Manager takes questions on community visit
Pupils from Shrewsbury's Grange School played the role of journalists when they were given the chance to fire questions at Shrewsbury Town manager Micky Mellon.The north Shrewsbury secondary school was chosen by Town's Community Sports Trust to host the manager's pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's home match against Cheltenham.
Youngsters lined up alongside the local media, who usually quiz the manager at the Club's home stadium, to ask Micky a wide range of questions.
He was asked about the Capital One Cup tie at home to Premier League leaders Chelsea later this month while he was also quizzed about individual Shrewsbury players and who he regards as Town's main competititon for promotion from League Two this season.
"I've done it before but it's new for me to come and do it since I've been at Shrewsbury," said Micky.
"It's fantastic to meet the kids and I really thought the questions were fantastic.
"It's important to get out into the community and do things like this because they're the fans. I enjoyed it and it was good fun.
"It was very professional and the kids deserve a lot of credit because I thought they were really brilliant."
Kris Dobson, the head of PE at the Grange School, stressed the youngsters, many of whom are Meadow season ticket holders, really enjoyed the opportunity to grill the manager.
"It's been excellent and a very positive experience for all the pupils involved," he said.
"We're a proper local school in Shrewsbury and we're very privileged to be chosen as the first different kind of venue to host the manager's pre-match press conference.
"Some of the questions were really detailed and showed lots of knowledge. It was excellent to hear the pupils asking the manager such great questions."
Jamie Edwards, Shrewsbury Town's community development manager, added the plan is to now take the manager to other local schools and community groups in the coming weeks.
"It's to try and get the local supporters involved with the Football Club," he said.
"It changes the routine for the manager as well instead of the same interviews at the same place, and for the fans to be included against the backdrop of a school flip chart here is something different.
"It helps the club engage with the community and helps partner schools that we work with.
"We're here at the Grange with girls' football coaching with the FFD Programme after Christmas so it shows that the Community Sports Trust can offer a little bit more than just sports coaching."