{"id":2097,"date":"2020-04-27T15:36:30","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T14:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/57hattersyears.co.uk\/?p=2097"},"modified":"2025-11-27T15:39:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T15:39:17","slug":"gay-meadow-shrewsbury-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/57hattersyears.co.uk\/index.php\/1990s\/gay-meadow-shrewsbury-town\/","title":{"rendered":"GAY MEADOW – SHREWSBURY TOWN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First County Visit:<\/td>Friday 20th March 1992<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Competition:<\/td>Barclays League Division 3 – (Tier 3)<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Result:<\/td>Shrewsbury Town 0 – 1 Stockport County<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Attendance:<\/td>3,186<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Away Trip:<\/td>57<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Away Day:<\/td>229<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
County Line-up<\/td>1 Neil Edwards; 2 Andy Thorpe (14 Neil Matthews); 3 Jim Carstairs; 4 David Frain (12 Darren Knowles); 5 Tony Barras; 6 Alan Finley; 7 Jim Gannon; 8 Peter Ward; 9 Paul Wheeler; 10 Lee Todd; 11 Andy Preece<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Scorer:<\/td>Paul Wheeler<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Manager:<\/td>Danny Bergara<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
County Visits:<\/td>6<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\nIT WAS THE SADDEST DAY OF MY LIFE: DANNY BERGARA<\/span><\/a>\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Unique name, and a unique ground in my view.  Absolutely loved it and what a sorry day it was on New Years Day 2007 when I walked out of Gay Meadow for what turned out to be the last time.  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next visit to watch us play the Shrews was to the New Meadow, and what a soulless place that is.  But more about that when I get to Away Trip 114.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shrewsbury is one of those places beloved of tourists.  But Gay Meadow was different than many other grounds in tourist destinations that we went to in the years up to the explosion of new stadia, and the exponential growth in the profits of the manufacturers of breeze block. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the most charitable would hesitate to say that Sealand Road; the Manor Ground and the Abbey Stadium were part of the must see places.  They were miles away from the places that the day trippers saw.  Yet Gay Meadow, was as good as in the town centre, and was an integral component of the town itself.  It\u2019s proximity is reflected in its name.  It was in the late middle ages a place where the good folk of Shrewsbury went to enjoy themselves.  It was a place for fun and games with its nomenclature reflecting the older definition of the term.  Essentially it was a public park, but fifteenth century style. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aerial view, (below), shows it closely bounded by the River Severn; a railway line which was close to the town centre terminus for the Worcester and Hereford line; and the Wakeman Technical School.  I suppose that, irrespective of any other Health and Safety considerations, the potential for expanding the stadium was next to nil, and to be fair the proximity of the Severn made it more than susceptible to floods.  But for me its disappearance has been a sad loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Gay Meadow, bounded by the river; railway and school.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A town centre stadium, the number of which reduces by the year, or so it seems.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first visit there was for a Friday night game in March 1992.  We stood 4th<\/sup>, some 6 points behind leaders Stoke, but with a game in hand.  But the push for promotion had stuttered.  In the games since the beginning of February we had won only 4 so a win was vital.  Shrewsbury were too close to the southern end of the table for their own comfort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff and I opted for the Main Stand.  Essentially it was 3 covers joined into one, but afforded a decent view with a bit of height giving a good perspective.  To our left was the Wakeman End, a small uncovered terrace, severely limited due to its proximity to the school.  Opposite was the Riverside terrace.  Not much deeper than the old Midland Road Stand at Valley Parade, it was covered in corrugated iron and propped up by a whole swathe of posts.  An archetypal construction beloved of lower league grounds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>
\n

