FA Cup magic: When Shrewsbury upset Everton down the Gay Meadow
In anticipation of the FA Cup third round, we take a look back at some of the best giant-killing stories from that stage of the competition.
Growing up in Shrewsbury, no matter which journeymen were donning blue and amber that season, each campaign seemed to follow a familiar pattern for the local fourth-tier team.
Over half of the season would pass by with nothing to report, until the burgeoning River Severn flooded. The Gay Meadow, Shrewsbury Town's former home that sat rather absent-mindedly on the banks of Britain's longest river, was always a victim when the water rose. The ground would sit underwater and dormant until the weather got better and the brown soup finally decided to flow south, resulting in a congested fixture list that would leave Town embroiled in a relegation battle, which it would barely survive.
In 2002-03 things felt different, though. Times were changing. Wins over Stafford Rangers and Barrow in the FA Cup had earned the visit of Everton, who was challenging for Champions League places.
On Jan. 4, 2003, the river threatened but stopped just short of flooding, allowing 7,800 to pack into the Gay Meadow. Kevin Ratcliffe, Shrewsbury's manager and, incidentally, Everton's most successful captain of all time, firmly believed that his squad could provide a huge upset in the competition; but Town was three leagues below the Toffees - a whole 80 places off the English pyramid.
The Shrewsbury players marched out to a great reception, bearing shirts that advertised a local electrician firm. And out trotted Everton, sponsored by a Chinese telecommunications company, and boasting England international goalkeeper Richard Wright, future Real Madrid midfielder Thomas Gravesen, and Wayne Rooney, who was already sending shockwaves through English football at age 17.
Wright was fantastic in the first half, keeping an unexpectedly dominant Shrewsbury at bay with a string of fine saves. Luke Rodgers, a vertically-challenged youth team graduate who had just turned 21, was wreaking havoc and was felled outside the box by Gravesen on 37 minutes. Captain Nigel Jemson, a portly forward who had moved to Shrewsbury in his 15th transfer in 2000, stepped up and sprung it into the top corner. The old ground erupted.
At the break, it was 1-0 and the minnow was in the ascendancy. Former Shrewsbury defender and Everton gaffer David Moyes took action, hauling off a hapless Gravesen in favour of experienced Swede Niclas Alexandersson.
Shortly after Shrewsbury had a penalty call contentiously turned down by referee Steve Dunn, it was Alexandersson who slid the ball beyond Ian Dunbavin to level the lie.
Alexandersson continued to cause the Salopians problems, and with 15 minutes left on the clock he produced a shot that just flashed across the face of goal. It could have cruelly denied Shrewsbury a return leg and a huge pay day at Goodison Park.
But it would get much better than that for the home side.
With time winding down, Steve Jagielka, brother of current Everton skipper and England international Phil Jagielka, was clipped by David Unsworth near the corner flag. Ian Woan, 35, who was handed his opportunity in professional football by Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest, lifted it to Jemson, who didn't make the grade under Clough at Forest. The skipper escaped Lee Carsley at the near post to nod beyond Wright with two minutes remaining.
Rodgers, who was excellent on the day, summed up what happened in the medieval market town to BBC Sport: "A Premiership side comes here and they don't want to be playing on horrible, muddy pitches - they're used to playing at top grounds - and it was a freezing cold day and they weren't up for it."
One of the FA Cup's most famous giant-killings was the highlight in what was an ultimately disappointing season for Shrewsbury. In the fourth round, it was overwhelmed by a Gianfranco Zola-inspired Chelsea, and away from the cup run Ratcliffe was helpless in preventing his side from plummeting into non-league football. The club finished bottom of the fourth tier and a comprehensive eight points adrift of safety.
The iconic and terraced Gay Meadow ground was also to drop four years later in favour of a plush 10,000 all-seater, currently called the Greenhous Meadow for sponsorship purposes.
But what of the men behind that historic result? Skipper Jemson is coaching the under-15 side at Nottingham Forest. Ratcliffe left following relegation into the fifth tier and currently splits his time between working as a pundit and after-dinner speaker. And, incredibly, eight years after terrorising Everton's backline, Rodgers was playing alongside Thierry Henry at the New York Red Bulls. At 34, he now plies his trade with Sutton Coldfield Town in the English seventh tier.
One month after Shrewsbury's FA Cup triumph, arguably the town's second most famous son after Charles Darwin was discovered when the ungainly 15-year-old head boy of Meole Brace School began to appear on the bench. His name was Joe Hart.
