Shropshire Star

Tree planted in honour of popular former Shrewsbury steward and grandson of coracle man Fred

A popular former Shrewsbury Town steward and grandson of coracle legend Fred Davies has been honoured with a special tree planting.

Published
Planting a tree in honour of former Shrewsbury Town steward Mark Davies are his mother Joan Davies, sister Julie Davies and sister Wendy Thorne

Mark Davies, 28, who was a steward at Gay Meadow for around ten years, was a proud Salopian who also had a penchant for Arsenal.

He died after struggling with diabetes and a period in intensive care 15 years ago, and on the anniversary, his family planted a tree in his memory.

Mark, who was also a familiar face in the pubs and clubs of Shrewsbury having worked at The Buttermarket, The Red Barn and The Red Lion, was encouraged to support Salop by his granddad, a famous face in the town for fishing wayward footballs out of the River Severn.

His mum Joan and sisters Wendy and Julie planted the tree in Joan's garden as somewhere to fondly remember Mark.

Wendy said: "He was well known in Shrewsbury. You'd always see him in his luminous coat on a Saturday. We thought, with it being the anniversary, we'd like to do something to remember him.

"He was always out and about and he had a heart of gold. He had lots of friends from working in the pubs."

Mark worked at Shrewsbury's Auto Windscreens Shield final defeat against Rotherham United in 1996, the club's first trip to Wembley.

The club presented his family with a Shrewsbury Town shirt with his name and age on the back after he died, and held a fundraiser to support his son.