Paul Hurst named new Shrewsbury Town boss ahead of Cobblers clash

Hurst returns to New Meadow almost six years after leaving the club to take over at Ipswich Town in May, 2018.

The 49-year-old replaces Matt Taylor in the Shrews hot seat, with the former Cobblers midfielder being sacked following last Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Peterborough United.

That result left Shrewsbury fifth-bottom in league one, just four points clear of the relegation zone.

Hurst will be assisted at Shrewsbury by former Cobblers central defender and skipper Chris Doig, and the pair's first game at the helm sees them travel to Sixfields this weekend.

In his previous stint at Shrewsbury, Hurst steered the club to the league one play-off final and also to the EFL Trophy Final, but his team lost on both occasions at Wembley.

They were beaten 1-0 by Lincoln City in the Trophy, and then went down 2-1 to Rotherham United in the play-off final.

Hurst and Doig have been out of work since losing their job at Grimsby Town in October. They had been with the Mariners since December 2020.

Shrewsbury director of football Micky Moore said: “It was a tough decision to part company with both Matt Taylor and Marcus Bignot.

“Both of them did their best to bring results to the football club.

“But following the game at Peterborough, I sat down with the chairman, and we decided a change was needed for us to move forward.

“Once that was agreed I presented a shortlist of names to the chairman - following the same procedure as when we appointed Matt.

“I recommended Paul Hurst would be the standout candidate and the chairman agreed.

“Having managed against Paul since 2009, we have a long-standing relationship.

“I have followed his career carefully over the years and the discussions we have held over the last few days have been really positive.

“I look forward to having a great working relationship with both Paul and Chris going forward.

“We are delighted they have decided to return to the football club. They both enjoyed an outstanding time here previously and we are looking forward to welcoming them back.”