THEY'RE a pair of former footballers who are celebrating fifty years of wedded bliss.

And Sheila and John Pearce, who hit the headlines in the Echo on April 28 1973 with 'Footballers Married at Lyndhurst', feel extremely lucky to be celebrating their golden wedding anniversary after a miraculous recovery from a serious health scare. 

John, 77, who was a Southampton youth player before going on to play for New Milton, was on end of life care in Lymington Hospital in March 2021, but he somehow came through and is still enjoying life.

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72-year-old Sheila, who played for Southampton Ladies and is also a pretty handy hockey player who has toured internationally, is now his carer and the pair are inseparable. 

Sheila told the Daily Echo: "It's a bit of a miracle we've made it after my husband was on end of life care in Lymington, and has subseqently dodged several similar situations in The General Hospital. I am his main carer and do my best with the help of a friend to give him a good quality of life.

"I think our shared interests, particularly sport, has been the secret of our success. 

"We've both travelled a lot and we always had different things to talk about. 

"We've had hard times, but we've always had a laugh, even in difficult situations. It's all about digging in when times are tough, doing our best for the children and now the same for the grandchildren."

The Langley couple met in late 1971 at The Stag pub where Sheila was supplementing her income with some evening shifts and married less than two years later at Lyndhurst Church. 

Daily Echo: John and Sheila Pearce on their wedding day in 1973

They have two sons, Matthew and Christopher, and five grandchildren with another on the way. 

After being made redundant from his supervisor job at AC Delco, John worked for Howes in Pennington, which was bought by Johnson & Johnson Orthopaedics and saw him travel all over the world, particularly in the States. 

Sheila, who worked for New Forest District Council, enjoyed sporting tours in such far-flung destinations as Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and America. She coached the Blackfield and Langley boys teams from age eight through to 14 and played competitive hockey until she was 66.

Daily Echo: Sheila and John Pearce on a recent visit to Gunwharf Quays