Gay Meadow was the home of Shrewsbury Town for 97 years.
The stadium was squashed between a railway line and the River Severn in a very scenic setting. Shrewsbury Castle and the abbey were both visible from the ground.
The away end – or Station End – was a low, partially covered terrace that held up to 2,000 visiting supporters, This stand once housed the country’s oldest still-operating turnstile and after the closure of the ground, it was auctioned off for over £3,000.
At the southern end of the ground lay the Wakeman End, which was a low, open terrace with the local college right behind it in plain sight of the playing surface.
The main stand, on the eastern side of the ground and to the left of the away end, had a limited number of seats available for visiting fans, though the majority of it was reserved for Shrewsbury supporters. Opposite this was the Riverside Terrace, which lay on the western side of the ground and was where Shrewsbury’s more vocal supporters used to congregate.
Supporters of a certain age will remember Fred Davies, or more likely, ‘the bloke who fetches the ball back out of the river in his little boat’. Fred made coracles, which were little round boats made of wickerwork, and he loved to show off his work by retrieving footballs from the River Severn, which lay behind the Riverside Terrace.
The record attendance at Gay Meadow occurred on 26th April 1961. A Division Three match versus Walsall drew a crowd of 18,917.
The final league game to be held at the stadium took place on 5th May 2007, when the home team fought out a 2-2 draw with Grimsby Town in a League Two fixture.
Ultimately, it was the hemmed-in location that led to the demise of the ground and the decision to move to the New Meadow, on safety grounds.
Gay Meadow was demolished in 2007.