Gary Shaw: Aston Villa legend and European Cup winner dies aged 63

Gary Shaw, an Aston Villa legend and one of the club’s celebrated European Cup winners, has died at the age of 63.

Villa confirmed in a statement released on behalf of his family that Shaw had passed away earlier on Monday.

It was reported last week that Shaw was in a serious condition in hospital after falling and sustaining a head injury.

Villa said in a tribute to Shaw: “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.

“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, who asked Aston Villa to release a statement on their behalf.

“The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Gary’s family and loved ones at this extremely difficult time.”

One of Villa’s best-ever strikers, Birmingham native Shaw scored 79 goals in 213 total appearances for the club across a decade between 1978-88 after a successful spell as an apprentice.

He was a key part of the legendary Villa side under new boss Tony Barton that lifted the European Cup for the first and so far only time with victory over Bayern Munich in the final in Rotterdam in 1982.

Shaw also hit 18 goals for the last Villa side to win a top-flight title, under Ron Saunders in the 1980/81 campaign.

His individual honours included winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 1981. He was also named in the PFA Team of the Year and in 1982 won the Bravo Award given out by Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo to the most outstanding young player in Europe.

The latter stages of his Villa career were heavily impacted by a serious knee injury, with Shaw spending time on loan at Blackpool before spells in Denmark and Austria.

He returned to English football with Walsall in 1990 and also played for Kilmarnock and Shrewsbury before retiring in 1992 following a stint in Hong Kong.

At international level, Shaw played seven times for England’s Under-21s but did not make a senior appearance for the Three Lions after being cut from Ron Greenwood’s preliminary squad for the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain.

After ending his playing days, Shaw worked as a football statistician as well as a matchday ambassador for Villa, having previously returned to Villa Park as a youth coach and also worked for the Press Association.