From schoolboy fan to 30-year owner - the Roland Wycherley era

One has to have some level of staying power to achieve such a feat. He first watched Shrewsbury Town as a schoolboy aged seven.

Salop were far removed from the club of today at the time the local businessman, 85, a lifelong hometown fan who made his money in vending, took on the reins in 1996.

Naturally, much has played out in the three decades since a first business association as an advertising board sponsor in 1994.

Under Wycherley's stewardship the club grew into the 21st Century, with promotions to the third tier, staying power in League One amid fallen heavyweights, and transitions from the beloved Gay Meadow to Oteley Road in 2007 and a purpose-built training ground in 2017.

He was awarded an MBE for services to the Shrewsbury community in the New Year's honours of 2021 and it is hard to deny the significant impact to his town.

However that big, ever-increasing final step back into the second tier of football, where Shrewsbury graced so impressively in the 1980s, was beyond Wycherley's time at the helm - but that should not be held against the chairman.

Wembley remains a very unhappy hunting ground.

Wycherley has had to stump up many millions of pounds to keep the club afloat amid trying times, not least the Covid pandemic, with success on the pitch since not forthcoming.

More recently, times have been very difficult. A relegation looked inevitable and finally came in 2025 and responding has been trying for all manner of reasons.

Anybody with a connection to Shrewsbury Town has a story or anecdote about Wycherley. It is impossible not to.

From the revelation in Grant Holt's book about his penchant for star signs, reported crossed wires with Liverpool legends at Anfield, as well as fractured relationships with managers and the Shropshire Star dating back decades.

A Meadow 'banning order' was never far from a threat if the top brass took issue with any Town reporter's analysis.

It was confirmed on Monday a takeover from American consortium Biscayne ST LLC, owned and fronted by Scott Davidson, had completed the purchase of Wycherley's 87.4 per cent of shares. The consortium have claimed Shrewsbury Town has "limitless potential".

Takeover talk is nothing new and goes back several years, to an anonymous US firm missing an exclusivity deadline a couple of years ago, unhelpful public commentary by another local businessman, to failed talks with ex-vice chairman Paul Delves in 2021. Even years prior to that there was interest that never really reached official public forums.

Communication with fans, bar a yearly video note around Christmas or the like, was limited for many years and access to local media was non-existent.

There has, of late, been more of a bridge to fans via open letters.

A rare interview with a national newspaper this time last year saw Wycherley admit he would be "torn between pain and relief" when any deal is finally concluded.

A few years earlier the same outlet reported how Wycherley pretended to confuse Liverpool legends Sir Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush at Anfield in a joke that did not hit the mark. The Town chairman was understandably furious at the Merseyside club's stance on fulfilling an FA Cup replay with their youth team due to a winter break.

That Liverpool replay was just one of countless memorable clashes with English football’s big guns - Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United included too.

Wycherley is a colourful character and stood for no nonsense.

While there has been heavy frustration, anger and verbal abuse from supporters in tough recent years, there can be no denying the now former chairman's love and support for the club dragged it into the 21st Century and gave Shrewsbury Town the foundation for Davidson and all of Biscayne ST to hopefully develop a bright future.