The 19-year-old midfielder started his career at Cheltenham before making the move to the Salop Academy in the 2020/21 season. Whilst impressing in the middle of the park, Steve Cotterill the Shrewsbury manager took a shine to Barlow and rewarded him by naming him on the bench towards the end of 21/22 season as a scholar. This led Shrewsbury to offer a professional contract on 12th May 2022 as the club expressed that “The 6’1 teenager is good on the ball and boasts a good passing range and a fierce shot when he does get into advanced areas of the pitch. Furthermore, as a former captain of the youth teams his communication and leadership are on show every time he steps onto the pitch.”

During the 22/23 season Josh started three games in the EFL Trophy making his debut in a 2-1 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers. He went on to feature twice more in the same competition, with Shrewsbury eventually bowing out in the group stage. Despite the results in the EFL Trophy, Barlow made his Football League debut in April 2023 in a 1-1 draw against Portsmouth in which Steve Cotterill hailed it as a “Special Moment” for the player.

Mark Jones is pleased he has added another young talent to the summer rebuild: “I am very pleased that Josh has agreed to join us, he’s another young player with bags of potential. He likes to get on the ball and play. We believe he’ll fit in very well to the style we want to play.”

Likewise Josh is excited to sign for the upcoming season stating: “I can’t wait to start playing and to getting stuck in to playing regular competitive men’s football.”

WELCOME JOSH BARLOW.