Former Newport County, Salford City, Peterborough United man transfers to European club

A defender released by Newport County this summer has found a new club in the Cymru Premier, Wales’ top flight.

Liam Shephard has signed for Penybont, who are preparing for a European campaign after qualifying for the UEFA Conference League. They face Andorran side FC Santa Coloma over two legs in the qualifying rounds during the next fortnight.

The 31-year-old was one of seven players to leave Rodney Parade following the expiry of his contract and will now play in the Welsh domestic league for the first time in his career.

A look at Liam Shephard’s career, including two Newport County spells

Shephard has spent his entire career in the professional game, amassing a wealth of experience across the English Football League, primarily in League Two.

The Pentre-born right-back has made 236 League Two appearances, including seven in the play-offs. While he never enjoyed success in the end-of-season showpiece, suffering final defeats with Forest Green Rovers, Newport County and Salford City, his involvement in three promotion-chasing sides underlines the quality and consistency he has shown as a defender at the fourth-tier level.

Salford City are the club he has made the most appearances for, featuring 92 times between 2021 and 2025.

At Yeovil Town, where he had three separate loan spells from Swansea City, he made 72 appearances across League One and League Two.

Forest Green Rovers signed him in 2018 during Mark Cooper’s tenure, and he proved productive there, recording seven goals and eight assists in 67 matches.

He made 66 appearances across two permanent spells with Newport County, just one fewer than at Forest Green. In the most recent campaign, he featured 14 times but missed a significant portion of the season between August and December. He returned for the run-in as the club battled to avoid relegation, although he was an unused substitute on the final day against Barrow.

Peterborough United spent one season with him in 2017, finishing ninth in EFL League One, with Shephard making 30 appearances for the Posh.

His senior career began at Swansea City, where he made a single first-team appearance, a defeat to Oxford United in the FA Cup in January 2016.

Brother against brother in the Cymru Premier

The Cymru Premier has seen its fair share of siblings lining up on the same side, but this season brings another twist: two brothers facing each other in competition.

Liam is the older brother of Corey, who plays for Haverfordwest County, setting up a sibling showdown in Wales’ top flight.

We won’t have to wait long for the first meeting, with The New Saints travelling to Haverfordwest in the second week of the season, Friday 14 August. The pair will then meet again at the DragonBet Stadium on Friday 20 November.

Football clearly runs in the family. Their father, Gary, played semi-professionally in Wales and is best known for his spell with Newport County in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He also played for and managed Merthyr Tydfil and later Merthyr Town following the club’s reformation.

Defender returns to Cymru Premier

Shephard isn’t the only arrival at the Penybont on Friday at the Dragon Bet Stadium. The club have also announced the return of goalkeeper Dan Higgs on a season-long loan from Cardiff City, along with Ethan Vaughan.

Vaughan is a product of the Cardiff academy and has Cymru Premier experience with Pontypridd United, where he spent a season.

Since then, he has featured for several non-league sides, including Taunton Town, Frome Town, and most recently Chippenham Town. The 22-year-old made 26 appearances in the National League South last season and could help Chippenham avoid relegation to the Southern League Premier. His move to Bridgend sees him reunite with Tom Mehew.