Town kits on display in the St Helena league
Youngsters from an island in the South Atlantic Ocean continue to sweep aside all before them on the football pitch wearing Shrewsbury Town replica kits.
Brian Jones, the assistant secretary and membership secretary of the Shrewsbury Town Official Supporters Club, went on holiday to Saint Helena, one of the most isolated places in the world, in May 2011.
He took a set of the Shrewsbury Town 125 year football strips with him which he donated to the junior football league in the island.
By way of irony, the trainer of the team they ended up being presented to, the Sharpshooters, had strong Shrewsbury connections.
As Brian explained: "Colin Owen, the team's trainer, spent several years working in Shrewsbury and he is now the Financial Secretary of the island.
"The Sharpshooters who used the Shrewsbury Town FC kit initially suggested a change of name to Shrewsbury Town but were encouraged not to change – and they went on to win the league.
"This year the STFC 125 years kit has been worn by another team, the Hotshots, and they have won the junior football League on St Helena for teams aged between seven and 11.
"That means it's the second year running that the team wearing the Shrewsbury Town kit has won the the league."
Brian revealed there was another previous Shropshire connection with St Helena as in 1815 the 53rd Regiment - later to become The King’s Shropshire Light Infantry- accompanied Napoleon to the island to begin his final exile. The Regiment served in St Helena for two years guarding Napoleon.
"On an island where football supporters follow Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea, there is now a small following group showing off the Shrewsbury Town FC colours," said Brian.
He added travelling to St Helena from Shrewsbury involved a round trip of some 17,000 miles flying from Heathrow to Cape Town before boarding the RMS St Helena - the only way to get to the island - for the five-day sea journey to St Helena, an area of approximately 47 square miles.
PICTURED are the Hotshots team, in their Shrewsbury Town colours, who have just won the junior league title on the South Atlantic Ocean island of Saint Helena.