The date? 6th September 1975. In his programme notes for Shrewsbury’s home fixture against Swindon Town, club secretary, Malcolm Starkey, wrote:
Since talking to you last, the Intermediate side have recorded a fine win against Wolves, with goals from the Town’s other ‘deadly duo’, Les Lawrence and Lee Roberts.
Describing the two youngsters (Les was eighteen and Lee just two months his senior) as a ‘deadly duo’ because they both scored for a reserve team seems slightly over the top, but straws are there to be clutched!
Les had signed in February from non-league Stourbridge and must have made enough of an impression to earn his debut in the Swindon game. His name doesn’t appear on the team sheet for the game but he was actually the named substitute in place of O’Loughlin and he did come on in the second half for Ray Haywood – the Shrews were cruising at the time, already 3-0 up, and that’s how it finished.
Les didn’t really establish himself in the Shrewsbury team and would go on to make just fifteen appearances over the 1975/6 and 1976/7 seasons, scoring one goal. But the Swindon game was historic as he was the first black player to represent Shrewsbury Town.
A very grainy image of Les but, even so, he was clearly proud of his black, Jamaican heritage:
After leaving Shrewsbury he did go on to have a long career, making 395 appearances (all bar 10 in the old Division Four) and scoring 104 goals over the course of fifteen seasons. Among those appearances was another momentous one – on 24th November 1984 he became Burnley’s first black player. You might describe Les as a journeyman pro but he made history at two Football League clubs and so he features in two chapters of Football’s Black Pioneers.
Lee Roberts, the other lad mentioned in the club secretary’s notes also had his best years away from Gay Meadow, his 198 appearances included just twelve for Shrewsbury.