Shrewsbury Town: Graham Turner to continue as manager

Shrewsbury Town boss Graham Turner is to remain in charge at Greenhous Meadow on a new open-ended deal.

Turner, the longest serving manager in English professional football, is about to come to the end of the three-year contract he signed when he returned to Shrewsbury in June 2010.

But, having originally planned to move upstairs as director of football, the board want the 65-year-old to carry on.

"I still get a great buzz out of it," Turner told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"I could just sit back at my time of life and and enjoy the sunshine.

"And I take nothing for granted. I know that, if results don't go well, I'll be shown the door.

"But the board seem reasonably happy with the job I've done, I'm working with people I trust and I'm happy to carry on as we are."

Turner's return to Shrewsbury three summers ago came 26 years after he left to take charge of Aston Villa, but he quickly proved he still had the appetite for a high-pressure job.

After losing in the League Two play-offs in his first season back in charge, Town went up automatically a year ago.

This season, he not only kept the Shrews in League One in his 35th season in management, but also guided them to 16th in the table, their highest position since coming 11th in the old Third Division under Ian McNeill in 1990.

Club chairman Roland Wycherley said: "In a period where football clubs are seeing so many tough challenges throughout the leagues, we continue to endeavour to provide stability and continuity at Shrewsbury.

"We only have to look at local clubs, for example Chester and Wrexham, to see how clubs can suffer from previous poor management or an over-zealous approach in order to gain success in a league putting the future of the club at risk.

"Through a combination of the board's strategy and Graham's knowledge and experience, we have secured our position in League One without compromising Shrewsbury Town Football Club, an achievement which we are proud of."