrewsbury club.{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Yearbook |date=1879 |publisher=Cricket Press |location=London |page=106}} The club reached the final of the Shropshire Senior Cup that year, although the run to the final was not without controversy. Shrewsbury F.C. refused to turn up to a semi-final replay with the Engineers "entirely owing to the ungentlemanly conduct of the Engineers, whose conduct was of such a description as to make the Shrewsbury team wisely decline to ever meet them again".
The final itself, against Newport, ended in a 1–1 draw, the Engineers protesting vainly against both the Newport goal (holding the match up for 9 minutes) and the eligibility of one of the players,{{cite journal |last1=Fair Play |title=The final tie for the Shropshire Association Football Cup |journal=Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal |date=9 April 1879 |page=3}} The replay also ended in a draw, the Engineers sitting back on an early Groom goal and conceding with 4 minutes remaining.{{cite journal |title=Final tie for the Shropshire Association Challenge Cup |journal=Wellington Journal |date=26 April 1879 |page=3}} The match was finally decided at the fourth attempt - by which time it had been agreed to play half-an-hour extra time if the 90 minutes ended level - in front of 2,000 spectators, at Newport's Audley Avenue ground; curiously all four matches took place in Newport, and this time the home side won 2–1, with a late goal from S. Underhill.{{cite journal |title=Shropshire Association Challenge Cup - Final Tie (4th match) |journal=Wellington Journal |date=31 May 1879 |page=5}} The clubs met again in Newport in the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1879–80, Newport again winning, with an Engineers protest unanimously dismissed.{{cite journal |title=The Newport and Shrewsbury Engineers' Dispute |journal=Wellington Journal |date=3 January 1880 |page=5}}
The club did however win the Shropshire Cup in 1879–80, beating Oswestry in the final, thanks to a goal from Lane; this time the Engineers had had the advantage hosting the final.{{cite journal |title=Shrewsbury Engineers v Oswestry |journal=Wellington Journal |date=8 May 1880 |page=6}} The club however did not immediately get its hands on the trophy, as Mr Ward, the secretary of previous holders Newport, refused to hand it over until the Shropshire FA paid him the £10 which he had contributed to make up the shortfall between the Shropshire FA's contribution to its manufacture and the actual cost.{{cite journal |title=An action for the recovery of a challenge cup |journal=Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal |date=18 August 1880 |page=10}}
Despite this success, the club was being pressed financially. Subscriptions and gate money for 1879–80 were just under £29, while expenses were nearly £27, the bulk being the £9 14/6 cost of hiring Underdale.{{cite journal |title=Shrewsbury Engineers' Football Club Supper |journal=Wellington Journal |date=23 October 1880 |page=6}}
The following season, the club entered the Welsh Cup for the only time, in preference to the Birmingham Senior Cup.{{cite journal |title=Birmingham & District Football Association |journal=Walsall Observer |date=11 September 1880 |page=3}} The Engineers were drawn at home to Newtown White Star in the first round and lost 1–0,{{cite journal |title=White Star v Shrewsbury Engineers |journal=Montgomeryshire Express |date=23 November 1880 |page=5}} but the Engineers successfully protested about the referee's eligibility to control the match (prompted by his decision to disallow an Engineers goal, "a decision that gave great dissatisfaction"),{{cite journal |title=Welsh Association Challenge Cup |journal=Athletic News |date=24 November 1880 |page=7}} so the Welsh Football Association appointed Mr Manners, its secretary, for the second attempt, taking place at the Racecourse Ground.{{cite journal |title=Football Association of Wales |journal=Wrexham Advertiser |date=27 November 1880 |page=8}} The re-play ended goalless{{cite journal |title=Newtown White Stars v Shrewsbury Engineers |journal=Wrexham Advertiser |date=11 December 1880 |page=5}} before White Stars won through.
The club's independent existence ended at the start of the 1881–82 season, when it merged into the Shrewsbury Castle Blues,{{cite journal |title=Shropshire Association Challenge Cup |journal=Athletic News |date=2 November 1881 |page=6}} who had ended the Engineers' defence of the Shropshire Cup at the first round stage.{{cite journal |title=Football |journal=Birmingham Daily Post |date=16 November 1880 |page=5}} The name was briefly revived from 1883 to 1885,{{cite journal |title=Matches to come off |journal=Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal |date=5 December 1883 |page=10}} and again in 1887,{{cite journal |title=Football fixtures |journal=Wellington Journal |date=22 January 1887 |page=6}} playing at the same ground, but with none of the former players.{{cite journal |title=Shrewsbury Engineers v Shrewsbury Wanderers |journal=Wellington Journal |date=13 December 1884 |page=8}}
Colours
Mr Rees did not include the club colours in the club's sparse entry to the 1879 Football Annual; clubs in Shrewsbury tended to wear combinations of blue and white.E.g. Shropshire Wanderers (white shirts and blue knickers), Shrewsbury (all white), Wellington St George's (light blue), Castle Blues (blue and white halves), Oswestry (navy and white). It is likely the club wore blue, as in a match against the Trench club, three of the Trench players caused confusion by wearing the same colours as the Engineers,{{cite journal |title=Shrewsbury Engineers v Trench |journal=Wellington Journal |date=30 October 1880 |page=6}} and Trench's regular jerseys were also blue.{{cite journal |title=Fixtures |journal=Wellington Journal |date=4 November 1882 |page=5}}
Ground
The club's first matches were played at Monkmoor.{{cite journal |title=Football - Shrewsbury Engineers v Shifnal |journal=Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal |date=9 October 1878 |page=10}} In 1879 the club it obtained a tenure at Underdale,{{cite journal |title=Shrewsbury Engineers v Scarlet Runners, Shrewsbury |journal=Wellington Journal |date=18 October 1879 |page=5}} the ground being a field next to Mr Gough's hotel.{{cite journal |title=Wem v Shrewsbury Engineers (Return) |journal=Wellington Journal |date=29 March 1884 |page=6}}
Honours
- Shropshire Senior Cup
:Winners (1): 1880
Notable players
Goalkeeper Robert McMillan and half-back William Bell were both Welsh internationals while at the Engineers, playing in Wales' unexpected 1–0 win over England in 1881.{{cite web |title=England 0 Wales 1 |url=http://www.englandfootballonline.com/seas1872-00/1880-81/M0012Wal1881.html |website=England Football Online |access-date=13 January 2024}}