The English Football Thread

[Vesper 28,288]

Gary Shaw, hero of Aston Villa’s 1982 European Cup triumph, dies aged 63

• Former striker sustained head injury this month
• Shaw was European Young Player of the Year in 1982

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/sep/16/gary-shaw-aston-villa-dies-1982-european-cup-hero

 

Gary Shaw, one of Aston Villa’s 1982 European Cup heroes, has died aged 63. The former striker fell seriously ill this month after being hospitalised with a head injury.

Shaw was part of a revered Villa side that enjoyed extraordinary and unparalleled success in the early 80s, winning the First Division in 1981 under Ron Saunders and in 1982 the European Cup and European Super Cup.

His performances earned him the accolade of Professional Footballers’ Association Young Player of the Year in 1981 and European Young Player of the Year in 1982. He was included in England’s 40-man preliminary squad for the 1982 World Cup in Spain but missed out on a final spot in the 22-man squad. Shaw made seven appearances for England’s Under-21s.

He is regarded one of Villa’s greatest forwards having scored 79 goals in 213 appearances for the club after joining as a 16-year-old apprentice. Born in Kingshurst, Solihull, Shaw, who idolised Bruce Rioch and Brian Little as a boyhood Villa supporter, was the local hero at the heart of Villa’s greatest day.

“Aston Villa Football Club is deeply shocked and profoundly saddened to learn that Gary Shaw, one of our European Cup-winning heroes, has passed away,” the club said. “Gary was one of our own, a talented striker who delighted supporters with his goalscoring exploits which helped fire Villa to success in the 1980s. Individual accolades would also follow for a player who was idolised by many on the terraces. He passed away peacefully earlier today surrounded by his family.”

Shaw’s part in Villa’s European Cup-winning goal is immortalised on a banner that has been a fixture on the North Stand. The banner quoting Brian Moore’s commentary of Peter Withe’s match-winning goal against Bayern Munich in Rotterdam reads: “Shaw, [Gary] Williams, prepared to venture down the left. There’s a good ball played in for Tony Morley. Oh, it must be and it is! Peter Withe!”

Shaw left Villa for Danish side Kjøbenhavns Boldklub in 1988 after a difficult period marred by a knee injury sustained at Nottingham Forest five years earlier which he later said “killed my career” and cost him England caps. He left soon afterwards for Austria, signing for the now-dissolved club Klagenfurt but returned to the Midlands with Walsall in 1990 before joining Kilmarnock and Shrewsbury Town. He finished his playing career in Hong Kong with Ernest Borel FC.

After retiring, Shaw worked as a sports media analyst for the Press Association and as a data analyst for Opta. Last month he covered Villa’s 2-1 win at Leicester’s King Power Stadium and was a popular figure in press rooms.

Shaw signed for Villa amid interest from Manchester City and QPR after excelling for Coleshill Town in the old Midland Combination league. “But Villa were my team,” he said. “I went to the League Cup final in 1971 and it broke my heart when Martin Chivers scored two late goals for Tottenham.”

Two other Villa fans who went on to play as forwards for the club paid tribute to Shaw. “I was lucky enough to be coached by him from the age of 14 to 17,” Gabby Agbonlahor said. “He used to take me, Luke and Stefan Moore, Darius Vassell off for drills. He took the strikers, did finishing with us, showed us the art of goalscoring. But he never mentioned what he achieved – he was so humble. He should have been the guy who told everyone what he had done and what a good player he was. But he just concentrated on coaching the players.”

Stan Collymore wrote on X: “When I was 11 I asked my Mom if I could have a blond wedge because of you. Her wry ‘I don’t think we can do that, Son’ will stay with me as one of my abiding memories of her, too. You were a real life superhero … You made a little boy dream big, fall in love with you, our club and the beautiful game. You were my hero on the pitch but most importantly my hero off it. The loveliest of men.”

The former Villa player and manager Brian Little wrote on X: “Gave Shawsy my number 8 shirt when I retired.. he took it to another level….R.I.P.”

[cosmicway 1,296]

Citeh to be deducted 30 points today ?

[NikkiCFC 7,884]

2 hours ago, cosmicway said:

Citeh to be deducted 30 points today ?

That punishment is realistic but will not happen today. 

Just saw AEK got Martial. 

Edited 11 hours ago by NikkiCFC

[Vesper 28,288]

9 hours ago, cosmicway said:

Citeh to be deducted 30 points today ?

the hearing lasts 10 weeks and the result will not be announced until early 2025

[cosmicway 1,296]

7 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

That punishment is realistic but will not happen today. 

Just saw AEK got Martial. 

Google says Fofana 12 mil, Martial 10 mil.
But saw AEK on Monday - pain in the eye. 
This club is as follows: Every 10 years or so produce a miracle team, then run out of money, slide down.
Their best playe ever must have been Nikolaidis who also played for Atletico with Torres, before Torres moved to Liverpool.
Meanwhile Willian plays for Olympiakos Piraeus now !

Edited 4 hours ago by cosmicway

[Vesper 28,288]

Ødegaard injury worse than feared: how long will the Arsenal player be out for and which games will he miss?

Mikel Arteta confirmed that the injury suffered by the Norwegian during the international break will keep him out of action for some time.

https://en.as.com/soccer/odegaard-injury-worse-than-feared-how-long-will-the-arsenal-player-be-out-for-and-which-games-will-he-miss-n/

Mikel Arteta has confirmed the worst fears regarding Martin Ødegaard, who picked up an ankle injury during the recent international break.

The Norway captain limped out of the UEFA Nations League group against Austria on 67 minutes. At first, it was thought that Ødegaard had suffered a sprain but tests have revealed more worrying damage as Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta confirmed today, ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League opener against Atalanta.

Arsenal without their captain for two months

“The latest scans showed that he has some damage, especially in one of the ankle ligaments. It is quite significant. We will lose Martin Ødegaard for a while,” Arteta told reporters. It means that, the Gunners will be without their captain for the next two months of competition. Ødegaard is not expected to be back on the pitch until November, following the final international break of the year.

The games that Martin Ødegaard will miss

Premier League

• 22 Sept Manchester City (A)
• 28 Sept Leicester City (H)
• 5 Oct Southampton (H)
• 19 Oct Bournemouth (A)
• 27 Oct Liverpool (H)
• 2 Nov Newcastle United (A)
• 10 Nov Chelsea (A)

Champions League 

• 19 Sept Atalanta (A)
• 1 Oct PSG (A)
• 22 Oct Shakhtar Donetsk (H)
• 6 Nov Inter Milan (A)

Arteta loses one of his key players for a sizable chunk of the campaign and with several key games coming up. Ødegaard will miss crucial games against the team’s principal Premier League rivals - starting with this weekend’s trip to City, the defending champions, as well as a tough, three-game run in which Arsenal must face Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea.

This season, Ødegaard started the first three league games of the campaign, completing the first two, against Wolves and Aston Villa. He was taken off in the Week 3 meeting with Brighton, replaced by Gabriel Martinelli on 74 minutes as a tactical switch.

He has not had enough time to get his stats up and running - in the three games he has played at club level and both of the international games with Norway (against Kazakhstan and Austria), he has registered no goals and no assists despite his teams being unbeaten in all five of those games.