Shrewsbury Town’s spiral stops here

New Meadow was the future, once. When Shrewsbury Town moved here in 2007, it marked a monumental achievement for owner and chairman Roland Wycherley, after whom a stand was ceremonially named. Having steered the club away from financial emergency and overseen a return to the Football League, Wycherley had his club in a shiny new stadium that fit their ambition. The Croud Meadow – renamed for sponsorship reasons – is still serviceable and some improvement work was completed this summer to mark Shrewsbury Town’s 140-year anniversary. But on the whole it reflects the club that calls it home: tired, rusting in places, browbeaten. Supporters have repeatedly complained about bird faeces on the seats and in concourses. It’s certainly different to moaning about needing a new striker, but hardly better. Shrewsbury Town have been in pain for too long. In February, they won three consecutive away games and supporters wondered if they had been transported to an alternative dimension. They had watched their team win four away league games in the 23 months before that. That late winter bounce kept Shrewsbury out of non-league football and avoided a double-dip relegation from League One. Wycherley had described Football League relegation in 2003 as the worst feeling of his life. Once would be careless. A repeat two decades later was perceived as negligence. So there hasn’t been huge cause for cheer. Shrewsbury Town have lost at least 20 league games in each of their last five seasons. It is now more than eight years since they took points at a rate of over 1.3 per game over the course of a campaign. Then they finished third in League One. That now feels like half a lifetime ago. There has been no real calamity here – does that make it worse or better? Nobody stripped the assets or quickly forced the club to the cliff edge of financial disaster. Instead, a local owner simply found himself unable to fund in the same manner. And while that happened, a fanbase slowly fell out of love and ran out of hope. It is the miserable starts to their seasons that have destroyed faith most. Whatever the caveats, early August always generates a stir. In 2024-25, Shrewsbury won one of their first 11 league games. Last season, one of 10. They have lost four of their first five league games and now sit second from the bottom of the Football League. Shrewsbury have to make their fans fall in love again (Photo: Getty) When supporters repeatedly feel let down, they eventually stop coming and you can give up attracting new ones. Home attendances have been falling for some time. This season they average under 5,000 for the first time in almost 20 years. We’ve said it about other clubs too, but every empty seat that was full is a mini-crisis. In provincial towns without vast fanbases, the only way to futureproof your own existence is to inspire people to stick with you as a live experience. That is impossible when the team never wins often enough and the club never seems to move forward. One of the greatest causes for forlornness was Shrewsbury’s Waiting For Godot takeover, first touted by Wycherley four years ago and drawn out for at least half of the interim. The owner regularly stressed that he wanted to sell and that 20 different potential buyouts had not progressed because he wanted the best for the club. It should also be said in his firm defence: there is no significant external debt. It has therefore been an odd few days as Shrewsbury’s existence played out on double speed. On Saturday, a number of fan groups released a joint open letter stating their intention to campaign jointly for a takeover to be completed and serious questions answered by the owner. By Monday, the club confirmed that the Independent Football Regulator had approved a new takeover by a US consortium. There is still reason for caution, of course. The takeover hasn’t actually completed yet; fan groups will not dare believe it until the new name is above the door. Nor is this necessarily the silver bullet. Any buyer is signing up to lose money; supporters want them to understand football, have deep pockets and generous dispositions and be patient but ambitious. From that list, something usually has to give. Read more The Journeyman: AFC Wimbledon and the fear of losing their soul Daniel Storey: The football club who aren’t allowed to play matches But what choice is there but to believe? Nobody wants to spend their Saturday afternoons griping about how broken the team is and the time in between fretting about how broken the club is. They have waited so long for this and the crowds will come back if everything is rebuilt better. If not, everybody knows what happens next or eventually. Shrewsbury Town have been one of the worst-performing football clubs in the Football League for over a year and the safety net has gone. The only natural next step without significant improvement, investment or both is non-league football for the first time in 22 years. So this is a chance. This is probably the chance. The united fan messaging has to stay after the fragmentation that becomes an inevitability when a club struggles and everybody argues about why. A new owner will be met with a surge of goodwill until there is reason to doubt it. Few clubs in England need one more.