Away Days - Shrewsbury Town (Gay Meadow)
First Impressions -- Around the ground -- Facilities -- The Stand -- Overall -- Pictures
Fixture: Shrewsbury
Town Vs Torquay United
Competition: Coca Cola League Two
Ground: Gay Meadow
Date: Saturday 24th March 2007
Kick off: 3.00pm
Final Result: 1-0 Asamoah
With North End not playing due to international matches, this was an ideal opportunity to visit Gay Meadow before Shrewsbury moved to their new ground. I attended the game with my Dad since he had organised to pick up a signed Shrewsbury shirt for a draw at the National Football Museum.
The first sighting I got of Gay Meadow was the fantastic traditional floodlights. I thought it would be a real shame to lose these once they move so hopefully they might be passed onto a non-league club.
After parking up in the car park (a bargain £2) we then walked to the Reception so my Dad could sort out the signed shirt. The main stand seemed to be a bit of a mish-mash to say the least and the club shop was just a portakabin. I could clearly see just why they were moving.
Other than that it seemed quite a 'cosy' ground.
Since we arrived in plenty of time, there were still a few hours until kick off so we decided to register at the B&B and then go for a walk round Shrewsbury. It is certainly a very nice place and I was very impressed.
When the time came round to making our way back to the ground, we walked across the English Bridge. You can get a great view of the ground from here and you can clearly see just how close it is to the river. It certainly looked very picturesque and a great location for a football ground.
We then made our way round the the Centre Stand as we were given complimentary tickets for that area. But, me being me, I wanted to stand on the terracing! But before we moved, I got a burger. The facilities in that stand seemed pretty decent to be honest, although I didn't use the toilets so can't comment on that.
After enquiring with stewards about moving to the Wakeman End (they certainly had no problem) we then made our way there and stood at the top of the terrace just behind the goal. Obviously with the River Severn being so close, access to the Riverside Terrace could only be made via the Wakeman End. This didn't seem a problem though and seemed a well organised system.
I bought a burger from the Centre Stand concourse before we moved to the Wakeman End. The facilities there seemed pretty decent. Its just a shame they didn't have enough notes for change - I only had a £20 note on me so they had to give me all my change in pound coins!
I can't comment much on the facilities in the Wakeman End since I didn't use them but thought it made sense to have the catering bar at one end and the toilets at the other to avoid congestion.
It felt great to be standing on another terrace. I gave up a seat in the Centre Stand with a brilliant view to stand on a terrace. Am I mad? I don't think so!
I stood at the top of the terrace behind the goal and the view was pretty good. It was also lucky that it was a sunny day - it wouldn't be very nice to stand there in the pouring rain to say the least!
I thoroughly enjoyed the day. It wasn't a great game by any means, but I thought Shrewsbury just about deserved the 3 points. A decent atmosphere was created by the fans in the Riverside Terrace too.
Its going to be very sad to see such a picturesque ground such as this disappear. I thought it had a lot of character and didn't seem 'run down' at all. This will certainly be in my list of favourite grounds.
Ratings
Appearance: 10/10
Facilities: 7/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Fans: 8/10
Wakeman End: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
