Shrewsbury’s Marquis Achieves Unfortunate Milestone with Red Card in League One Showdown

The captain of Shrewsbury Town, John Marquis, received a red card just moments into their League One match against Peterborough United, making it one of the fastest dismissals in football history. Marquis was penalised for an elbow to the face just seven seconds after the match began, following a collision with Peterborough defender Sam Hughes.

Shortly after the dismissal, Shrewsbury found themselves in a difficult position as Tayo Edun scored the opening goal for the home side just eight minutes into the match, leaving Shrewsbury trailing 1-0.

Ultimately, Shrewsbury lost the match, leaving them firmly at the bottom of the League One standings with just 27 points from 34 matches played.

“I don’t believe it was a red card,” Shrewsbury manager Gareth Ainsworth stated in an interview with BBC Radio Shropshire. “John’s absolutely heartbroken in the dressing room after being sent off.

“He simply tried to place his arm across the centre half, rather than leading with it to strike him. Those are two very different actions.

“Common sense should prevail here: it was a bit risky, sure, but it warranted a yellow card, not a straight red. The fans were calling for it, the bench was in an uproar, which makes things tough for the referee, but honestly, come on.”

Looking back through history, 25 years ago, Kevin Pressman, then a goalkeeper for Sheffield Wednesday, was infamously dismissed just 13 seconds into a match against Wolverhampton Wanderers for handling the ball outside his area.

In 2007, Keith Gillespie faced a similar fate when he received a red card for elbowing an opponent immediately after coming on as a substitute for Sheffield United during a Premier League clash with Reading.