Shrewsbury Town were recently delighted to be informed that long serving members of the Supporters Parliament Roger Groves and Mike Davis had been awarded Sky Bet League One Supporters Of The Year.
Roger spoke to Shrewsweb and explained how honoured he and Mike Davis were to have received the Sky Bet League One Supporters Of The Year award.
“It is a great honour,” Roger said. “It’s great that the football club has been nominated and awarded it, so I’m really honoured and it’s a privilege.”
Roger and Mike helped to make the dream of Safe Standing become a reality which led to them being recognised around the country for their fantastic work.
“The overall award is wider than just that, it’s also all the work that we have done is wider than that, it’s all about the work in the community and everything else that we do with the supporters parliament but arguably the main focus of our work has been Safe Standing.
“For the last two years Safe Standing has been our focus. When I came to Brian with the initial idea, I suppose if you would have asked me did I think it would happen I’d have said no but let’s still pitch the idea.
“I’ve gone on record and said before that within a week, we had the key people we needed around the table that we needed which was absolutely great.
“That was the green light to explore it further, we came out of every meeting thinking that’s something we can do here and that’s something we can achieve.
“Our aim was to be the first club to have Safe Standing and we were the first to put it in.
“It has been a lot of hard work, this season since it’s been work has still continued with lots of work behind the scenes.
“The work over those two years was massive, sometimes when I look back I don’t know how I actually fit it all in with jobs and family.
“It’s absolutely fantastic that we’ve been out there and led the pack and I think we’ve got due recognition for that not just as supporters with award but through the club as well with all the media publicity.
Roger is surprised given the success of Safe Standing that no other clubs have moved forward for any plans of Safe Standing at their own grounds.
“I think some clubs have dabbled in it but the expectation from most it was just let’s see how other clubs get on. We looked at Celtic to start with and then picked up the mantle and took it on.
“I’m surprised no one has gone at it like we have, we certainly went about it the right way, I think some clubs have looked at it and the cost has put them off.
Roger and Mike will head down to London on Sunday night where they hope to pick up the overall EFL Supporters Of The Year Award.
“It would be great, we’re up against somebody from Northampton and a lady from Brentford who has done a lot of community work.
“It would be absolutely fantastic to come away from that with the award. I really want to win it and be able to say we’re Shrewsbury Town and we’ve been given a national award which doesn’t come to many clubs. “
Roger also touched on the fantastic relationship between the supporters Parliament and Brian Caldwell.
“Since Brian has come in to the club it’s just been a whirlwind really. To achieve Safe Standing and everything else that we’ve done is great and the dialogue that we have with the club is fantastic.
“I have to give Brian every credit for making that happen. We can come up with all the ideas but it’s got to be received well within the club as well. The communication has also improved our knowledge of what goes on inside the club and how sometimes you can’t just turn a tap on and do something, you’ve got to think it through first. “