Hi, I’m Neil Campbell and it is a privilege to be asked to judge the 2025 Continental Sheepdog Championship.

For those who don’t know me, I manage an organic farm in central Scotland, near Kinross.  We run 800 cheviots and 200 cross ewes, with all lambs supplying our farm shop.  In addition, the Estate also has four other farms, running 200 beef cattle, 50 pigs, growing barley & wheat. together with all our own vegetables, all for the farm shop.

I started running sheepdogs in 1995, first qualifying for the Scottish Team in 1998, and have qualified a further 15 times since then.  I have qualified for the International Supreme on a number of occasions, with my highest placing being 3rd.  I have competed at four World Trials and on BBC One Man and his Dog in 2001.

I have judged in many countries, including USA (Kansas & Missouri), Sweden, Denmark & Holland.  

I had the honour of judging the Scottish National Sheepdog Trial in 2022 and judged many Nursery & Open Trial over my many years of trialling.

I am excited to have been asked to judge this year’s Continental Sheepdog Championships in Czech Republic and look forward to meeting new handlers and watching their dogs at work.

Hi, I'm Matt Watson, and it is a huge honour to be invited to judge the 2025 Continental Sheepdog Championship.

For those who don't know me, I farm with my wife in Yorkshire, we have a flock of 550 Texel x Breeding ewes and a small herd of Parthenais Cattle.

My Sheepdog journey started around 1997, having needed a dog to attend the flock I was employed to shepherd. Since those early days I have been really fortunate to have had some good dogs and have represented England at six Internationals, including leading England in 2010 as National Champion with Milo and achieved English Shepherds Champion with Storm in 2004.

I have also qualified 5 times to compete at the World trials and have appeared twice on BBC'S one Man and his Dog.

Away from competing I have been very lucky to have been asked to judge many prestigious trials at home and overseas, some I haven't been able to accept because of work commitments, but I have judged several times in Europe and last year judged the Bluegrass Trial in the U.S

At Home I have had the privilege of judging the 2015 English National Championship, the 2019 season English Nursery final, and the 2022 International Sheepdog Trial at York.

I have also judged many top open trials that include  double gather Championship, such as Macclesfield and Mid Shires.

I am really looking forward to judging such an important event in the Czech Republic alongside my fellow judge, meeting many new handlers and sheepdog enthusiasts and watching some world class dogs!

My name is Adam Porter. I would like to take this opportunity to say it is a great privilege to be asked to be the course director as well as being assigned the task of judging the Young Handlers Competition at the 2025 Continental Sheepdog Championships. The standard of trialling on the continent is extremely high and as a result of this I am very much looking forward to watching some of the very top handlers and dogs in the world competing at this prestigious event.

Some information about myself. I live on the outskirts of a small town called Maghera in Northern Ireland. I breed pedigree Bluefaced Leicester & Beltex sheep under the 'Braeburn' prefix.

I am relatively new to the sheepdog trialling scene, having run at my first trial in August 2021. Prior to 2021, I struggled to find time to get into trialling as I had my school studies to focus on, as well as moving away from home to study for my degree in Agriculture at Edinburgh University.

My first trial was with a bitch called, 'Graham's Nan' which I purchased from the family of my close friend Gerard Graham. Gerard was on the Irish team countless times over the years and sadly passed away after a battle with cancer. I decided to go to Scotland to run in my first trial, I thought if my run went badly, I could disappear again and nobody would be any the wiser as to who I was, saving myself embarrassment. The run went surprisingly well and I had the trialling bug from that point on.

Soon afterwards, I purchased 'Udale Murray' who had previously been on the English team with Tom Huddlestone. Between Murray and Nan, I have had a lot of fun at trials. With Murray, I have won many open trials and have achieved 3rd place at the Northern Ireland Sheepdog Handlers Association Double Gather Final 2024. I also achieved 6th place at the Trial of the Glens Double Gather Final 2024, which had upwards of 120 dogs running in the qualifiers. Nan was placed 5th at the North of Ireland Sheepdog Society Double Gather Final 2024. The dream is to one day make the Irish team, easier said than done!

At the end of 2024 I started 'The Sheepdog Podcast' YouTube channel, which is a relaxed chat about all things sheepdog related with handlers around the world. I thoroughly enjoy this as it is a great opportunity to get the views of some of the leading handlers in the sport.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to judge at the Swiss Open Sheepdog Trials in 2023, meeting many new handlers that I wouldn't previously have known personally. We are all lucky to be involved in a sport with a great social aspect to it, allowing for many close friendships to be formed with handlers both at home and abroad. I look forward to meeting many new and familiar faces at the Championships in September.