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McClen had been turning out for UniBond Premier Division Champions and UniBond Chairmans Cup Winners Blyth Spartans in his native North-East at the end of last season after being released from a short-term contract at Shrewsbury on April 5th. Jamie was brought into Gay Meadow in the middle of February, initially on a trial basis in Town's reserves outfit, before Shrews boss Gary Peters signed the Newcastle-born midfielder on non-contract terms. McClen was a regular in the reserve side at Shrewsbury and actually featured in Town's 4-0 defeat against Carlisle at Brunton Park on the 22nd of February. The one-time Toon man made four appearances from the start in the league for the Shrews and featured as an unused substitute on another occasion.
Jamie reportedly asked Town boss Gary Peters where his future lay regarding the 2006-07 season, but it would seem the Shrews boss was worried about McClen's fitness levels at the time, Peters telling the Shrewsbury club website :
"We've let Jamie go from the club and he's returned back home. We had hoped that Jamie would be getting close to match fitness and his match sharpness would be improving.
"He's done well for us since joining both in training and in the first team games he's played but he wanted an answer as to if we would be offering anything for next season.
"We had to decide whether he had done enough to justify us signing him next season especially as he would need a big package to relocate him and his family from Newcastle.
"I've got to make sure anyone I take on is right for us next season and at the moment I couldn't give Jamie that answer. Jamie has been great since he's been here and I'd like to thank him for all the work he's done during his spell with Shrewsbury Town."
In his United days, despite some useful performances for the reserve side since signing up with Carlisle on the 4th of August last season, McClen found it hard to break into the first-team. Indeed, he made only one full start in the 2-1 Carling Cup defeat at Burnley in August as well as four brief substitute appearances as he struggled to find a starting berth in a central midfield area where United are overflowing with options. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Blues boss Paul Simpson released Jamie early from his six-month contract on the 21st of December to give him more time to find a new club, McClen eventually finding himself in Shropshire two months later.