Looking back – Gay Meadow

Gay Meadow, Shrewsbury Town.

A ground very close to my heart as I spent a lot of time there growing up as a Shrewsbury Town fan. Many a Saturday and Tuesday spent on the famous Riverside Stand, usually freezing as the River Severn flowed right behind the stand and if a ball went over the stand you would see someone with a net nip out of the ground to retrieve the ball from the river.

I’m glad that I got to watch games from every stand at Gay Meadow, The Riverside, The Wakeman End, The Station End and the Centre Stand which was the only stand to have seating.

So many great memories there such as being a sponsor of a friendly against Everton, playing Chelsea in the FA Cup, making the Conference Play Off final with a victory over Barnet and seeing Super Sammy Aiston light up the Gay Meadow pitch.

I loved how close to the pitch you were which made for an intimidating atmosphere for visiting teams. There was nothing better than be crammed on the Riverside and non stop singing until the 90th minute.

It was very hard to say goodbye to the Meadow as I had grown up visiting the ground and now we would be leaving it all behind for pastures knew. It was both a shame to be leaving but also exciting as we moved our club into the future.

The last game at Gay Meadow was a League Two play off semi final against MK Dons, which finished 0-0. After the whistle blew the majority of the Salop fans celebrated and said goodbye by invading the pitch for one last time, I managed to get two things to remind of the day, a lump of Gay Meadow’s turf and goalkeeper Scott Shearer’s towel. I still have the towel but the turf did not last for too long. A few months later I received a gift of a seat from the Centre Stand which one day I would love to have mounted on the wall but unfortunately my wife is not allowing that.

A couple of weeks after the last game I had the chance to play on the hallowed Gay Meadow turf, which I still get goosebumps now.

The land that once was the centre of football in Shrewsbury but now it is filled with apartments and homes but to me it will always and forever be Gay Meadow.

Thanks for reading my memories of Gay Meadow.

Daz Carding