Gay Meadow
 Crowd at the Gay Meadow on 25 February 2006
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| Full name | Gay Meadow |
|---|---|
| Location | Abbey Foregate Shrewsbury SY2 6AB |
| Capacity | 8000 (3639 seated) |
| Field size | 114 x 74 yards |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1910 |
| Opened | 1910 |
| Closed | 2007 |
| Tenants | |
| Shrewsbury Town F.C. (1910–2007) | |
Gay Meadow was the home ground of Shrewsbury Town football club in Shropshire, England. Just outside the town centre, on the banks of the River Severn, it opened in 1910.
The ground closed at the end of the 2006-07 Football League season and the club moved to a new stadium, provisionally titled The New Meadow, on the outskirts of the town.
Local legend says that over 22,000 were inside the stadium for the league match against Wrexham A.F.C on 21 August 1950, although the official figure is given as 16,000. The official record attendance is 18,917, on 26 April 1961 against local rivals Walsall. Because it had only one entrance/exit road, in the years following the Taylor Report the capacity of the ground was reduced from 16,000 to around 8,000.
Centuries before Shrewsbury Town occupied the site, Gay Meadow was known locally for the fairs, carnivals and circuses which took place there. The origin of the name is not entirely clear, although it is widely believed to related to its use for entertainment purposes. An alternative origin states that the land was originally owned by the Gay family.
In 1740, stuntman Robert Cadman, a 'steeple-flyer', attempted to 'fly' across the River Severn using a rope attached to St Mary's Church at one side and a tree at Gay Meadow some two hundred feet below. Tragically for Cadman, the rope broke, and he plunged to his death.
In 1910, Shrewsbury Town, were looking for a new ground to play at, having been told they could no longer use the Army-owned pitch at Copthorne Barracks. A consortium bought the site and leased it to the club. Despite objections from the local hospital, the Salop Infirmary, who feared crowd noise might disturb patients across the River Severn, the first official match took place on 20 August 1910, when a crowd of up to 1,000 watched a pre-season practice match between the 'Reds' and the 'Whites'.
The first league game at Gay Meadow was between Shrewsbury Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers Reserves, on 10 September 1910. Shrewsbury lost the match 2-1, with 'Shinton' scoring the first league goal for Wolves, and Billy Scarratt scoring Shrewsbury Town's first goal at the ground. Shrewsbury's first win at Gay Meadow occurred two weeks later against Halesowen.
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