Shropshire Star

Big screen plea as England fans look for places to watch Euro 2020 final

Football crazy Salopians have made a rallying cry for a big screen in the county town for England's Euro's glory bid.

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England have made it to their first ever Euros final

Delirious supporters celebrated Wednesday evening's thrilling but tense semi-final victory for the Three Lions over Denmark, but it didn't take them long to switch focus to booking their pub tables for the final.

Now, with most venues in Shrewsbury fully booked, calls have been made for a big screen in the Quarry, Shrewsbury Town's Montgomery Waters Meadow, or another large venue capable of facilitating social distancing, so that more fans can soak in the atmosphere.

England supporter Jessica Tiernan-Reese said: "Shrewsbury as a town definitely deserves some sort of celebration, whether it be at the Quarry or somewhere else where social distancing could be achieved. I just feel like this is something that doesn't ever happen. It's a massive thing to be celebrating.

"I know the council probably wants to give the pubs a chance to make money. But so many places are already fully booked so the argument of letting the pubs get the profit is a moot point.

"There are people that don't want to go into a pub but still want to experience the atmosphere in a less intense environment.

Fans have asked for a big screen in Shrewsbury Quarry

"Can you imagine how good it would be? People enjoying themselves and relishing the atmosphere...

"We're in our first final since 1966. So many different towns and cities have put screens on for the fans to watch outside.

"I just think it would be something that would be great for the town."

Shrewsbury Town Council, which runs the Quarry, does not have plans to screen the match. Town clerk Helen Ball said she was concerned that it would encourage people to break Covid rules ahead of July 19, and that people should look to support the pub trade, which has missed out on a lot of money during the pandemic, or watch on terrestrial TV at home.

A lot of pubs are fully booked for Sunday's match

Shrewsbury Bid is screening the Wimbledon final in the grounds of Shrewsbury Castle on Sunday afternoon, but will not be showing the football.

Shrewsbury Town's chief executive Brian Caldwell said the club had looked into putting a screen up for the semi-final, but felt it wouldn't be financially viable.

"We actually looked at trying to do something for last night but the monies didn’t stack up," he said. "We even looked at a social distanced screening on big screen in car park but again it didn’t work out.

"All of our conference and events staff on furlough just now so when you take the loss of that plus the drinks cost, it just didn’t stack up. I'm not sure we would get it full."

Shropshire Council has no plans for screening the game in town, and Shropshire Festivals gave the football consideration, but expected big screens would be hard to come by.