Graham Sheppard - a real character out of Hundleton!

 
For Graham Sheppard, football has always played a major part in his live, right from the time he was a nipper in the tiny village of Hundleton and usually had a ball with him if he was away from the family home - and as well as playing football at local and Welsh League level he became one of the most respected referees, with his innate ability to speak the same language as the players.
 
‘Known to all as ‘Shep’ he eventually became vice-chairman and then chairman of the Pembrokeshire Referees Society before being afforded the ultimate honour of the presidency for a three-year period.
 

Loved helping younger match officials just starting out

 
Not content with his stint as a match official alongside Danny Thomas and Pedr McMullen in Welsh League matches right across the South Wales Corridor he then became an assessor of young referees starting out, always looking at their efforts in a positive light, working closely with other old timers in Keith Scourfield and Josh Vaughan.
 
He has always regarded the local referees society as very important for the good of football in the area and has enjoyed the monthly meetings whenever his good work with Hundleton Church allowed.
 
When he was chairman, he actively encouraged the quiz evenings and six-aside football games they played against their counterparts from Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Neath, which were great fun but also created a forum to raise the refs’ standards.
 
He started his refereeing with help from Dennis Warlow and Alec Robson and would nominate his Welsh League time as the most amazing because of the things that always seemed to happen whenever he joined Danny and Pedr ‘up the line’.
 

Cricket player for Hundleton & Angle – and a ‘hole in one’ golfer

 
Outside of his football, Shep also played cricket for Hundleton and then for Angle in places like ‘Juggy’s Field - and in one match for Hundleton against Angle the opposition were dismissed for three runs as Pop Willington and Dai Morgans took five wickets each.
 
When he finished playing cricket, he took up golf at South Pembs GC and reduced his handicap to 11, with a hole in one at Milford Haven where he was amazed to see the ball bounce once and then drop straight into the hole - and he can still remember that it cost him a few quid in the bar afterwards!
 

Amazing characters at Pembroke Borough . . .

 
But football has always been Shep’s first sporting love after he set out in this county was for Pembroke Town on the old White City Dog Track - and he was still a teenager when he started playing for Pembroke Borough in the first division of the old Welsh League, alongside star players like Frankie Donovan, Billy Reed, Alan and Colin Hole, so there was little chance to shine on the right wing and after 20 appearances his old pal Charlie Bowen invited him to play for Milford United in the same division and he took his chance.
 

. . . And time-consuming travel with Milford ‘Robins’

 
It meant a long day out at away matches because he used to set out from Hundleton at 7.30am, walking to Pembroke, taking the bus to Pembroke Dock and then the ferry to Neyland (no bridge in those days!) and then another bus to Marble Hall in Milford Haven.
 
If they were playing away, he would be dropped off at Carmarthen Station, catch the last train home to Pembroke and then walk home. (Shep told us it wasn’t so bad, as long as it wasn’t raining or he was limping - or both!) Imagine players today doing that!
 
He played there for the best part of three seasons, with the highlight being a 5-0 win over Cardiff City where he scored two goals and Brian Burgoyne grabbed the other three.




 

Playing in the RAF – and then back to Welsh League in Pembs

 
A spell in the RAF at Bridgenorth saw him playing football alongside well-known pro-footballers like Noel Kinsey before returning to this county for another stint at Milford and then back to The Borough, where he endured the worst tackle of his career against Newport County.
 
Graham decided that perhaps it was time to retire but was persuaded to play for short spells at Monkton Swifts and Angle but after finishing he missed the involvement and when League Secretary, Joe Vernon, asked him to try refereeing he took the offer - and enjoyed it from the outset.
 

And finally . . .

 
He still keeps interested in local football today when his commitment to Hundleton Church allows - and he meets his old side kick Mr Thomas for their coffee. I was lucky to join them on one occasion and Graham Sheppard still has that quiet dignity, gentle humour and ability to keep things in perspective.
 
He is a credit to his family, home village and his county - and I can remember so many hilarious conversations with the ‘Three Musketeers’ at the Eastgate Hotel on Saturday nights when Shep supplied the perspective on life that he still does in his own special way!
 
What a lovely gentleman of football he is!