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The loss of Gay Meadow was a grievous one. It was a lovely enclosure in the heart of historic Shrewsbury and there were few more pleasant pre-match strolls than through the town's narrow streets and along the banks of the mighty Severn. After close on 100 eventful years in those verdant surroundings, the Shrews chose to make a fresh start at The New Stadium, which is set amid rolling farmland near the suburb of Meole Brace, about two miles south of the bustling city centre. You can't blame the club. Gay Meadow, though charming, idiosyncratic and delightful for the grounds enthusiast, was hopelessly landlocked, falling to pieces and its Victorian facilities some way short of what is expected by today's discerning consumer-fan.
So, another dutiful jaunt to a faceless new ground in the middle of nowhere? Well, not quite. Though, at just £13m clearly a budget enterprise, The New Stadium, which bears some resemblance to the Kassam at Oxford, is not without merit. I found its uniformity and symmetry particularly appealing. All four stands are essentially identical, though the main (east) stand, named after club chairman Roland Wycherley, has a few distinguishing features. The rather gloomy, spartan main reception is located here. Its dark interior is somewhat out of keeping with the rest of the administration block, which is finished in a white render, with steel panelling and navy window frames, and has an aluminium and glass fringed canopy. Clean and cool. The lightness of the colour scheme makes the two club logos high on the front wall stand out well. The Shrews have a 'Buy A Brick' fundraising scheme under way, and these, featuring the names of loyal fans and sundry messages, are laid out in front of the reception area. The other stands, unimaginatively titled west, north and south, are of the same cantilever design. Exposed girders to the rear of each indicate clearly the method of construction. The lower sections are of fawn breeze block, alleviated by black bands, with the upper parts being light grey panelling and opaque blue glazing at the top level. The corners of the ground are not filled in but each element is linked by a curving exterior wall of the same material and livery as the bases of the stands. It ties everything together very neatly. Alongside each corner wall are metal bars to which pushbikes can be locked. Access for the disabled also appears to be first class. A large but highly priced tarmac car park fronts the main stand, with a tarmac loop fringing the stadium. A walkway is clearly marked out to keep cars and pedestrians apart. Behind the north stand, designated for away fans, is a full-size grass pitch, seven floodlit community five-a-side pitches all with 'rubber crumb' surfaces and another boxy block in neutral shades containing the Powerleague Bar. Beyond the west stand is the railway line linking Shrewsbury to Central Wales and at the back of the south stand there is another full-size grass pitch. It's a tidy set-up.
Inside, corners have been cut and liberties taken to keep costs down. The concourses are bare and uninviting, with plenty of untreated breeze block, girders, pipework and the stark underbelly of the seating tiers all visible. Fast food and satellite TV - equally unpalatable, in my view - are available for those who wish to linger in this drab environment. All four stands have blue plastic tip-up seats, with STFC picked out in amber. I wouldn't fancy sitting in the front rows on a wet day because the roof overhangs are very shallow. The stadium control room is in the north east corner of the north stand and there is a TV gantry at the back of the west. The main stand differs slightly from the others in that it has a central players' tunnel, which is the same as the spectator vomitories apart from the presence of a concertina walkway cover. Above the tunnel is a block of navy seats for the great and the good. Two lines of executive boxes, the uppermost with a seated balcony, boast the best view in the house. The lights are masts. Four, holding six lamps apiece, are mounted on the roof of each side stand. There is a maroon tarmac pathway round the pitch and no perimeter fence.
The risible New Stadium moniker may not be with us much longer. In the top-quality programme, managing director Rob Bickerton reveals the club are looking to sell the naming rights. Bickerton, only in the job three weeks after moving from Macclesfield Town, introduces himself in his column and says, rather superfluously, he is "very interested in football". Let's hope he came up with something a little more imaginative at his interview! I haven't seen many lower division programmes better than the Shrews issue. It really is excellent. Digging deep to find a quibble, I'd say the cover is disappointing. It features an offbeat photograph of the ground - and a glance at back issues in the club shop indicates earlier productions this season have had similar treatment. Perhaps Town are more proud of the ground than the team which, given what happened in this game, isn't surprising. There's loads to read, a staggering number of columnists and, despite all the type, the programme is designed to be easy on the eye.
