DATES VISITED THIS GROUND

2/2/2008 - Shrews 1 Lincoln City 2

Our first ever visit to the New Meadow saw a complete contrast to Gay Meadow. A brand new stadium with modern facilities but also a lack of character and atmosphere, not helped by a 5/10 minute walk to get anywhere worth going.

Getting to the ground was fairly easy, although if you're not willing to pay £7 to park at the ground then it might take a while to find somewhere. Then it's a long way to the ground and due to there only being one entrance in the huge metal fence, it can turn into an extremely long walk indeed.

As for the ground itself. It's a fairly nice ground that offers a great view of the action and it has a different feel to most modern stadiums. In this one you're not too far from the pitch, can create a fairly decent atmosphere if you want and generally enjoy your day out.

The away end and the stand behind the other goal are identical, and virtually the same as the behind-stand goals at Mansfield. The other two stands were also seemingly identical, with only the East stand's difference from the West being the executive boxes.

Due to a small pitch that view at the other end was excellent and this made for a good game. I also was allowed into the home end to grab some of the pictures you can see on your right, and that stand also offered quite a decent view of the action.

It's a pity that atmosphere from Gay Meadow hasn't come over to New Meadow as singing from the home fans was few and far between, something you're always bound to get in a new ground. Other than "You're Shit and you know you are" or "Salop, Salop, Salop" every fewe minutes, there was virtually no singing coming from the Shrewsbury fans, even when they weren't losing.

Overall the New Meadow isn't actually that bad, in many ways it's better than Gay Meadow but in some others it's worse. However, I would recommend this to all fans who are considering visiting this stadium.

My one serious recommendation though is to get there early, otherwise finding a parking space might prove a little bit tricky. Your best bet is to head to the pub next to the roundabout, parking for £5 and relatively quick to get out.