Shrewsbury Town

New Meadow was built as a replacement for Gay Meadow, the club’s home from 1910 until 2007. During both the building phase and the club’s first season at the new ground it was known as both Oteley Road Stadium and New Meadow. In 2008 the ground was named after the club’s new kit manufacturer, Prostar. The naming deal was supposed to last four years but in the end was abandoned after just two, with the fans asked to vote on the new name of the ground. The stipulation from the club’s new sponsor was that the name must include the word ‘Greenhous’, so the majority of the fans opted for Montgomery Waters Meadow as it had a reference to their previous stadium Gay Meadow. However, this sponsorship ended at the back end of 2017 with Montgomery Waters taking over the naming rights, and as such, the ground is currently known as Montgomery Waters Meadow. The reasons for choosing to move from Gay Meadow were numerous. Access to the ground was poor, for starters. The stadium was also located on the banks of the River Severn so it was quite prone to flooding, most notably in 1998 and 2000 when several matches were postponed after the pitch, the dressing rooms and the club’s offices were flooded. It was also felt by many fans that a new ground offered the club their best chance of staying in the Football League. It wasn’t without controversy, however, with some fans feeling it was an abandonment of the club’s history.