Aston Villa boss Unai Emery wants his side to win their Champions League opener against Young Boys in memory of European Cup winner Gary Shaw.
Villa’s return to the top table of European football for the first time in 41 years has been tinged with sadness after former striker Shaw died on Monday at the age of 63.
Shaw was a member of the Villa side that won European Cup in 1982 and with Villa making a debut in the present-day Champions League in Switzerland on Tuesday, Emery wants to pay the perfect tribute.
“My condolences to the family and all the supporters at Villa,” he said.
“We have a memory always, in our training ground a picture of 1982 and the European Cup, he was a protagonist of that. My condolences to them.
“Yes, I think it’s sad and we can use it as motivation.”
Villa will wear black armbands for their fixture in the Swiss capital.
The forward, who also had spells with Blackpool, Walsall, Kilmarnock and Shrewsbury, had been in hospital after suffering a head injury in a recent fall.
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… pic.twitter.com/nVjLb4Blfe
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 16, 2024
A Villa statement read: “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.”
Rest in Peace, Gary.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 16, 2024
Solihull-born Shaw joined Villa as an apprentice and went on to score 79 times in 213 appearances, including 20 in their title-winning campaign, after which he was named PFA Young Player of the Year.
He was then an important part of the team that won the European Cup with victory over Bayern Munich in the final in 1982. Shaw scored three goals in the competition including a quarter-final strike against Dynamo Kyiv.
He left Villa in 1988 with his career also taking him to Denmark, Austria and Hong Kong before he retired in 1992. He later worked as a statistical analyst and was a matchday ambassador for Villa.
He also worked as a coach with Villa’s academy players and coached Gabby Agbonlahor.
The former Villa striker said in Bern: “For me, growing up hearing about that European Cup-winning team, and how good he was, he was a local lad like me.
“I was lucky enough to be coached by him from the age of 14 to 17.
“He used to take me, Luke and Stefan Moore, Darius Vassell off for drills. He took the strikers, did finishing with us, showed us the art of goalscoring.
“But he never mentioned what he achieved. He was so humble. He should have been the guy who told everyone what he had done and what a good player he was.
“He should have been the one telling us. But he just concentrated on coaching the players.”
