musicMagpie Blog

After defeating Aldershot Town and Morecambe in the first and second rounds of the Emirates FA Cup, Shrewsbury Town faced perhaps their biggest game of the season: a third round clash with Premier League West Ham United.

It was a big occasion for us too, as we became Salop's first ever shirt sleeve sponsor. Our co-founder Walt is already a massive Shrews fan, but the whole company was rooting for the boys to inflict a famous upset against the Hammers!

Despite a two division gap, Paul Hurst's side were the better team in the game at New Meadow and were unlucky not to come away with a win. Ex-Shrewsbury keeper Joe Hart (wearing a cap gifted to him by a fan behind his goal) made a couple of great saves to deny Mat Sadler and Alex Rodman, while Jon Nolan was unfortunate not to convert a chance late on.

Still, the 0-0 draw gave the Shrews a chance to take on the Hammers at the famous London Stadium.

The replay was even more tense, with the Shrews more than holding their own in the first half. West Ham improved in the second half after the introduction of Mark Noble and Marko Arnautovic, although Shrewsbury had the best chance of the game when Stefan Payne broke through and placed what looked like a perfect shot through Hart's legs. Unfortunately, Hart got a faint touch on the ball and it went agonisingly wide.

The game went into extra time and after 113 minutes of tense football, West Ham finally made the breakthrough with a Reece Burke volley. It was a disappointing end to a tie Shrewsbury deserved to win, but Paul Hurst's men can be proud of their achievements.

Although Shrewsbury are out of the FA Cup, we're delighted to continue supporting the team with a series of in-stadium adverts as they push for promotion to the Championship!