Gary Shaw was the shy superstar who shone so brightly at Aston Villa
For Gary Shaw to die on the eve of Villa’s return to the top table of European football feels immeasurably cruel.
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He would have loved this season, a maiden Champions League campaign guaranteed to shine the spotlight on the men who delivered the club’s finest hour, that 1982 triumph all too overlooked outside the Midlands.
Shaw was integral to it all.
The blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy-next-door whose looks were only surpassed by his talent for scoring goals.
He had the lot and for a time in the early 1980s, it seemed, the world at his feet.
By the age of 21, he had won everything there was to win in club football, the European Cup win to go with the League title claimed the year previously.
Shaw was still only 22 when he sustained the injury which, while not ending his career, meant he never came close to fulfilling the fantastic potential of those early years.
There is no ignoring that side of the story. Undoubtedly a Villa legend, the question which can never be answered is just how good Shaw might have been?
You knew he pondered it too, during those regular conversations about the old days in the Villa Park press room during his later career as a statistical analyst. It was there in his eyes. Much as Shaw was always happy to share his memories, there was a definite sadness detectable in the tone.
