Former Shrewsbury winger Sam Aiston has revealed a dressing room divide played a major part in the club dropping out of the Football League in 2003.Aiston is now a primary school teacher, but still plays part-time for Gainsborough in the Blue Square North.
"We had good individuals but there was ill feeling in the side," Aiston, 34, told BBC Radio Shropshire.
"There was a divide between the younger and the older lads, and a lot didn't get on with (top scorer) Nigel Jemson."
Jemson scored both goals as Shrewsbury provided the shock of the FA Cup third round, beating Everton 2-1 in that fateful season before losing to Chelsea 4-0 in the fourth round.
He played for 12 Football League clubs - the last being Shrewsbury as they dropped into the non-league game but left at the end of 2002/03 campaign,.
"I think we had the wrong mix of old and young players, and there was a division in the camp," Aiston said of the relegation year. "We never gelled together as a group of players, there was back-biting, and we didn't look after each other."
Kevin Ratcliffe resigned as manager, and Jimmy Quinn took over with a brief to steer Shrewsbury straight back up.
"After a massive low, promotion was a massive high," Aiston added.
"It wasn't easy. Clubs like Margate and Leigh RMI thought it was their cup final playing against us.
"But we had more of a togetherness. We had a really bubbly manager in Jimmy Quinn, his assistant Dave Cooke was a great character, and the players left from the previous season realised we had to pull our fingers out.
"Going out of the Football League was unacceptable for a club like Shrewsbury Town and we'd let the fans down."
Aiston was released by Quinn's successor Gary Peters in 2005.
He later played for Tranmere, Northampton and Wrexham before moving into the non-league game in 2009.
The popular winger still lives in Shrewsbury is now pursuing his career as a primary school teacher, and is considering his future as a footballer.
Source: BBC Sport
Source: BBC Sport