Harold Shepherdson MBE (28 October 1918 – 13 September 1995) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, coach and manager. Born in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, Shepherdson signed for his hometown club in 1936, but saw his playing career interrupted by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and ultimately made just 17 league appearances. He is most notable for having been

Alf Ramsey Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. As a player, he represented England national football team, the England national ...

's long-term assistant as

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

manager, including during the successful 1966 World Cup campaign. Shepherdson also had four spells as caretaker manager at Middlesbrough. Shepherdson was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 1969 Birthday Honours. Originally, only the eleven players who featured in the 4–2 win over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final received medals. Following a

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

led campaign to persuade

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

to award medals to every non-playing squad and staff member, Margaret Shepherdson received a medal on behalf of her late husband from

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

at a ceremony at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

on 10 June 2009.World Cup 1966 winners honoured
/ref> The flyover road leading to Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium was named Shepherdson Way in honour of his contribution to the club.

References

1918 births 1995 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football defenders English football managers Middlesbrough F.C. managers Middlesbrough F.C. players Footballers from Middlesbrough Southend United F.C. players Brentford F.C. wartime guest players Middlesbrough F.C. non-playing staff Members of the Order of the British Empire English football coaches English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen South Bank East End F.C. players {{England-footy-manager-stub