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Joseph E. Shaw (May
7, 1883 –
September 1963) was
an English
football player and coach. Born in Bury,
Lancashire,
Shaw first played at his home club,
Bury, and
then
Accrington Stanley, helping the side win the
Lancashire Combination. Shaw then moved south to London, joining
Woolwich Arsenal in
1907.
He made his debut against
Preston North End on
September 28, 1907,
and had soon become a regular in the Arsenal side; he was first-choice
left back
for the next seven seasons. Although the club had shown early promise since
their promotion to the
First Division in
1904, with two successive
FA Cup
semi-final appearances in the seasons before Shaw's arrival, they soon quickly
faded. After a high of 6th place in
1908-09, Woolwich Arsenal soon found themselves in trouble, and were
relegated in
1912-13.
Despite this, Shaw stayed with the club as it moved across London to
Highbury, and was an ever-present in the final season (1914-15)
before first-class football was suspended for
World War
I. He continued to play during unofficial wartime matches, and upon
resumption of competitive football, was made Arsenal captain, succeeding the
recently departed
Percy
Sands. By this time Arsenal were back in the First Division, and Shaw
continued to play until the age of 38, in
1922; he had made
his 300th first-class appearance against
Newcastle United on
April 23,
1921 (the third
player in the club's history to do so, after Sands and
Roddy McEachrane).
In all he played 326 matches for the club, although he never scored a goal.
After retiring from playing, he became first a coach, and then manager of the
Arsenal reserve side. After the unexpected death of
Herbert Chapman in January
1934, Shaw became
caretaker manager of the first team for the rest of the season; Shaw carried
on Chapman's good work, as Arsenal won the
1934 League title,
the third title in the club's history. After
George Allison was appointed permanent first-team manager in the summer,
Shaw went back to his post as reserves manager. He later became assistant
manager to
Tom Whittaker and also worked as a club ambassador. He retired from football
in 1956, after 49
years' service for Arsenal. He died in
1963 at the age of
80.
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