Star comment: Shrews in top flight for fans

Let Shrewsbury Town boss Micky Mellon answer that one.

"We can over-use the word inspiration and give it to people who do not deserve it. That was not the case with Lloyd. There is not a day that goes by that I do not carry with me the lessons I learned from an 11-year-old star," he told a service of celebration, remembering the life of Lloyd.

"I have had the opportunity to meet some very special people. One of those was an 11-year-old boy. Words can not do him justice. He was a lad that touched us all."

As tributes go, this is pure gold, heartfelt words to be cherished by Lloyd's family.

There were hundreds of people at the service. That tells its own story. It does them credit that they turned out to show what they felt, and it does Lloyd credit that he was the kind of lad to bring out this reaction in people.

As for Mr Mellon and Shrewsbury Town, we have been reminded, if we need to be reminded, that whether things go well or badly on the pitch – and fans have experienced highs and lows in the past couple of seasons – they are always prepared to do Shrewsbury and Shropshire proud.

They are not among those glamour teams which are awash with money, but have another sort of wealth and value in that the club is part of the local community, and plays its part in the local community.

Lloyd had cancer and ultimately lost his fight. While the players have done the business on the field, it has been a sad time away from it, as Lloyd is just one of three fans to have died in recent days – the others being Nick Mann and Colin Bloomfield.

Even in the hour of triumph, Shrewsbury's supporters gave ovations to them. Town's players marked the promotion wearing T-shirts bearing the names of Lloyd and Colin.

Lloyd will miss next season and whatever it may bring. So will Colin. So will Nick.

Shrewsbury may fly, or they may fall. There will always be other teams better than them. But when it comes to appreciating the supporters, Shrewsbury are up there in the top flight.