In a shocking turn of events, Bristol Rovers’ relegation rivals Shrewsbury Town, who are at the bottom of the League One table, have fired manager Gareth Ainsworth after just four months. Ainsworth was only hired as Shrewsbury’s manager in November 2024, and he left his position at New Meadow after leading the Shrews to just five victories in his 22 games in charge. He has agreed to an immediate transfer to League Two team Gillingham, who are 20 spots lower in the football pyramid, to succeed seasoned head coach John Coleman.
With a miserable record of just 28 points from 37 games, Shrewsbury is currently at the bottom of the League One standings. Of those points, 23 have come under Ainsworth since he took Paul Hurst’s job. With Bristol Rovers in 20th place with 42 points from 38 games this season, the Shropshire team is currently 14 points outside of safety.
In January, Gillingham fired Mark Bonner as manager, and John Coleman, a former Accrington Stanley manager, took over until the conclusion of the season. Under Coleman, the Kent team has a dismal victory rate of just 14.29% with two wins, seven ties, and five losses.
However, they were starting to show signs of turning around and are now undefeated in their previous three games. This month, they defeated Bradford City and drew with Accrington Stanley and high-flying Walsall.
Shrewsbury Town’s relegation fate is drawing nearer after they lost 2-0 at home to Burton Albion last weekend. “I’ve said a few home truths to the boys because it’s probably one of the few times I’m saying ‘that’s not good enough,'” Ainsworth remarked of his team following their loss to Exeter City earlier this month. We were outfought, which is not typical of us. The battle was more important than the football.
After led Wycombe to promotion through the play-offs in the 2017–18 season, Gareth Ainsworth is making his managerial comeback in the fourth division of English football. Ainsworth managed 550 games at Adams Park during his 11-year tenure with the Chairboys. His most memorable performance was leading the Buckinghamshire-based team to the Championship for the first time in their history against Oxford United in the 2020 play-off final.
Wycombe was only demoted on the last day of the season after holding their own in the Championship. They then lost to Sunderland to advance to the play-off final once more. After 11 years, Ainsworth left Wycombe to join QPR, however he was a failure, winning only five of his 23 games after taking Neil Critchley’s place. In the upcoming years, the 51-year-old hopes to put his managing career back on track at Priestfield Stadium and pursue a promotion run.
