STFC AT THE BOOK OSCARS

Shrewsbury Town Football Club will be battling it out with Premiership and UEFA Champions League giants Arsenal at The Oscars of British Sport Books later this month.

The book Goodbye Gay Meadow authored by football photographer Matthew Ashton of Shrewsbury has been short listed for the Best Illustrated Title in the British Sports Book Awards 2008 run by the National Sporting Club of Great Britain.

Goodbye Gay Meadow is a hard backed coffee table book published and authored by award winning sports photographer Matthew Ashton, who started his photographic career covering his childhood heroes at Gay Meadow, the old home of Shrewsbury Town FC.

After then Shrewsbury Town commercial manager Ivor Hookway got him a press pass to photograph Oldham v Shrewsbury Town in 1988, his work is now seen on a daily basis in newspapers and magazines around the world. Despite going on to document three FIFA World Cup Finals and thousands of football matches around the world for the past 20 years, Matthew is still a keen and active supporter and has been known to wear Shrewsbury Town merchandise when photographing many prestigious events.

His life's work of eye-catching images captured every quirk of Gay Meadow which were accompanied by the words of Shrewsbury Town fans who submitted their memories of the old ground to the website www.goodbyegaymeadow.com.

The 256 paged book was The Independent newspapers' Book of the Week in January who stated that, "One of the triumphs of this volume is that the words, largely from some very articulate Shrewsbury supporters, are married so harmoniously with the photographs."

However being shortlisted for this prestigious award is the greatest honour so far for the book. "We face some tough opposition," explained Matthew, "I'm up against Michael Hewitt whose collection of pictures in a book about the Monaco Grand Prix are stunning, but I think the toughest competition comes from a fantastic book about Arsenal."

Refusing to be drawn into believing that Goodbye Gay Meadow could win the award, Matthew said, "In the FA Cup, Shrewsbury forced a replay against Arsenal in 1969 and have caused upsets before, so who knows! Some of the judges include Ian Payne from Sky Sports and Mark Pougatch from BBC Five Live, I'm hoping that they have a soft spot for Shrewsbury Town."

The awards are said to be more challenging that in previous years, the largest and most competitive to date with Sir Bobby Charlton will be going head to head with Sir Jackie Stewart and Lawrence Dalleglio for the sports autobiography prize.

"Goodbye Gay Meadow Book has exceeded all expectations and is a fitting tribute to the 97 years at the old stadium, " commented STFC Commerical Manager Alan Stephenson. "The quality and range of photographs are unparalleled and is a compelling keepsake for, not only Shrewsbury Town fans, but supporters of football in general."

The book is still available and was a Christmas best seller at Pengwern Books in Shrewsbury, at the Shrewsbury Town Club Shop as well as online, "I anticipated quite a good response from sales on the internet, however the amount of Shrewsbury exiles purchasing the book, especially ones living overseas, just shows what the ground Gay Meadow meant to many people around the world," said Matthew.

"I self published the book and have encountered some problems with some mainstream book shops who seem to operate in a mafia type world, however through the magnificent support of local independent book shops and of course the club shop at the stadium, it has sold and has been received very well. Being nominated for the award is testament to the fact that individuals can compete with multi-million pound book publishers."

Matthew will be travelling to London on March 18th when the winners will be announced at the Cafe Royal. "Ever since I broke my ankle at the age of 13, I knew I could not be a footballer, but I grew up with the likes of Michael Brown and Carl Griffiths with me learning the craft of taking pictures and whilst they scored goals. If I can lift a trophy for Shrewsbury Town I will be as proud as when I saw Jake King lift the Third Division Championship trophy in 1979. It will be for the fans whose amazing response to my appeals for Gay Meadow memories helped me make the book."






GOODBYE GAY MEADOW BOOK WEBSITE