From the Archive | Que Sera, Sera Whatever Will Be, Will Be  

Our final season at the Gay Meadow was dramatic, to put it mildly.

Gary Peters’ team had, against all the odds, managed to sneak into the play-offs, edging out Stockport County on goal difference.  

This meant that we would have one more game to play at the ground, a play-off semi-final against MK Dons. Martin Allen’s side finished 13 points above us, missing out on automatic promotion by one point. We had, however, had the better of them a little over a month before, defeating them 2-1 thanks to a late Neil Ashton winner. 

Unfortunately, we couldn’t replicate that in the first leg of the play-off, with our final competitive fixture at Gay Meadow ending in a 0-0 draw. In a weird twist of fate, we would have to travel to Milton Keynes for what would be their final game at their stadium for the second leg.  

MK were also coming into the game unbeaten in five, having made a late surge to try to pip Swindon to promotion.  

Gary Peters had built a resilient side, though, and the team held strong during a tough first half. Both Izale McLeod and Clive Platt came close to scoring for the home side, with Scott Shearer standing strong in goal.  

Peters would shift things up at half-time, replacing Leo Fortune West with Andy Cooke in a move that would prove pivotal.  

The Shrewsbury-born striker broke through against the run of play in the 58th minute, smashing home a clever lofted pass from Stewart Drummond to spark scenes of wild celebrations in the away end.  

The hosts would turn up the pressure, but were unable to create any clear-cut chances, with the defensive duo of Kelvin Langmead and Richard Hope heading away everything that came their way.  

MK’s persistence paid off in the 74th minute when Keith Andrews, now the manager of Premier League Brentford, grabbed a scrappy goal following a header back across the box from Platt.  

Their celebrations were short-lived, however, with Michael Symes and Cooke catching MK on the break less than 90 seconds later. Symes played Cooke through, with the striker flicking the ball past the oncoming Ademola Bankole to restore our lead.  

The hosts were unable to break through again, with Salop being spurred on by renditions of ‘Que Sera, Sera’ and ‘Hey Jude’ coming loud and proud from the away end. The full-time whistle secured Town a first-ever visit to the new Wembley, and a first Wembley trip in over a decade, etching Andy Cooke’s name into Shrewsbury Town folklore in the process.