James Skudder has won his fair share of footballing trophies as a talented midfielder or wing man with Merlins Bridge and then Johnston, where he helped The Tigers win the much- coveted West Wales Cup at the Liberty Stadium, the home of Swansea City.
 
'Scudds' is now back with Merlins Bridge on The Racecourse and at 30 years of age says that he is enjoying football as much as ever - and is content to just play every weekend after his work as an estate agent with Fine and Country keeps him every busy for the rest of the time.
 

Intense build-up to a big day . . .

 
That West Wales Cup Final understandably ranks as a most memorable moment because the build up to it was so intense after they had fought back from seeming defeat in the quarter-final at Glebelands
 
"We trailed 2-0 and looked down and out but then Joe John and Steve Mills scored good goals to take us into the lead - and I managed to grab a fourth goal to take us to a semi-final at Stebonheath Park in Llanelli against Morriston Olympic.
 
"They were an in-your-face side from the start, and took the lead after only 15 minutes - and it took us until time added on to score the equaliser through Luke Hayward. There were no further goals in extra time and we edged through in the penalty shoot-out against a good team with the noisiest supporters I've heard, led by a drummer who made a racket all evening until we finally shut him up with victory!
 

. . . And a most memorable moment at The Liberty Stadium

 
"Then we took on top Swansea side Penlan in the final after a huge build-up which we all enjoyed but we were very nervous at such a smashing venue and conceded two sloppy goals before half time.
 
"It looked all over for us but we kept plugging away and drew level with goals from Steve Mills and Joe John before I limped off after 85 minutes with a leg injury - and it was much worse watching from the touchline throughout extra time.
 
"It looked like being another penalty shoot-out but then Millsy popped up to score a goal that would have graced any final - and after celebrating with our amazingly large group of supporters we went back to our hotel in Swansea, where we stayed up all night drinking out of the cup!"
 

Early start to football in the family garden

 
That tremendous win seemed such a long way from the time that James set out in the game, playing in the garden at home alongside father Nick, who played for many years for Herbrandston, and brother Ben, who has also played lots of football in the county. His uncle Chris is also the well-known Sky Sports reporter.
 
So James joined Ben at Herbie Juniors and for a while played in goal before gradually moving forward to use his natural ball skills alongside the likes of Sean Rendell, AJ Galdo, Nico and Carlo Giannuzzi.
 
But his early experience was a help when he joined Merlins Bridge and had to stand between the sticks if the keeper got injured, like a match against Goodwick United at Phoenix Park where he conceded just one goal - and that was an own goal nudged past him by Nigel Delaney, who went on to do such great things at Goodwick as manager!
 

Football academy at Haverfordwest County

 
From there it was on to the football academy at Haverfordwest County where he joined Matthew Waters, Brett Shakir, Peter Thomas, Ben Phillips and Lee Waters under the guidance of Ronnie Beynon and George Barrah before moving up to the Bluebirds’' McWhirter League side run by Ronnie Beynon and the late Derek Roberts as they played on Sundays all over South Wales.
 
But then he set out working for FBM Estate Agents and had to focus on selling houses for a while before playing football again for Merlins Bridge alongside Brett John, Matthew D'Ivry, Joe John, Peter and Simon Thomas after starting out with the club's second string.
 

Moving around – and proving a manger wrong

 
"I played on the bench in a couple of cup finals but to be honest I felt I wasn't getting enough game time and so I left to join Prendergast Villa and helped them gain promotion to division one as well as reaching the second division cup final before missing out by 2-1 to Milford United.
 
"Then I was persuaded to go back to the Bridge but again I felt underused and so decided to try my luck at Johnston - but not before I had been told I would never win trophies there.
 
"That was still ringing in my ears when the very next season I walked out onto the lovely playing surface at the Conygar Bridge Meadow Stadium to play for The Tigers against West Dragons in the Senior Cup Final.
 
We won 3-2 in what was the largest gate for the final up to that time and I was delighted to play the full 90 minutes, although there was still some disappointment as we just missed out in the league to Hakin United despite beating them in the final match.
 

Other sports

 
Outside of his football, James also enjoys golf after being introduced to the sport by Gelly James, the well-known local sportsman and father of his wife Holly, who is a great supporter of his football.
 
"I also played some cricket for Camrose/Spittal with some of my footballing mates like Joe John, Martin Preddy, Matthew Freeman, Gelly James and my brother Ben, with a top wicket haul of four in a match and a couple of 20-run scores as proof of his potential.
 

Enjoying being back with The Wizards

 
But football has always been James's first sporting love and he is now making it third time lucky at Merlins Bridge after returning from Glebelands following Johnston’s disappointing season following their West Wales Cup triumph when they were kicked out of the competition after starting with a win and the heart seemed to fall out of the players.
 
"It was all very sad but all I want to do now is enjoy my football on The Racecourse, playing under the management of Nathan Thomas, who has been a big influence at the club for many years.
 
"It's a great way of relaxing after a week's work because there are some real characters in the club and I enjoy their company.”
 
What James Skudder doesn't mention is that he is also a very modest, pleasant and likeable feller and we wish him plenty of more years taking part in a game he still clearly loves!