"Getting to matches was very restricted and then in 1985 I moved to Sweden and still followed the club by watching the results in the newspapers and getting to perhaps one or two matches a season. "What a surprise, then, to see a Salop shirt when I went to watch Spinal Tap in 1984! Supporting Shrewsbury consisted of checking on the results in the New York Times on a Sunday morning, the BBC World Service or perhaps a telephone call or letter from a mate. "In 1980 I moved overseas, first to the USA where I lived for five years. "I became a regular supporter, getting to as many home games as possible, and the occasional away game. I ended up sitting on the concrete support to one of the floodlights at the Station End. From then on I was hooked. "I remember the magic of the first match under footlights. "The first Shrewsbury match I recall was the FA Cup replay against Tow Low Town in January 1968 at 15 years of age. "I started watching the club as a lad," he recalled. "Borrowing Lenny to run the 10km midnight run was part of the process to create more interest but it's a pity he’s going back on October 4 and won’t be around for the meeting."Īs for Graham's own Shrewsbury Town supporting background, he said he had followed the club from an early age as they were his local Football League side growing up in Newtown. "Then we will have a meeting to discuss membership and activities, and if we should start an independent supporters club or be affiliated to one of the Shrewsbury supporters clubs "We are going to meet on Sunday, October 14 at a pub in Stockholm to watch the televised game against Walsall. "Our next stage is to make the Swedish Shrews more formal but not too formal," he said. Graham, who plans to watch Town at Leyton Orient in November and the home game against Crewe a week later, now hopes more Salopian exiles will come on board under the Swedish Shrews banner. "We had a wonderful reception at the club, from the pubs and taxi drivers." "They came to Shrewsbury with us and after making contact with Ant Thomas from the club's Away Supporters team, we arranged a tour of the ground and a Saturday morning match against the Shrewsbury supporters. "They have been playing in teams together since their young days and still play together as a team, although opposition is hard to find! "By that time we had hooked up with a group of football crazy 50-60 year olds known as The High Valley Vets.
"Some 18 months ago in March 2011 four of us came over for a game and we then decided to get more people involved which in due course led to a trip for the Wimbledon match last autumn when 14 people came. "In the last couple of seasons more people have caught on to Shrewsbury and I get asked at work and other places about how they are getting on. I am not directly involved in the website, but there are a couple of other enthusiastic people involved here. "There is a section on Shrewsbury which has information about the Shrews – latest match reports and news etc. There are a few other Shrews spread out over different parts of the country and there is even a website called “svenskafans” which caters, among other things, for Swedish fans of various English clubs. He said: "The idea of the Swedish Shrews was something I’ve had for the last few years.
Graham added he was pleased how the Swedish Shrews was going from strength to strength, revealing there was a growing army of Town supporters now based in the Scandinavian country. "We are also planning for Lenny to attend a few other events and sights around Stockholm – which we will be documenting." "He attracted a lot of attention and several people came up and posed wanting pictures taken together. Lenny upset one of my work colleagues, a lawyer, by beating her by two minutes! Graham is heavily involved with the flourishing Swedish Shrews Supporters Club, who enjoyed a successful trip to Shrewsbury last October when they watched the goalless draw at home to AFC Wimbledon.Īs for his recent experience of undertaking the role of Lenny for the Stockholm run, Graham said: "Despite the relatively cool evening, it was a case of overheating and a lack of air with lots of liquids needed. Lenny received more than a helping hand from exiled Town fan Graham Owen, who donned the outfit for the run after collecting Lenny from the Greenhous Meadow on a recent visit home to nearby Newtown in Mid Wales. Lenny pounded the streets of the Swedish capital in the Stockholm 10KM Midnight Run, clocking an impressive 78 minutes.