Neil Handley

Shrewsbury Town FC and Pontypridd RFC fan. Work for the NHS.

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@bowbrookshrew @SimonCalder @YouShouldHaveBT You're sure to have a few interesting football travel stories to tell. You could write a book on it. @bowbrookshrew

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@daleskitt @bowbrookshrew @England It was a hard watch (much like watching Salop)

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@RuytonShrew I was thinking the same, lovely shirt, but £89.99 for a football jersey. The world's going nuts.

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@arrivamidlandsW yes the monthly direct debit was taken on 2nd March. My monthly pass always expires on the 11th of the month (today).

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@arrivamidlandsW Hi, my new monthly pass has not arrived in the post. My current pass expires today. DD payment was taken on 02/02/26. Please could you advise?

Thanks.

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@RuytonShrew We are sadly a shambles from the very top to the bottom, it feels like the club is dying a slow and painful death before our very eyes.

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

Let’s hope the FA takes up the ticket price fight with Fifa on behalf of the thousands of England fans wanting to go to the World Cup. £5,000 for all eight games if* (*big if*) England reach final is unconscionable. It’s actually immoral. The FA can surely see that.

Thomas Tuchel’s team need as many supporters behind them as possible, especially members of the England Supporters Travel Club, backing the team in the difficult moments that lie in store. I know fans, some top cappers, just going for a couple of games now, not even the full group stage, because of the cost – tickets, internal travel, accommodation, taxes, etc. Fistfuls of dollars. Bagfulls of debts.

As well as greed, it’s also naivety by Fifa. Pricing out real fans risks problems with segregation. Plus the atmosphere will be diluted if many of the usual noise-bringers are priced out. TV will hate that. It pays Fifa fortunes for atmosphere generated by supporters.

Fifa argues that money gets ploughed back into the game. But why alienate those who help make the game special? Imagine if there are empty seats as at the Club World Cup. Fifa forgets Jock Stein’s great maxim. “Football without fans is nothing.” So treat them properly, not as cash machines. Otherwise, World Cup 2026 risks becoming the Corporate Games.

The FA rarely stands up to Fifa nowadays. The last time was 2011 when then chairman David Bernstein stood up to Sepp Blatter. (In 2022 it quickly backed down over armband-gate). Who now will stand up against Fifa? The FA could, of course, offer to subsidise some of the tickets from the substantial revenue it will make from Fifa but really the governing body of the global game should see sense.

Fifa’s slogan is: “For the Game. For the World”. Not “For The Few”. #FIFAWorldCup

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@bowbrookshrew FIFA will suffer, supporters aren't mugs. Absolutely ludicrous prices.

[Salopcast @salopcast]

Feeling two emotions.

I feel incredibly sad with the direction the club is going. Poor leadership and decisions plus there seems to be an unwillingness from the chairman to sell the club.

Fuming with poor player performances and terrible coaching. Marquis is no captain.

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@tfwrail Thanks to the kind lady on the 08.50 Shrewsbury to Milford Haven train today who has handed out free cans of water to anyone who wanted it. Much appreciated.

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@Hampton_Lakes @shrewsburytown Brian was a lovely gentleman. RIP

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

Fans’ groups including those from Manchester City and Manchester United, West Ham and Spurs, Everton and Liverpool, are joining forces and calling on Premier League broadcast partners to pressurise clubs into curtailing ticket price hikes. Fans want rights-holders to urge clubs to “reverse the greed and the unfair pricing structures which ultimately will destroy the product”. On the attack on concessions, Andy Payne, from Hammers United and chair of West Ham's Fan Advisory Board says, “All fans want to see is the young, old and vulnerable have their concessions returned and protected. That way we ensure we reward loyalty and don't exploit it. Football is more than just a game to us."  #stopexploitingloyalty @WeAre1894

[Stuart Dunn @studunn21]

Gareth Ainsworth believed and #salop delivered!

What a start for Shrewsbury Town's new head coach.

Outstanding performance and a brilliant 3-2 victory over Birmingham City.

Reaction to come @BBCShropSport

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

#PontypriddRFC #PendyrusMaleChoir #welshmalevoicechoir

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@bowbrookshrew @shrewsburytown @StockportCounty Deflated, and I can't see a way out without serious change from the very top down (and hopefully soon).

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@shrewsdave @TUIUK Gutted for you, Dave. What a pile of s**t they are.

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@JBuckleyLabour @HelenMorganMP Well done Julia, I hope that you'll be fully supporting the proposed new direct Wrexham/ Shropshire to London train service following the withdrawal of the Avanti service.

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@JBuckleyLabour Congratulations and best wishes for your term. The town and country will be in a much better place in 5 years time. As long serving NHS staff, I hope the NHS will also be in a much better place too.

[🍋The Dump DK Club🍋 @DkshrewsUK]

Time #Shrewsbury said goodbye. #dumpDK #LoseTheLemon #VoteTactically

[Neil Handley @Salopian1972]

@daleskitt @puffpuff65 You need to get some afternoon naps in Dale 💤