Gary Shaw dead

Seven goals for Klagenfurt – Aston Villa hero dead

Aston Villa mourn the loss of European Cup hero Gary Shaw.(Bild: Facebook.com/Aston Villa FC)

Gary Shaw is dead. The former England striker and European Cup winner with Aston Villa succumbed to head injuries sustained in a fall a week ago on Monday. He had played for Klagenfurt Austria in the 1988/89 season and scored seven goals.

Aston Villa expressed their "deep shock" on Facebook. Shaw was one of the club's own talents. Highlight: winning the European Cup of Nations in 1982 (after he had already dusted off the English championship trophy in 1981). His opponents in the final at the time were Bayern Munich. Shaw was also crowned European Under-21 champion in 1982.

Peacefully asleep
On Monday, Shaw fell asleep peacefully at the age of 63 surrounded by his family, as the club announced. English media reported (without further detail) that he had fallen last week.

Short in Austria
Interesting from an Austrian perspective: Shaw played half a season, 13 games, for Klagenfurt's Austria. He played with the Carinthians in the then-established mid-table play-off for relegation. Despite Shaw scoring seven goals in new games, they failed to do so. Klagenfurt were relegated to the 2nd Division. Not uninteresting either: In April 1989, Shaw played against a certain Hans Krankl. He was a striker for Salzburg Austria at the time. Klagenfurt won 4:0 and Shaw played but failed to score.