Albert Shepherd was a prominent English forward during the earliest era of football. He began his career with amateur side Bolton Temperance, where he spent a year. This was followed by a move to Blackburn Rovers, but he was released a year later without even making a single appearance for them.
We will be looking at the rest of his career in this article, which saw notable spells with Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United.
The Bolton Wanderers era
After Shepherd's inability to break into the Blackburn Rovers first-team, he decided to join Bolton Wanderers in 1903. Despite this move, he was allowed to play for amateur club Bolton St. Luke's in the Lancashire Combination before making his professional debut in November 1904.
In his first full season with the Wanderers, Shepherd managed to score fifteen league goals to help Bolton finish second in the Second Division and gain promotion. Shepherd continued his goalscoring exploits in the First Division, scoring 25 goals to finish as the league's top goalscorer. These feats also led to him being called up to the Football League representative side for a match against their Scottish counterparts. What followed was nothing less than sensational, as Shepherd scored 4 goals to help his side win 6-2 at Stamford Bridge.
The good news just kept on coming for Shepherd, as he received his debut international call up for England. His maiden match took place against Scotland on 7th April 1906. England were forced to play with 10 men early in the match, as Harry Makepeace was forced off with an injury. Scotland took advantage of this, as they went on to take a 2-0 lead. It was Shepherd who scored a direct free-kick in the 81st minute, which made him the second English international player to score it at the time. His efforts went in vain though, as Scotland managed to prevail 2-1.
Shepherd's time at Wanderers lasted for 5 years from 1903 till 1908, during which he scored 85 goals in 115 appearances.
Newcastle's star striker
It was in November 1908 that Newcastle United paid a club record £800 fee for Shepherd. The fee was only £200 less than the British record at the time. He was signed by the club as a replacement to Bill Appleyard. Shepherd's first Newcastle goal came against Nottingham Forest in a 4-1 thrashing. However, Shepherd and his teammates were victim to a 9-1 thrashing against Sunderland in the following match. Shepherd was the scorer of Newcastle's only goal as well through a penalty.
Despite this heartbreaking loss, Shepherd went on to finish as the club's top goalscorer with fifteen league goals in his first season, helping Newcastle win the First Division title.
Shepherd continued to create history in the following season as well, as he became the first Newcastle player to score more than 30 goals in a single season with 31 total goals that campaign. The English forward repeated the feat in the 1910–11 season when he yet again finished as the top scorer in the First Division.
He led Newcastle to yet another title in 1910, as he scored a brace in their 2-0 FA Cup Final win over Barnsley. This match also saw him score a penalty goal, which made him the first player to score a penalty in an FA Cup final.
Newcastle reached the final yet again the following year, with Shepherd scoring a total of eight times during the previous rounds. However, Shepherd suffered a serious injury during a collision with a goalkeeper during a match against Blackburn Rovers. This ruled him out of the final, which Newcastle ended up losing 1-0.
This injury kept him out for over a year, missing the whole 1911–12 season and the start of the following year. He was unable to replicate his previous goalscoring feats upon returning from the injury.
Shepherd eventually left Newcastle in July 1914, joining fellow First Division side Bradford City. He scored ten league goals in twenty-two appearances before he retired from professional football following the outbreak of World War I. That was the end of his magical football journey.
