Former Gillingham striker John Marquis went into the record books on Saturday – but not for the right reasons.
Marquis collected a red card after just 13 seconds for Shrewsbury in their 3-1 defeat at Peterborough.
He was punished for an elbow on Peterborough defender Sam Hughes in the League 1 game.
The sending-off equals the record of the fastest red card from the start of a game in English professional football, which was set by Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Kevin Pressman in August 2000 against Wolves.
Shrewsbury manager Gareth Ainsworth said: “There’s never a dull moment is there?
“John’s devastated in the dressing room to be sent off.
“In my opinion, and it’s only my opinion, there were a few decisions out of our control which dictated the game.
“First of all, I don’t think it was a red card early on.
“I think John has tried to put his arm across the centre-half rather than leading with his arm and trying to whack the centre-half. That’s two different things.
“You’ve got to use your common sense and say ‘it’s a bit dangerous and it’s a yellow card’. Not a straight red.
“All the fans are baying for it. The bench is up in arms, it’s hard for the referee, but come on.”
Marquis scored eight league goals during a successful spell with Gillingham on loan from Millwall during the second half of the 2014/15 season, playing in 21 league games.
He has since enjoyed spells at Doncaster, Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers before joining Shrewsbury last summer.
The red card was not as quick as the one shown to Ebbsfleet United goalkeeper Preston Edwards back in February 2011 when he was sent off after just 10 seconds.
