The Commentator's Collection

We are often asked whether we auction football or rugby programmes and our replies are normally structured to dampen expectations for the owner. There are so many collections of post-War programmes around that most collections make modest sums and sometimes prove difficult to sell.

But in all the many collections I have seen in my quarter of a century of auctioneering, I have not seen a collection as extensive or as interesting as Richard Shepherd’s. Neither do I recall such lovely provenance – ‘The Commentator’s Collection’

Richard Shepherd was born in Porthcawl in 1944. He started watching football as a young lad, and then after being in the legal profession, began reporting and commentating on the sport for BBC Wales, starting in the early 1970s and doing so for over 25 years. He then did radio commentary and then worked on Cardiff City's matches commentating on their internet station.

It is thought that Richard has attended over 4000 professional football matches in his lifetime. Ironically perhaps, Richard has not set foot in a stadium since his retirement five years ago.

Between matches he also found time to write including biographies and published books on the history of Swansea City, Cardiff City and Newport County.

I met Richard and his wife Brenda in a storage unit which they had hired for the sole purpose of housing the programme collection. To my great relief all the programmes had been meticulously sorted into clubs and into chronological order. It meant that we could assess much easily and share our enthusiasm over the size of the collection but also over the many rare or early issues.

Many of the programmes are from those matches he worked on but Richard’s passion for collecting extended to cover most decades of the 20th Century. The earliest programme in the collection is from 1906.

This incredible collection will be offered in our Club House auction on November 6th. Further entries invited for this auction prior to October 17th.