The Main Stand – three different covers. On the occasions I used the stand we were always directed to the part nearest from where the photo was taken.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It backed onto the river bank and of course provides the\nfamiliar tale of the man in a coracle, who went to retrieved the errant\nclearances from the torrent into which they had plunged.  It\u2019s one of the whimsical anecdotes which\nframe the history of grounds which may not have appeared on TV each week, but\nwere still part of the rich tapestry of English football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

View across the ground from the Main Stand to the Riverside terrace. Standing for visitors was on the Railway End, to the right of the picture<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We won the game 1-0, and Paul Wheeler, who was an integral part of the squad, if not a regular member of the starting XI, throughout 1991\/92, got the winner.  His last start for County was the Autoglass Final against Stoke a couple of months later.  He came on as sub the following week in the Play-Off final against Peterborough, and then after a gap of six months had a final showing as a sub against Bradford in January 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some two years later Jeff and I journeyed again.  It was a surreal atmosphere that day as we stood on the Railway End. (Pictured below is the view that we had that afternoon looking down the pitch to the Wakeman End). It was fairly rudimentary with a rather ramshackle cover at the rear. But it definitely provided a platform for much discussion that afternoon.  But take things back 6 years almost to the day.  In the intervening period we had played 350 games. There had been 156 wins; 86 draws; 108 losses.  We were 14th<\/sup> in Tier 3 having risen from 14th<\/sup> in the tier below.  There had been one promotion;  three ultimately unsuccessful trips to the play-offs and four Wembley appearances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Looking down the pitch from the Railway End. In the distance is the Wakeman End, (with the school which gave it the name just behind)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those six years encompassed the reign of Danny Bergara in\nthe EP hot- seat.  He had taken us from\nbeing perennial strugglers to a team and Club which had received wider\nacclaim.  There was no reason at all to\nsuspect his tenure was going to come to an abrupt end.  We had won at Plymouth on the Tuesday night before\nthe Shrewsbury game.  The following afternoon\nI was at a reserve game at EP and saw Bergara chatting to the smattering of\nfans who showed up at those type of fixtures. \nThings seemed fine.  But within 48\nhours news emerged that Bergara had been fired. \nIt left County fans open mouthed. \nWhat had happened?  It couldn\u2019t be\nfootball based, given his record, and sure enough, as the acrimonious details\nemerged it was a case of Chairman v Manager and in those kind of circumstances\nthere is only one winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let Chris Green in his book \u201cThe Sack Race: The Story of Football’s Gaffers\u201d<\/strong>  take up the story: I’ve corrected a couple of factual errors (in red)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bergara became British football\u2019s first foreign manager when he took charge of Rochdale.  It was short-lived, but he soon had another chance, this time at struggling Stockport, perennial Fourth Division re-election applicants.  They were going nowhere, (well, certainly not upwards), had never really been anywhere, anchored to the bottom division for 21, mainly desperate, seasons.  Until Danny Bergara rolled into town.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I<\/em>n his six years in charge, Bergara won promotion to Division Three, (then renamed Division Two), and they went to Wembley four times, (twice in the Autoglass Trophy, twice in the play-off finals).  He made the club millions of pounds in the transfer market by what Danny calls \u2018polishing diamonds\u2019, developing his own young players, or spotting underachievers, improving them and selling them on.  His side would form the backbone of the Stockport team that would, two years after Bergara was sacked in March 1995, go on to play in the First Division \u2013 dizzy, unimaginable heights.  Stockport in the First Division, it beggared belief. They made the quarter finals of the FA Cup too (\u2020) <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(\u2020) Not true \u2013 the best we did was the 5th<\/sup> round against Tottenham in 2001.  Chris Green also fails to mention the League Cup semi-final. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I would say that we made two-and-a-half to three million pounds profit\u2019 says Bergara.  