Mark 'Shelts' Shelton
Mens Chair
1988-Present
Presidents Introduction:
After constantly nagging the hell out of him for the last year or so Mark “ Shelts “ Shelton has finally produced the below profile for us.
This guys contribution to the Club CANNOT be overstated. Without him, I can safely say we would not be where we are today. His contribution has been enormous. At a time when older guys like me (rightly) recognised we had run our course as club officials we needed new blood to take the club into its next phase and Shelts “stepped up to the plate” and completely revolutionised the way the club was run. He removed many of the old prejudices with other clubs and officials that existed and breathed new life into the whole set up. As a team captain he was renowned for his team talks which always started “right lads today its Whitchurch, I hate Whitchurch" (sub in here ANY team we were playing). He was, and is, a motivator and skilled statesman in every sense of the word. He rose through the ranks as Secretary then Chairman and has long believed in keeping committees to a minimum size (preferably one!) but the results speak for themselves. I am sure every club member, past and present knows him and he has certainly made his mark on Welsh Hockey over the years.
I have had many fantastic times with him regard him as one of my top buddies. He is a true gent and brilliant company. I am delighted to present his story below...
A Brief History
I first got pressganged into playing for Cardiff at the tender age of eight years old. We had just moved to Cardiff and my father (Jerry) had opted to join Cardiff HC. Having spent five years standing on the sidelines watching my father play for Lydney previously I knew I had no other option on a Saturday but to accompany him down to the wonderful Sophia Gardens.
My debut came away to Bridgend on their horrific redgra (gravel pitch). We only had ten men and my father volunteered me as a suitable replacement. Hockey in the 80s had zero safeguarding rules and there wasn’t any mandatory age requirement before you played adult hockey. It was certainly a memorable debut and my love affair with hockey started.
I only started playing regularly at the age of ten and I had eight seasons playing for Cardiff before I left for university in 1994. In that time, I was fortunate to have played for every side in the Club and meet some wonderful players and characters. The first team in the eighties were very much similar to the juggernaut we have today and had the similar number of Welsh Internationals including legends of the Club, Howie Williams, Steve Sparkes, Percy, Bryn Williams, Andy Gowman Mal Thomas and Nunnie Sohaponal. The Club house at Sophia Gardens (Cricket Pavilion) was a wonderful place before and after hockey and was always busy post-match discussing events in the game and it’s where I was first introduced to three card brag, spoof and endless jugs of beer. In those years I made some great friends which I still have today including Way Way, Sparksey, Andy ‘Biffa’ Jones, Steve Ellis, Bill & Jon Hunt, Reggie, Jon ‘animal’ Davies, CJ, Brooksy and Andy Aggett.
I rejoined Cardiff in 1997 and had a game in the Easter holidays as the season was coming to a close. It was after the match where I was having a beer in the Clubhouse that I was persuaded by Bill (fairly easily) to come on tour to Weymouth with the ‘Bulgies’. The bulgies were Cardiff’s touring team with a few carefully selected individuals. Being 21 I considered my drinking ability to be second to none and felt more than comfortable that I could hold my own on what was described as the tour to end all tours. It was on this tour that I first met Richie Nichs, Royally & Smithy all club legends and top blokes. This was the first of my three bulgies tours and I genuinely now believe I’ve seen everything. Flagging down an ambulance in Dublin and them agreeing to take five of us to the match is one of the more gentler anecdotes from the tour.
It’s fair to say that the Club was very much in decline in the late nineties. Having the best grass pitch facilities in Wales meant that the Club was a late adopter to playing hockey on astroturf, that with an aging first XI, meant that we had missed out on National League and as the leagues got reorganised ended up somewhat in the hockey wilderness. This was certainly a challenging time, and we were short of Captains for the 4 men’s teams we had then. Bill (Club Secretary) asked if I would consider captaining the threes and I was only too happy to oblige. Since the 98 season I’ve captained a side every year ranging from the seconds to the sevenths. I’ve been fortunate enough to have played with virtually the same Group of players consistently over the years. Rich Nichs. Morgs, Waites x 2, Sy Dovey, Way way, Sparksey, Jaime Smith, Nick Jones and Macey in the early years and latterly CJ, Mal Thomas, Nicko, Fil, Stevie D, Nezza, Dan, Benny, Lee, Traf, Rodders, Duds, Coxy, Rob B, Rhys E & Clevs x 2. Gents it’s been an absolute pleasure.
In the early 2000’s we started on a strategy to reclaim the glory years and become the best Club in Wales again. Through Bill’s funding we enticed some antipodeans to come and play for Cardiff. We started with four Aussies and then moved onto Kiwis on recommendations from the then Welsh Coach Alan Lints. Success instantly followed and we started to move up the leagues and win the Welsh Cup. Knocking Whichurch out in the semi finals on Cabbo, Sticks and Jaz’s debuts for the Club is a memory which will always stay with me. It was around this time that I did my first stint as Chairman of the Club, and we started to enter into talks with UWIC (Cardiff Met) about merging the men’s sections of the Club. This was a huge success and is one of the key reasons why the Club is so strong today. Those European trips with the first team, accompanied by Steve Darwent as my Co-manager were some of my favourite experiences with the Club.
The third part of the strategy was to grow our youth system and have the biggest and best set up in Wales. I’m very pleased to say that we have now accomplished this goal and the work that Ieuan Davies and the Coaches do every week should be commended.
Hockey is a brutal game, but I wouldn’t change it for the world as I’ve met some incredible people, made friends for life and still enjoy playing. My goals for the season are always the same 1) come third in the league and don’t get promoted, 2) Win the Welsh Cup, 3) Win the Welsh Vets Cup, 4) Win the Paella Cup, 5) Persuade Tim Jones to come back and play in the league for us.
My thanks go to all the people who make the Club run so smoothly and to all the umpires who give up their time and potentially their mental health to umpire the fifths!
With all the injuries I’ve had I’m not sure I’ll be able to do another 40 years playing but definitely have another 20 as a minimum!
Cheers Shelts
ABOUT Cardiff & Met HC
Cardiff & Met Hockey Club is based at the National Hockey Centre, Sophia Gardens near the city centre and at Cardiff Metropolitan University. We have 6 Mens Senior Teams, 5 Ladies Senior Teams, 7 British Universities & Colleges Sports (BUCS) student teams and Junior Teams from U8 to U18.
CONTACT Us
JUNIORS: hockeyacademy@cardiffmet.ac.uk
WOMEN: cardiffhockeyladies@yahoo.co.uk
MEN: cardiffandmet.sec@gmail.com
E. newsletter@cardiffandmet.co.uk
E. sponsorship@cardiffandmet.co.uk
PROUD to be Associated with
