Fans descend on Shrewsbury for England Women v Ukraine
There was a definite carnival feeling in the air when England's women took on Ukraine in last night's World Cup qualifier at Shrewsbury Town's Greenhous Meadow.
More than 5,800 people turned out to watch The Lionesses take on the Ukrainian side.
Kids sports, face painting, drums, music, hair braiding and dancers all added to the festival atmosphere inside and outside the 9,875-capacity stadium on Oteley Road.
People travelled from all over the region to see the match, which England won 4-0.
And from the reaction of the crowd, it seemed the final score was not only a win for England – but also for women's football.
Amy Miller, 29, from Copthorne in Shrewsbury and a teacher at the Wilfred Owen School in the town, brought nine girls and eight boys along to see the match.
"We play loads of football at school and it was just too good an opportunity to miss," she said. "We knew it would be great to bring them along."
Simon Jones, 44, had brought 29 players and adults from Billbrook Under 13s football team based near the Shropshire border. He said the team had travelled from their homes close to Wolverhampton to see the game as it "was a chance to watch quality football".
Alison Cole, 46 had travelled to the stadium with her 15-year-old daughter Meg from their home in Church Stretton to watch her son Matt, 13, walk out on to the pitch as a flag bearer and perform as a ball boy during the game.
"It is great that women's football is being promoted so much and we were very lucky to have England come to play at Shrewsbury Town," she said.
Shelley Hurdley, a 32-year-old nursery worker from Holyhead Road in Nesscliffe, went to the match with her 10-year-old daughter Dani, who plays for Shropshire Girls and is part of Shrewsbury Town Development Centre. She said: "It was great and the match was a really good and positive way of showing girls how far they can go in football."
Ten-year-old Jack Williams watched the game with his dad Jim, a 41-year-old carpenter from Underdale Road, Shrewsbury. He said: "I have never seen a woman's football match. The girls at my school play football and they aren't great. It was great when England won."
His dad Jim added: "It was really nice to be able to watch the skill involved in the game. Men's football is so quick that sometimes it is all a blur but it was really good to be able to see exactly how something was being set up during the match."
Bill Jones, 47, a shop worker from Monkmoor Road, Shrewsbury, said: "It is brilliant that the FIFA qualifier was held in Shrewsbury – it is a real coup."
