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]
In 1950 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 15 goals 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 June 2009) Shepherd remains Millwall’s top FA Cup goal scorer with 15 goals in 17 games.
At the end of the 1957/58 Shepherd was transferred to Brighton & Hove Albion where he played two seasons before transferring to Gillingham.