Gary Shaw – a tribute. Shaw, who has passed away aged 63, played the game the way it should be played. The Aston Villa attacker played with flair, an unquenchable hunger for goals, commitment to team and loyalty to club. He played to win, conquering England in 1981 and Europe in 1982, and he did it in style. Shaw’s finishing was not only about the quantity, 79 goals in 213 games for the Villa, but also the quality.Shaw was fleet of mind and body, able to sense the best positions to glide into, whether holding his run to the edge of the area for a cutback and strike with either foot or darting to the near-post for a poacher’s finish with head or foot. He could stun a ball speeding in, flick it up, juggle it and volley it in, all under pressure from a merciless centre-half and on pitches that sometimes looked more suited to ploughing than pillaging goals.And he scored vital goals. It feels like only yesterday, rather than 42 years ago, that Shaw was dribbling through Dinamo Kyiv’s defence and scoring with a low left-footed shot from the tightest of angles at Villa Park in 1982. It was not only a brilliant strike but hugely significant in Villa’s run to European glory.So many fine finishes: running on to Dennis Mortimer’s through pass and driving the ball through Jim Platt’s legs at Middlesbrough in 1980; and gambling on a David Geddis flicked shot coming back off the post, falling to his right, connecting with his left in 1980 at Villa Park in the 3-0 Derby win over Blues – that athleticism and positioning again.Shaw could link and create and finish, famously against Nottingham Forest in 1981, dropping deep and taking the ball from Morley, loaning it to Geddis, then giving it to Mortimer in the centre-circle and ghosting into the area. Kenny Swain, released by Mortimer, crossed low and hard from the right, Shaw timed his run to perfection, meeting it first time. A bad knee injury in 1983 lessened his impact but his mind was still sharp, taking him into the right positions. When Paul Rideout nodded down against West Brom in 1984, Shaw pounced.For Villa fans, he was “one of our own”. For the rest of us admiring from afar, Shaw was a Boy’s Own hero, prolific and photogenic, the PFA Young Player of the Year, then European Young Footballer of the Year. Shaw would be worth a fortune in the modern era. His versatility would be highly prized. He could play as a second striker, centre-forward, even wide.His partnership with Peter Withe was the proverbial rapier and broadsword, silk and steel. They cut a swathe through opposition defences. The photo of Shaw and Withe holding the 1982 European Cup above Morley and placing it on his head remains an iconic image and embodied Villa’s attacking approach. That year, Shaw made the 40-strong long-list for the World Cup but was eventually overlooked by Ron Greenwood. He ended up with just Under-21 caps, and only seven of them, crazy really, given his calibre.Shaw’s impact felt even more uplifting because it was a counterpoint to the mood of the country at the time. With the dark clouds of unemployment, strikes and bombs in London parks scurrying across the landscape, a glamourous footballer who scored fabulous goals brought hope as well as joy. Villa have lost a legend and English football has lost a player who lit up the 80s. His family have lost someone very special. Shaw was a very likeable and down-to-earth human being even to those of us who only encountered him briefly in the Villa Park press room. Just a really approachable guy. My thoughts with Gary Shaw’s family, friends and former team-mates. RIP.
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Topic: Gary Shaw - RIP (Read 31661 times)
