Shrewsbury Town Football Club's ground is to be renamed the Greenhous Meadow following Greenhous' challenge to fans to help choose the stadium's new name.
Town fans voted overwhelmingly for the Greenhous Meadow, after it was added to the list of choices in response to their requests.Several thousand votes were cast online, by post and by telephone during the two week voting period.
One voter is to be picked at random to conduct the official naming ceremony at the first home game of the season in August, and will win VIP match tickets to that game.
The new name reflects the affection in which the old ground, the Gay Meadow, was held.The new 9875 capacity ground in Oteley Road was completed for the beginning of the 2007-08 season, and has been known by a variety of names since its inception, none of which have ever been universally accepted by supporters.
"As part of our decision to sponsor the ground as a natural extension of our ongoing sponsorship of the club's shirts, we wanted to get fans involved in the naming process," explained Dave Sullivan, director general manager of Greenhous Vauxhall and Saab."We really want to get as many supporters, customers and staff as possible involved with our sponsorship, and the vote to name the ground was just the first of a series of initiatives to give as many people as possible the opportunity to participate."
Ian Bebbington, Shrewsbury Town's Operations & Commercial Manager said, "The club are delighted by the response from the supporters in the naming of the stadium, and we would like to thank Greenhous for giving them this opportunity. As we enter our historic 125th Centenary year, the name is a blend of the past and the present, as we look to the future with renewed optimism".
New signage for the ground will be going up towards the end of June.
