Johney Shepherd

Is there any posters as old as me and can remember the exAlbion player Johney Shepherd.If i remember correctly he was a CF (around 1960).Some thoughts please if poss....ta

I remember him he was an old fashioned Inside Right that we bought from Millwall when we got our first promotion to the 2nd Division under Billy Lane. If I remember correctly he spent a time as our youth team manager after retiring.

We'll he had a very good start for us because his first game was in the 9-0 defeat at Middlesborough so after that anything was an improvement. Think he came from Millwall but I know for sometime after he retired he was a manager at Southwick Leisure Center. Was certainly stocky and didn't take too many prisoners. Scored loads for us before going to either Leyton O or Gillingham, can't remember which.

Yes,do remember him....did play CF but played inside forward mostly......think he went to Gillingham afterwards...

Mileoakman said:

We'll he had a very good start for us because his first game was in the 9-0 defeat at Middlesborough so after that anything was an improvement. Think he came from Millwall but I know for sometime after he retired he was a manager at Southwick Leisure Center. Was certainly stocky and didn't take too many prisoners. Scored loads for us before going to either Leyton O or Gillingham, can't remember which.

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He moved to Gillingham from us where he scored 23 goals in 53 games for them.
His record for us was 19 goals in 45 games (58-60 seasons)
Intrestingly he was a half time guest at the Amex last season when it was good to see John there with his Grandson.

Yep just about remember him, old fashion inside right, could look after himself.

wigangull said:

Is there any posters as old as me and can remember the exAlbion player Johney Shepherd.If i remember correctly he was a CF (around 1960).Some thoughts please if poss....ta

Click to expand...

His daughter has written a biography of him, published earlier this year - In and Out of the Lion's Den

He scored the Albion goal at my first ever match in 1959. I can't really remember it though !

this this him
John Shepherd (footballer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Herbert Edwin Shepherd (born Kensington, 29 May 1932) is an English former professional association football player. He played for Millwall, Brighton & Hove Albion and Gillingham between 1952 and 1961.[1]
Career[edit]

In 1951 Shepherd contracted polio whilst undertaking his National Service in the RAF. It was feared he would not walk again, but he made a full recovery and signed professional forms for Millwall on 6 October 1952. He made his first team debut on 25 October 1952 away at Leyton Orient where he scored a record four goals. Shepherd became known as a ‘hat trick specialist’, and in his first season with Millwall he scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win against Barrow in the 2nd round of the FA Cup to earn a 3rd round tie against Manchester United. He finished top scorer with 21 goals (15 League and 6 FA Cup) in his first season. He was also Millwall’s top scorer with 25 League and Cup goals in the 1956/57 season, during which they had a memorable FA Cup run beating First Division Newcastle United in the fourth round. They subsequently lost to First Division Birmingham City in the fifth. He was selected to play in the Third Division South representative team in 1957. (As at January 2013) Shepherd remains Millwall’s top FA Cup goal scorer with 15 goals in 17games and is their sixth highest ever goal scorer.
At the end of the 1957/58 Shepherd was transferred to Brighton & Hove Albion where he was their top goal scorer in the club's first ever season in the old Football League Division Two, scoring 18 goals in 36 League appearances. He played almost two seasons there before transferring to Gillingham . Although Shepherd enjoyed playing at Gillingham under the managership of Harry Barratt he later said moving to Gillingham was the biggest mistake of his career and he wished he had stayed on to fight for his team place at Brighton.[2]
Shepherd also played semi-professional football at Ashford Town (now Ashford United), Margate and Tunbridge Wells, before going to become player/manager at Southwick F.C. who were struggling in Sussex County League Division Two at the time. He led them to promotion to Division One, and in 1968 led them to victory against Athenian League Horsham in the Sussex Senior Cup Final, played at the Goldstone Ground, for the first time in the club’s history. The following season Southwick were Division One Champions.
In the early 1970s Shepherd went back to the Goldstone Ground, firstly as youth scout, and later, after Alan Mullery became the club's manager, he (together with Mick Fogden) set up the club's first ever youth team which was entered into the South Eastern Counties League.

During the mid 70's my parents and myself went on holiday to Spain in a large group, which was arranged through Southwick football Club. John and his family were part of this group, from what I can remember he was a really nice bloke.

Shep still lives locally and a couple of months ago the Argus featured a book written by his daughter Julie about his tough upbringing in London during the war. One of his sons ( Dominic) was an apprentice (YTS) at the Albion.
He was Albion's youth team manager back in the mid 80s when they won the london floodlight youth cup with players like David Gipp, Trevor Wood, Paul Dobinson, Terry Spinks, Franco Massimo and Danny Carter etc. Probably the best youth team we have ever had.
He later ran Southwick and Lancing sports centres.
Shep has had a few ops on his knees - par for the course for a centre forward in the Bobby Smith mold.

Thanks everyone for your imput.I was playing for the Wikers when John took over as coach.He made us run up and down the stand seating benches.on training nights.If he said black was white that was all right by me,hard as nails.irc