Wembley arch lights up for Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town were honoured at Wembley Stadium as the iconic arena celebrated its 10th anniversary.
To mark the occasion, the home of football displayed every club crest and international colour of all 166 football teams to have featured under the arch.
The lit up blue and amber arch may not revoke too many positives memories for Town’s faithful, with their two trips to the new Wembley ending in defeats.
Gary Peters’ side fell to a 3-1 reverse against Bristol Rovers in 2007. Town’s Stuart Drummond scored the new stadium’s first ever Football League goal on that occasion, but it wasn’t enough in the League Two play-off final, where 61,589 watched on.
Two years later, Paul Simpson took Shrewsbury back to the capital for a second shot at League Two success via the play-offs, but there was more Town heartbreak as Gillingham edged to a single-goal success – courtesy of a last-minute strike from front-runner Simeon Jackson.
The 166 colours and crests that adorned the stadium belonged to every male, female, European and international clash that has taken place in the last decade.
The old Wembley Stadium opened in April 1923 and closed 77 years later in October 2000.
Town’s first – and only – appearance at the old ground was four years before the closure in 1996, where Paul Hurst was part of a Rotherham team that won in the Football League Trophy.
