Ex-Shrewsbury Town fan favourite wary of potential new ownership challenges
Elliott Bennett says new investment is exciting for Shrewsbury Town fans but warned it is not always a fairytale story.
The former Salop midfielder, who made his 600th and final professional career appearance in the 3-1 defeat at home to Leyton Orient at the end of last season, is a popular figure among supporters.
Born in Telford, Bennett had a distinguished career representing Blackburn, Norwich and Brighton among others before making more than 100 appearances in blue and amber to bring down the curtain on a sensational time as a player.
Shrewsbury chairman Roland Wycherley has owned the Shropshire club for the best part of three decades, but he has now found the right person to take it forward, and they are in a period of exclusivity.
Bennett described Wycherley's tenure at Salop as 'incredible' but as someone who played for Bury - who were expelled from the football league in 2019 due to financial difficulties - he warned sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.
"I can understand it from everyone's point of view really," he said. "The owner, his body of work over more than 25 years has been incredible for Shrewsbury Town.
"The last couple of years maybe have not been so good from a fan perspective.
"Although it would be great to get new investment, it is something the club are trying to do now, and it is not too far away.
"Sometimes you get people in who have not always got the best interest of a Town or a club as the current owner does."
With the finances in League One it has got harder and harder for Shrewsbury to compete in the third tier of English football in recent years.
Teams like Birmingham and Wrexham have incredibly wealthy American owners who have spent fortunes to assemble their squads - and Salop can no longer compete under Wycherley's ownership.
"We know 100 per cent (the money going around in League One)," Bennett continued. "If you look at a Birmingham dressing room, you know how much Jay Stansfield for example, has been bought for through the media, you know the club has money.
"When you are at Shrewsbury, you see the players who have been brought in, and it is no disrespect to them because there are some good players there, but they are not of a higher level coming to Shrewsbury.
"You know where the club is at. Every player reads the local paper and the news. They can all say they don't - they do - you cannot help it.
You want to know what is going on.
"Money is a big big thing now. League One is very tough, but you can still compete every Saturday and every Tuesday, for 95 minutes regardless of what your budget is.
"I played at Norwich in the Premier League, and our budget would have been 20th, but we finished 11th."