His role (sic), call of players includes Andy Preece, signed for \u00a315,000, sold for \u00a3350,000.; Paul Williams, who cost nothing, sold for \u00a3250,000, and Kevin Francis, bought for \u00a355,000, transferred for \u00a3800,000. Others moved after Bergara left: Alun Armstrong (for \u00a31.6 million), goal-keeper Paul Jones, (\u2020)<\/em>,and forward, (\u2020\u2020)<\/em>, Tony Dinning.  \u2018It was a magnificent period\u2019 recalls Bergara. \u2018If someone would have told me that would happen when I arrived in England I wouldn\u2019t have believed it.  The way I had to go, it was the saddest day of my life\u2019.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(\u2020) – Jones wasn’t signed by Bergara but by Dave Jones in the summer of 1996<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(\u2020\u2020) – Dinning was a midfielder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what caused Bergara to be sacked?  A row over a \u00a364 expense claim.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bergara, who lived in Sheffield, had a cheap and cheerful arrangement to lodge at a terraced house opposite Stockport\u2019s ground, Edgeley Park, a few nights a week.  He had an expenses allowance of \u00a350 a week, which Bergara claims he never reached. He even bought, and cooked, his own food to keep the costs down.  Even though Bergara was making millions of pounds for the Club, this small allowance was taken away.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A subsequent employment tribunal recalls the events.  In March 1995, Stockport County\u2019s chairman Brendan Elwood sought to take Bergara\u2019s meagre allowance off him.  Bergara disagreed, but Elwood told a subsequent board meeting, in Bergara\u2019s absence, that the manager had agreed to this new arrangement.   When Bergara submitted his claim for \u00a364 on 29 March, <\/em>(the day after the win at Plymouth), he was refused payment.  Bergara, in language hardly unfamiliar to the football industry,was verbally abusive to the club\u2019s chief executive, David Coxon, and called the club\u2019s finance director David Jolley and chairman Brendan Elwood \u2018bastards\u2019 for withholding his expenses.  He repeated these remarks at a subsequent meeting with his deputies Dave Jones and John Sainty.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tribunal heard that Bergara went to a dinner at a local hotel that evening, attended by Jolley and Elwood and other Stockport County board members.  He met the club\u2019s vice chairman, Grahame white, and described Jolley and Elwood as a pair of \u2018fucking gangsters\u2019.  At the conclusion of the dinner, in the hotel foyer, Elwood swore at Bergara and sought to strike him twice across the face and told him \u2018not to bother coming into work tomorrow as he no longer had a job\u2019.  Jolley, who had intervened, later became an aggressor, poking Bergara in the chest and giving him what was described to the tribunal as a \u2018Sheffield volley\u2019, a tirade of swearing.  He told Bergara to come to a meeting in his office the next day, where he would \u2018tear up his contract and shove it up his arse\u2019.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not surprisingly, Bergara did not accept this invitation and at a board meeting later that day, where their interpretation of the previous nights\u2019 events had been presented by Elwood and Jolley to the rest of the board members, Bergara was dismissed.  They said he had attacked them, not vice versa.  The tribunal noted that the Stockport chairman, Brendan Elwood, had lied to his own board members by saying that Bergara had agreed to having his expenses withdrawn and by presenting a false version of events at the hotel.  The tribunal found that Bergara had been unfairly dismissed and \u2018was not satisfied that the respondents <\/strong><\/em>[the Club] had a genuine belief that the applicant [Bergara] was guilty of misconduct warranting dismissal based upon reasonable grounds.  The evidence \u2026 showed the allegations which were ranged against the applicant \u2026 to be misconceived and inaccurate\u2019 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018This was an employer who had treated this manager with a complete lack of frankness and in a disingenuous way \u2026. For whatever reason Mr Elwood and Mr Jolley wished to terminate Mr Bergara\u2019s contract\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And whilst Chris Green\u2019s analysis may have some small factual errors, and is clearly done on the basis of Bergara\u2019s side of the story, the thrust of it, and in particular the direct quotes from the tribunal cannot be gainsaid.  I always look at the last sentence, \u2018For whatever reason Mr Elwood and Mr Jolley wished to terminate Mr Bergara\u2019s contract\u2019<\/strong>.  <\/em>That to me is the nub of the issue.  