Town's youth set-up has suffered a blow with the loss of their major sponsor after Shropshire Homes had to pull out of their current deal.

Shrewsbury Town and Shropshire Home had signed a 3 year deal covering the youth side and all the Centre of Excellence last season. There was a clause in the contract that allowed Shropshire Homes to pull out and with the current state of the housing market they have exercised that right.

The news comes as a big blow for Town's head of youth Nigel Vaughan as he looks for a new sponsor as the lads return for pre-season. Vaughan understands the reason for Shropshire Homes decision; he is full of praise for the companies support for nearly a decade that has been a pivotal part of the youth side's development and success: "Howard Thorne at Shropshire Homes has been absolutely superb with his sponsorship of the youth. I'm going into my seventh season with the club and Howard has been involved during that time and another couple of seasons before that.

"He came in and explained the situation to us the other day and has had to withdraw his sponsorship, which isn't a problem at all. We signed a great 3 year deal with Shropshire Homes to sponsor the youth and Centre of Excellence always the way down to the U9s but there was a clause that Howard has used because of the current housing market.

"Without Shropshire Homes money over the last 8 to 9 years the development of the youth and Centre of Excellence wouldn't have got anywhere near what it is today, and we would probably have had to cut backs.

"I'd like to thank Howard and Shropshire Homes very much for their support and wish them well for the future. He's always been a big supporter as well as being upfront and honest. I hope he has good memories and with the likes of Dave Edwards and Joe Hart coming through I know he felt part of that with his sponsorship.

"At this moment in time we haven't got a sponsor for the Centre of Excellence and the Youth but we will now be doing everything in our powers to get companies to put money into the sponsorship."

The lads are now back at Walford and North Shropshire College as the youth side's pre-season programme gets underway. They will have a parents evening this evening, attended by Paul Simpson and club doctor Chris Tomlinson, before getting into pre-season training on Thursday: "The lads are back and we have a parents evening on Wednesday night and then we are back into training.

"The good thing about this year is that the gaffer has asked us to go down and train with the first team a lot more than what we have in the past and that is a big plus for the lads.

"We've got a couple of games early on and have a nice mix of games coming up over the pre-season. I like to use the Shropshire area to arrange games and always try to fit in games when clubs ask.

"I also look at how we are looked after at the games, a lot of clubs have asked us to go back to pubs after games but that is a big no no. Not that the lads would drink but it's about getting them into the routine of being at a professional club."

The season kicks off on Saturday 16th August at home to Port Vale and the pre-season work is all geared to getting the lads ready for the season. The PUMA Youth Alliance will once again prove a tough test for Vaughan's side that finished bottom the league last season. They will be looking for a better return in the league but also to build on the success of Jasbir Singh earning a pro contact: "It will be a tough season for us and that is highlighted with our second game which is away to Wigan Athletic.

"We've been lucky with some of the fixtures, we only play Carlisle once in the season and they've been drawn to come to our place.

"The fixtures mirror pretty much last season so we start at Port Vale but the week after we have an in service training week with no game.

"Finishing bottom of the table last year was a big jolt to the confidence of the lads and myself but at the end of the day we finished bottom but the manager took Jasbir Singh. In the two seasons before that we finished mid table both years but the previous manager didn't take any players. It's not all about results it's about player development and hopefully we can do well with that again this year."