Shrewsbury applies to pioneer safe standing in England, Wales
Shrewsbury Town became the first club in England and Wales to apply for safe standing in an all-seater stadium on Tuesday.
Following West Bromwich Albion's offer to be the guinea pig of the initiative in the Premier League, third-tier Shrewsbury, another team hailing from the West Midlands, is poised to be the pioneer of safe standing before the end of the 2017-18 season.
Scotland was the first to implement the scheme in Britain, opening a raucous yet safe 2,900-capacity rail-seating section in the northeast corner of Celtic's Glasgow abode.
"As a Scot, I am very familiar with the great success that Celtic have had with their rail seating section," said Shrewsbury chief executive Brian Caldwell. "So when the Supporters Parliament approached me about introducing the same concept here, I was immediately keen on the idea. Our safety officer has also visited Celtic Park recently and is all for it."
The section - which will house around 500 - is set for the Salop Leisure Stand, which is in the south end of the 10,000-seater Greenhous Meadow. That decision could rankle supporters who favour the at-times lively atmosphere around block 19 of the West Stand, which is close to the away contingent.
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
Still, to be at the forefront of a huge change to the future of watching football in England and Wales will be received gladly by many fans - particularly those who represent the Shrewsbury Town Supporters' Parliament, which was founded to ease communication between the club and its followers.
"The issue we tend to have is when we come up against the big clubs - the Sheffield Uniteds, the Boltons - who bring huge away crowds, we get drowned out a little bit," Mike Davis of the Supporters' Parliament told BBC Sport.
"So the hope is that bringing our vocal support behind the stand will improve that.
"Some of our fans already stand but they want an area where they can do that safely and also we want to be able to improve the atmosphere within the ground."
Shrewsbury, which finished 20th in League One in the 2016-17 term, is expecting a response from the Sports Ground Safety Authority on its application for safe standing within weeks. The club will seek to crowdfund £50,000-to-£75,000 to finance the project.