They may have decided that a change was necessary and that Bergara had taken us as far as he could.  They may have just wanted rid for whatever reason.  That will probably never be uncovered.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I do know, from many years of experience of managing a large organisation, is that parting company with someone has to be very carefully managed in order to avoid unnecessary trips to tribunals.  If Elwood and Jolley had decided that a parting of the ways was necessary then the way that they did it was frankly amateurish and laughable.  There\u2019s lots of people who credit Elwood with the County renaissance in the 90\u2019s.  I\u2019m one of those but equally I\u2019m not a slavish adherent to his cause.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never was, particularly after the research I did for a piece in The Tea Party which examined the accounts after the \u2018annus mirablis\u2019 of 1996\/97.  He cracked on to be a sharp businessman, and I suppose that was the case when you\u2019re dealing with student lets in Sheffield, but the extent of his business nous was seen when Brian Kennedy did him up like a kipper when he eventually disposed of his interest in County.  Sadly for the Hatters followers it was the Club that was an even bigger kipper in the sorry episode that unfolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

The Railway End at The Gay Meadow<\/strong> – the sparsity of cover could leave for an uncomfortable afternoon on a rainy day<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, back to Gay Meadow. \nThe diversion in my account to address the Bergara dismissal was\nvital.  We turned up that day, and the\natmosphere was indeed surreal.  There\nwere opinions in the pub beforehand which varied from support for the\ndismissal, (Danny\u2019s time was up; time for a change etc etc), to sheer\nbemusement.  Dave Jones, (Bergara\u2019s assistant),\nhad been put in charge.  There were mixed\nemotions about that as well.  We managed\na draw, (Deiniol Graham getting his second goal of the week \u2013 the only two he\nnotched in a brief County career).   It\nleft us in mid table, miles adrift of the play-off places.  The rest of the season was now about\nevaluating Jones\u2019 impact.  As it turned\nout we won 3, drew 1 and lost the other 2 games, finishing 11th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But whatever the case, there can be little argument that\nthe afternoon at Gay Meadow was a milestone. \nIt saw the advent of a manager, in Dave Jones, who was to give long standing\nCounty followers the best single season that they have ever seen.  There can be no argument about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is some interesting archive footage of Gay Meadow – filmed in 1979<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VISITS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day<\/strong><\/td>Date<\/strong><\/td>Competition<\/strong><\/td>Tier \/ Round<\/strong><\/td>Opponents<\/strong><\/td>Res<\/strong><\/td>F<\/strong><\/td>A<\/strong><\/td>Crowd<\/strong><\/td>Away Day<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Fri<\/td>20\/03\/92<\/td>Barclays League Division 3<\/td>Tier 3<\/td>Shrewsbury Town<\/td>W<\/td>1<\/td>0<\/td>3,186<\/td>229<\/td><\/tr>
Sat<\/td>01\/04\/95<\/td>Endsleigh League Division 2<\/td>Tier 3<\/td>Shrewsbury Town<\/td>D<\/td>1<\/td>1<\/td>3,655<\/td>298<\/td><\/tr>
Sat<\/td>23\/09\/95
(Highlights)<\/a><\/strong><\/td>		Endsleigh League Division 2<\/td>Tier 3<\/td>Shrewsbury Town<\/td>W<\/td>2<\/td>1<\/td>2,588<\/td>307<\/td><\/tr>
Sat<\/td>23\/11\/96<\/td>Nationwide Football League – Division 2<\/td>Tier 3<\/td>Shrewsbury Town<\/td>L<\/td>2<\/td>3<\/td>2,865<\/td>336<\/td><\/tr>
Sat<\/td>15\/10\/05<\/td>Coca-Cola Football League – League 2<\/td>Tier 4<\/td>Shrewsbury Town<\/td>D<\/td>2<\/td>2<\/td>4,316<\/td>538<\/td><\/tr>
Mon<\/td>01\/01\/07<\/td>Coca-Cola Football League – League 2<\/td>Tier 4<\/td>Shrewsbury Town<\/td>L<\/td>2<\/td>4<\/td>4,569<\/td>569<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

..<\/p>\n\n\nPreviously – CRAVEN COTTAGE<\/span><\/a>\n\nNext stop – MOSS ROSE<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First County Visit: Friday 20th March 1992 Competition: Barclays League Division 3 – (Tier 3) Result: Shrewsbury Town 0 – 1 Stockport County Attendance: 3,186 Away Trip: 57 Away Day: 229 County Line-up 1 Neil Edwards; 2 Andy Thorpe (14 Neil Matthews); 3 Jim Carstairs; 4 David Frain (12 Darren Knowles); 5 Tony Barras; 6 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1990s"],"yoast_head":"\n57 Hatters Years : GAY MEADOW - SHREWSBURY TOWN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stockport County - reflections on my 6 County trips to Gay Meadow - sadly missed. 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