October's Jack of the Month

28th October

Swansea City have named Shawn Bevan as October's Jack of the Month.

 

In the secondinstalmentof the club's award to thank fans for their loyal support, the 30-year-old from Hereford has been selected due to his incredible collection of Swansea shirts.

 

The passionate Swans fan has over 400 shirts in total, having started collecting over 16 years ago, and he doesn't plan to stop anytime soon.

 

"I started collecting when I moved away from Swansea in 1997," he explained.

 

"My parents moved to a little town called Ross-on-Wye to start a new business.

 

"I was taken away from my football club, so to feel a bit closer, I started collecting football shirts.

 

"Itspiralledout of control from there - I got a little obsessed with wanting everything, so I had to curb it a bit and only get special shirts.

 

"People have known for a while that I am a shirt collector. They contact me if they come across shirts.

 

"Friends that have got hold of shirts in the past and want them to go in the collection, they give them to me because they know it is always going to stay together.

 

"I won't stop collecting. There's not enough money in the world to buy them off me. When they are in my collection, they stay in there."

 

With such a vast array of Swans shirts, ranging from decades ago to present day, it is difficult for Bevan to choose a favourite.

 

Nevertheless, there is one shirt that he especially cherishes.

 

"For me, the most special shirt I have is the one Roger Freestone gave me," said Bevan. "It was the '94 Autoglass Trophy shirt, where he saved the penalty to win us the game in the penalty shootout.

 

"But they all hold a different memory. Chico's shirt that he didn't wear in the Capital One Cup Final against Bradford was very hard to get hold of. Even though he didn't wear it, it has the badges on it, and it was the shirt from that day, so it's a bit special.

 

"I would really like to get them all framed and put them in a museum in Swansea for everybody to see.

 

"Maybe make some money from them that can go to the Supporters' Trust and to community projects.

 

"I really believe, with new fans coming on board all the time, shirts like these are brilliant pieces of history. It would be nice for future generations to see it."

 

If you are a huge Swans supporter, like Shawn Bevan, you can nominate yourself for November's Jack of the Month by e-mailing us your story at jackofthemonth@swanseacityfc.co.uk


The club would like to thank you for your passionate and loyal support.