LONDON, 17 Sep. (dpa/EP) –
Former Aston Villa striker Gary Shaw, who won the 1982 European Cup with the club, died on Monday at the age of 63, the British club confirmed.
Shaw was part of the team that won the First Division in 1981 and the European Cup the following year. The striker, who also played for Blackpool, Walsall, Kilmarnock and Shrewsbury, was admitted to hospital after suffering a head injury in a recent fall.
“Aston Villa FC is deeply shocked and saddened by the passing of Gary Shaw, one of our European Cup-winning heroes. Gary was one of our own, a talented striker who delighted fans with his goalscoring exploits, helping Villa to success in the 1980s. Individual accolades were also to come for a player who was idolised by many in the stands,” Aston Villa said.
The club also said that Shaw died “peacefully surrounded by his family.” “The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Gary’s family and loved ones at this extremely difficult time,” it said.
Solihull-born Shaw scored 79 goals in 213 appearances for Aston Villa, 20 of them in the title-winning campaign, after which he was named PFA Young Player of the Year.
He was subsequently a key member of the team that won the European Cup by beating Bayern Munich in the 1982 final. Shaw scored three goals in the competition, including a strike in the quarter-final against Dynamo Kiev. He left Villa in 1988. His career also took him to Denmark, Austria and Hong Kong before he retired in 1992. He subsequently worked as a statistical analyst and was an ambassador for the club.