Rod Stewart Shrewsbury gig: Huge effort to get ground ready - in pictures

By tomorrow evening, Greenhous Meadow will become a concert venue worthy of one of the world's biggest musicians.

It is a mammoth effort. On April 22 the final whistle went for the last match of the season at Shrewsbury Football Club and now 47 days days later the stadium has been transformed, ready to host a performance from Rod Stewart.

The question is how on Earth do you get a football stadium ready to host a concert with nearly 20,000 fans?

There's no better man to come up with those answers than Shrewsbury Town Football Club's chief executive Brian Caldwell.

To judge the scale of the task at hand it is important to note that Mr Caldwell and the club's safety officer Alan Roberts have had three months to oversee the planning of the concert, compared to the eight months the club had to prepare for the appearance of Elton John in 2011.

The preparations for the concert have involved putting in a gigantic stage stretching across the pitch in front of the North Stand, covering the turf and installing an extra 10,000 seats, and even removing the dug outs, advertising hoardings, and press seats.

The stage, which stretches the width of the pitch and reaches out to the edge of the 18-yard-box, usually patrolled by Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper Jayson Leutwiler, arrived in eight lorries and is made up of thousands of pieces.

It takes the production company responsible for the gig, Cuffe & Taylor, around 72 hours to put it up, with a team of 50 required to get the stage ready.

Along with basic seating and stage arrangements the promoters have also shipped in catering, toilets, fences, power, water, plumbing, video and audio, lighting, and will provide enhanced security on the day.

The whole process of setting up the stadium started on Thursday and it will be Sunday before the ground is back to normal again – only around four weeks ahead of the club's first pre-season fixture.

One of the biggest worries for the club's staff is the pitch , which will be under cover for around seven days having only been re-seeded at the end of the season.

Mr Caldwell said he had already been warned by colleagues at other clubs to be prepared for the sight when the covers come off.

He said: "Our ground staff have been in regular contact with the production company throughout the process. They set everything up to make sure the covering for the pitch is one that suits our ground staff because at the end of the season they have taken the top off and re-seeded it for next season. To ensure that grass continues to germinate it is important we get the right covering.

"I have spoken to people at other clubs and they have told me it'll be a shock the way it looks when it comes off but it does come back!"

• MORE: What is the weather forecast for tomorrow night's concert?

Mr Caldwell explained that the time constraints had meant round-the-clock work to ensure the gig is a success.

He said: "When we had Elton John we had eight months to plan it. I think we announced this in February so we have had less than three months to organise an event like this, transforming a football stadium and making sure it is a safe and enjoyable environment for people."

Mr Roberts said: "Once it is announced, that is when the hard work starts. You have got almost two separate operations. A travel management plan to try and get people here and then you have a separate plan for when people get to the main gates and how you get them in and around the site."

One of the biggest changes for the concert is the creation of 19 entry lanes in the car park, where ticket holders will make their way into the venue.

The change means that once through the lanes they are effectively into the venue, as opposed to the normal Saturday afternoon match routine of heading through the many turn-styles for access.

Another huge logistics issue has been how to get 19,500 people to the venue on a Wednesday night.

The date means the football club could not rely on the use of the nearby Meole Brace Retail Park for parking.

That has meant weeks of organisation from Mr Caldwell who has been busy working with nearby businesses and organisations to arrange a whole host of different ways for people to get to the venue.

He said: "Elton John was a Sunday so the retail park was shut. With Rod Stewart on a Wednesday night it has been a whole different ball game.

"It was about trying to find park and stride locations, park and ride locations, as well as the shuttle bus for the town centre to make sure everyone has links to get here.

"I got an e-mail when I was on holiday saying that unless you have this transport plan with us within three days then you are getting back from holiday and there is no concert! I sat up on the sun lounger and thought I'd better get to work. But we have had a lot of help from the businesses and from the town council."

The club will be providing around 250 stewards to guide people around the venue and at the parking options, all to make sure the event goes off smoothly.

Mr Roberts said that a number of events have impacted on the organisation and none more so than the appalling terror attack in Manchester, which targeted people attending an Ariana Grande concert.

He said: "Since that happened we’ve had to review our existing safety and security plans and increase them where required.”

Mr Caldwell added: "We are always geared up to be a safe environment for the people visiting the stadium so what it does is just heighten that."

Mr Roberts said there is no doubt in his mind over what is a bigger task, arranging a football match or a concert.

He said: "I would have to say a concert. Purely because I deal with 26 to 27 home football matches during the season, I have got a routine, I deal with that even when we had the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United here. There will be additional things to do because of the size of the club and it is sold out but with this it is putting it on a different scale because you are having to deal with so many different outside bodies, the promoters and the production team, it is a much bigger enterprise."

Mr Caldwell said that the concert would hopefully provide a boost for the local economy, and if successful the club will look at trying to hold repeat events in the future.

He said: "It is about us wanting the promoters and the production company to think "this is a great venue". The hope is that the people here this week will have seen that and be enthused about how great the venue is.

"Hopefully it could be a regular thing if it goes well for them and for us.

"There is a certain period of time, obviously during May or the beginning of June where we could host a concert at the stadium which provides revenue during the close season and funds we can add to the budget for the following season to invest in the club and primarily the football team.

"It is also really positive for the town and the local area. You cannot get a hotel room in the whole of Shrewsbury. The nearest last week was was 10 miles away so I look at it as hopefully Shrewsbury Town Football Club by bringing this concert is helping the local economy."

Mr Caldwell said he was also thrilled that Rod Stewart would be performing at the club, and said those attending are in for a great show.

He said: "He is a household name and it is great for us to have a household name that appeals to so many people who are interested in coming to see him live. It is an opportunity to see a world superstar live and I have spoken to a couple of other clubs where he has done shows and they have said "what a show he puts on"."

Mr Caldwell's thoughts were echoed by Daniel Cuffe, director of the promoters, Cuffe & Taylor.

He said: "We're delighted to be bringing Rod to Shrewsbury. We’ve worked with him on numerous occasions, most notably presenting his sell-out eight date UK Hits Stadium Tour last year.

“He is a world class performer who always puts on an amazing show so the Shrewsbury audience will have a fantastic night.”

One final thing. Spare a thought for Mr Roberts because after three months of planning his role as safety officer means he won't even get to see the concert.

He said: "I will be in the control room so all I will see is the back of the stage!"