The Shrimps kickstart their 2022/23 Sky Bet League One season at the Mazuma Stadium on Saturday 30 July against Shrewsbury Town.

Derek Adams’ side will back in league action at the Mazuma for the first time since securing League One survival on the final day of the 2021/22 season back in April.

The Shrimps have benefited from a testing pre-season, with tests against higher level opposition including Sky Bet Championship Huddersfield Town and Middlesborough respectively. 

The gaffer has had the chance to see seven of his eight new signings in action over the past four weeks, and says the squad are looking forward to the season opener on Saturday.

Morecambe first met with the Shropshire outfit back in 2002 and have faced The Shrews 16 times with five wins, three draws and eight defeats.

The Opposition

Shrewsbury will begin their seventh successive season in League One on Saturday, following an 18^th place finish last season under manager Steve Cotterill.

The Shrews faced a variety of challenges during pre-season, which included 0-0 draws with Sky Bet Championship side Cardiff City and National League North side Telford United.

Cotterill’s men also hosted Premier League side Burnley, which ended in a 3-1 win for the Clarets.

Salop have made six additions this summer, most notably the acquisition of Aiden O’Brien on a two-year deal from Portsmouth.

Key Players

Forward Ryan Bowman has been with Shrewsbury since 2021 and has plenty of experience at 30 years of age. Bowman began his career at his hometown club Carlisle United and has since had spells all over the country, from down in Devon with Torquay United and most recently Exeter City, to up in Scotland with Motherwell for three years between 2016 and 2019.

Tom Bloxham is starting his second season as a senior pro with The Shrews after making 24 appearances last season. Bloxham started his youth career with Leicester City in 2011 and left for Aylestone Park in 2017 before joining the Shrewsbury academy in 2018.

Aidan O’Brien began life in the EFL with Millwall in 2010 and spent ten years in South London, including five loan spells away from Millwall between 2010 and 2014 before making 188 appearances for the Lions. O’Brien made the move from Portsmouth to Shropshire at the end of June.

Derek Adams’ Thoughts

Derek Adams has emphasised the importance of starting the season strongly as well as consistently picking up points throughout the campaign.

‘We’d all love to get off to a good start,” Adams said.

“Its 46 games and you play everyone twice, how you finish the season, how you start the season and what you do in the middle are all very important, its throughout the season that points are accumulated.

‘We’ve got Shrewsbury at home, we know that they can be tough opposition and we'll go into it looking to have a capacity crowd and a very good atmosphere.’

Meet the Officials

Marc Edwards will have the whistle in hand on Saturday and will be assisted by Ivan Stankovic and Richard Woodward. Lewis Smith will be on the touchline as Fourth Official.

Edwards last encounter with the Shrimps was towards the back end of last season when the Derek Adams' men won 3-2 on the road against Charlton Athletic in April.

iFollow

Can’t make it to the Mazuma Stadium to back the boys against Shrewsbury Town on Saturday afternoon? Not a problem!

After teaming up with Beyond Radio for the 2022/23 season, supporters will be able to listen to exclusive, full and uninterrupted radio commentary of every single game, home and away, which will be broadcast simultaneously on 103.5FM, 107.5FM and DAB+ digital radio across North Lancashire and South Cumbria as well as on the iFollow Shrimps platform.

Audio passes are available from as little as £2.50 per match, £4.49 for a monthly pass or £45 for a season pass.

As well as full match commentary, the ‘Shrimps Verdict’ podcast will be available post-match, featuring online, on demand content, including audio match highlights, post-match interviews and reaction, and much more!