Shrewsbury Town's furthest fan? The view from Down Under

Having read the tale of an exiled Shrew in London last week, I thought he had it easy - try being a Shrewsbury Town fan in Australia writes Carl Segale.

For a start there's an 11 hour time difference. This means that the Saturday 3pm games kick off at 2am my time. In comparison, the Tuesday night game are not too bad, starting at 6.45am local time.

Not that I can watch them on TV, of course. The best I can manage is to follow the live-updates on my Football League iPhone app. We also have a half hour League show on pay TV that shows a quick grab of a League Two game at the end, so sometimes I'm lucky enough to get 60 seconds footage of the Blue and Amber on my screen.

Other good source of information and banter are Facebook and Twitter, through loyal Shrews fans like Carl Jones, Adom148 and Chris Gray. And the Shrews website of course!

But why does an Australian born (with British and Australian citizenship) follow Shrewsbury Town in League Two, I hear you ask? Why not a well known team in the Premier League, like Manchester United or Arsenal? If I did that, it would save a bit of explaining my allegiance.

The truth is that I think you need a connection to the team and the place they represent and not just be a glory seeker. My mum was Shropshire-born, as was her father. And his father. And his father. In fact I trace my Shropshire connection back at least 200 years.

Unlike most people from Australia on their first visit to England, I didn't head straight to London when I got off the plane at Heathrow. No – I went to Shrewsbury, where I spent my first few days in England visiting family, who still live, work and play there. So in a way, you could say Shrewsbury is my 'home town'.

I have a picture of Greenhous Meadow on my computer at work and my fellow workers always know how the Shrews got on in their last match. And I wear my home shirt with pride.

Nothing beats seeing your team live though and, this August, I hope to do just that when I return to Shrewsbury.

So if you're a London-based Shrews fan, fear not. You can catch a train to Shrewsbury in a couple of hours. I need an Airbus A380 and 24 hours just to get to the train station.

Meanwhile, from 10,000 miles away, I'll be following the Blue and Amber on every website I can find. SALOP!