Hundreds say final farewell to Shrewsbury Town hero Ken Mulhearn

The funeral of the 72-year-old former goalkeeper took place at St Chad’s Church in Shrewsbury, and amongst the congregation were representatives of the club including chairman Roland Wycherley, friends, and relatives.

He made more than 400 appearances for Shrewsbury Town between 1971 and 1980.

Born in Liverpool, he won promotion from Division Four with the club in the 1974/75 season before playing his part in Town’s Division Three title-winning side in 1978/79.

Apart from his sporting prowess, club officials said that he will be remembered for his sense of humour and work in the community.

Andy Tretton, commercial manager at the club used to spend hours with Mr Mulhearn as they visited care homes where they would reminisce with residents about the side’s glory days.

Armed with old matchday programmes and football shirts they would share memories with football fans from years gone by.

“He was a lovely person,” said Mr Tretton, “he was my friend and I will miss him.

"People wanted to spend time with him, talking about his career.”

The commercial manager said that the level of respect for the former goalkeeper was equally in evidence when they visited his previous club.

He said: “I remember he once took me to Man City to see a game and, even though it was 40 years after he had played there, people were coming up to him and greeting him, asking him how he was.

"I knew he had played for the team in the late '60s but as we got out of the car people were coming up to see him. He was a lovely person to be around.

"He had a light-hearted point of view and even when he was struggling with his illness he was trying to be happy. He was just that kind of character.”

A real gentleman

Mr Mulhearn, who was one of 10 official club legends alongside Graham Turner and Arthur Rowley, most recently worked at the club on the commercial and hospitality side, greeting and looking after match day guests in the hospitality areas.

Brian Caldwell, chief executive of Shrewsbury Town, said Mr Mulhearn was a “real gentleman”.

“He was full of fun, always cracking jokes,” said Mr Caldwell, who attended the funeral before making his way to north to see Shrewsbury Town continue their promotion push at Bradford yesterday evening.

He added: “He knew a lot of the supporters and was well known in and around the town. His death is a sad loss for the club as well as for his friends and family.

“Everybody knew him and he was one of the first people to greet you as you walked through the doors on match days. He was a real big character.”

He was proud of his grandson Harry Lewis, also a goalkeeper, who rose through the Shrewsbury academy before leaving for Southampton in 2015.

He is currently on a season-long loan to Dundee United.

“He used to chat with me about Scottish football and was very proud of what he had done and how his career was going. He was a great man,” added Mr Caldwell.

Mr Mulhearn died peacefully in his sleep on March 13.