One other thing to mention before I get to the game - parking. The big issue at The New Stadium owing to Soviet regime-style restrictions. No-one in their right mind wants to pay £7 to park in the official car park. Double yellow lines abound on the adjacent Oteley Road and there are residents only parking schemes in the estates alongside the nearby Meole Brace roundabout and up towards the A49. There have been stories of locals attacking thoughtlessly parked cars with pitch forks. Well, this is a rural backwater. Best bet is to turn left out of the ground, over the railway and take the third left (B4380) at the above roundabout. Climb the hill to another roundabout, bear left and then first left. You are opposite Priory School and safe, free parking is plentiful here. It's a 20-minute walk to the ground. Just far enough to keep you warm until half-time. One other word of warning: The local plod close Oteley Road between 4.30 and 5.30pm on Saturday matchdays, which leaves you with a bit of wait to get back on to the A49 if you're heading east either for the M54 or A53 which, chances are, you will be.
The logic for this game was both teams desperately needed to win - Shrewsbury to keep alive fading hopes of making the play-offs; Lincoln to help avoid another spell in non-league football. It was my third League Two match in a week, and the least enjoyable of the three, though MK Dons-Rochdale and Morecambe-Wrexham had set the bar extremely high. The first half was notable for the constant whistling of Bedfordshire referee Pat Miller. The slightest physical contact and the game halted. The Salop natives had started to revolt long before former England youth international Louis Dodds cracked the Imps ahead with a well-struck, carefully-placed free-kick from 25 yards in the 12th minute. The stop-start nature of the contest was exacerbated by Lincoln centre-back Lee Beevers repeatedly having to go off to change a blood-spattered shirt and get a gashed head mopped up. Just to show how picky Mr Miller was, Beevers needed just four stitches in the cut. Once ahead, the visitors got everyone back behind the ball and began wasting time at every opportunity. Joy. Shrewsbury were too witless to find a way through, though Ben Davies forced a tip over from Alan Marriott with a long-range free-kick and Dave Hibbert made a pig's ear of a one-on-one after a weak header back from Daniel Hone.
It had to improve in the second half and, thankfully, it did. Surprisingly, spoilers Lincoln, looking dangerous on the break, made most of the best chances. Ben Wright headed a sitter over at the back post and Glyn Garner had to dive full length to push away a Mark Stallard daisycutter. Ex-Shrew Stallard was described as "muscular" in the programme pen pictures. Eh? How can someone who trains every day be so out of shape? To paraphrase cult road movie Thelma and Louise, you could've parked a Cadillac in the shade of Stallard's backside. The Shrews weren't exactly hibernating by this point. Guy Madjo flicked over at the near post when he should have scored and Asa Hall was inches wide from the edge of the box after fancy footwork from Marc Pugh who, along with fellow winger Chris Humphrey, gave Town a lot of width after the break. The equaliser came with 14 minutes left. Ben Davies guided a 20-yard free-kick over the wall and into the near top corner. For my money, Marriott was guarding the wrong side of the goal. Why don't teams just put an outfield player on the unattended post in these situations? The Imps keeper made amends by reacting brilliantly to turn aside a Madjo header and when Humphrey lost his bearings at a long throw Dodds gleefully thumped home the winner on the volley from 10 yards in front of the 268 travelling Imps fans. There was time for the by now almost mummified Beevers to clear off the line from Hall's header and Kelvin Langmead then poked wide from a couple of yards after an almighty scramble in the visitors' box. But Lincoln held out for three priceless points - their sixth straight victory at Shrewsbury, who are now left to start planning for next season.
Overall, this is a ground where a good deal of thought seems to have gone into spectator accommodation. Despite this, the Shrews struggle for most games to get The New Stadium full to more than half its 10,000 capacity. It just shows the 'build it and they will come' dictum isn't a watertight assumption. Town need to improve on the field but with massive potential support, covering one of the largest counties in England, they are a big enough club to sustain football in a higher division than the basement. What would Fred, the old Gay Meadow coracle man, make of it all?
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