Charles Shaw (21 September 1885 – 27 March 1938) was a Scottish footballer who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, mainly for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

and

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. He served as Celtic's team captain for several years in the 1920s.Celtic player Shaw, Charles
FitbaStats He took over the position from

Davey Adams David Robertson Adams (14 May 1883 – 29 November 1948) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Celtic at the start of the 20th century. Career Born in Angus but raised largely in the Falkirk area, Adams joined Celtic near th ...

and was succeeded by

Peter Shevlin Peter Shevlin (1902–1948) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is mainly remembered for his time with Celtic, joining the club from the Junior grade in Glasgow. He had a relatively short period as their first choice goalkee ...

. Shaw went 1,287 minutes in all competitions without conceding a goal in early 1914, a British football record which stood for nearly a century. Never capped by

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, he represented the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

three times in matches against

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

Career

After a debut senior season with Port Glasgow Athletic, Record of pre-war Scottish League Players John Litster / Scottish Football Historian magazine, October 2012 Shaw played in England at

for six years, missing only two league games in that time and winning the Southern League title twice before returning to Scotland to join

in May 1913 for a £250 fee.Charlie Shaw: A Celtic Star
The Celtic Star, 27 July 2018 On a return to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

when Celtic played

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in a charity game, the Londoners remembered him fondly and burst into applause as he entered the pitch. For Celtic he was even greater and a stalwart for many a year. Shaw made his debut for the ''Bhoys'' in a 2–1 Glasgow Charity Cup win at

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

on 6 May that year. With the fragile-looking Shaw in goals, Celtic's defensive record improved dramatically. But Shaw also had the intelligence to match his athleticism. He was a good reader of the game and he developed an understanding with

Alec McNair Alexander McNair (24 December 1882 – 18 November 1951) was a Scottish football player and manager. He played as a defender for Celtic for 21 years and represented the Scotland national team in 15 official internationals between 1906 and 192 ...

and the other defenders. "Get it back tae Charlie!" was a common call. According to legendary Celtic manager

Willie Maley William Patrick Maley (25 April 1868 – 2 April 1958) was an Irish-born Scottish international football player and manager. He was the first manager of Celtic Football Club, and one of the most successful managers in Scottish football history. ...

: "Shaw, McNair and

Dodds The Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) are a network of schools, both primary and secondary, that serve the dependant, dependents of United States military and civilian United States Department of Defense (DoD) personnel in three ar ...

understood one another so well that they developed the pass-back into a scientific move of which there have been many imitators but none to equal the originators. It was indeed a spectacle to see either McNair or Dodds passing, with unerring accuracy and cheeky coolness, the ball to Shaw two yards away, with the opposing forwards almost on top of them. That was their method of getting out of a corner, which in all probability would otherwise have been fatal." (Weekly News 25 July 1936) He became Celtic captain in September 1916 following "Sunny" Jim Young's retirement (1916) and his commanding voice was heard throughout games offering encouragement and instructions to his teammates. Shaw was also vocal off the pitch, and his criticism of the low wages many footballers were paid did not go down well among the affluent and influential in the

Parkhead Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necropo ...

boardroom. This likely stemmed from his background coming from the mining village of

Twechar Twechar is a small former Pit village, mining village historically in Dunbartonshire and administered by the council area of East Dunbartonshire, Scotland close to the boundary with North Lanarkshire. It lies between the larger towns of Cumbernau ...

. Taking all cups into account he played in 468 matches for Celtic, ranking 20th on the club's all-time list and making the most

appearances for the ''Hoops'' without being selected for his country (

Jimmy McStay James McStay (1 April 1895 – 31 December 1973) was a Scottish football player and manager. He spent most of his career at Celtic, and was a captain and manager for the club. Career A full back (successfully converted from left half by ma ...

holds the unwanted record in terms of overall matches). After leaving Celtic, Shaw emigrated to the United States to be player/manager of the

New Bedford Whalers New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer League ...

.Celtic Soccer Legend Charlie Shaw Honored at Madonna Cemetery Ceremony
Patch, 7 April 2013 He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

in 1938, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Shoutout record

In the 1913–14 season, Shaw lost only 14 goals in 38 games, with 26 shut-outs along the away,Games involving Shaw, Charles in Season 1913/1914
FitbaStats which remains a record for Celtic. It is estimated that from 13 December 1913 he and his defence did not concede a goal for 1,287 minutes (the record was not measured the way it is today, with the time after the first goal and the time before the last goal not being counted). The duck was broken on 28 February 1914 when

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

defeated Celtic 1–0. This was a UK record then and lasted for almost 100 years before being broken by

Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a m ...

. Below is a breakdown of the 1,287 minutes Shaw went unbeaten: *

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

1–2 Celtic,

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

, 13 December 1913, 66mins (Raith scored in the 24th minute) *Celtic 0–0

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

, League, 20 December, 90mins *

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

0–6 Celtic League, 27 December, 90mins *Celtic 4–0

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

, League, 1 January 1914, 90mins *

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

0–0 Celtic, League, 3 January, 90mins *

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

0–1 Celtic, League, 5 January, 90mins *Celtic 4–0

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

, League, 10 January, 90mins *

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

0–1 Celtic, League, 17 January, 90mins *Celtic 1–0

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

, League, 24 January, 90mins * St Mirren 0–3 Celtic League, 31 January, 90mins *Clyde 0–0 Celtic

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...

, League, 14 February, 90mins *

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

0–5 Celtic, Scottish Cup, 21 February, 90mins *Falkirk 1–0 Celtic, League, 28 February 1914, 51mins (Falkirk scored in the 51st minute)

References

External links

Charlie Shaw Biography Article on TheCelticWiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Charlie 1885 births 1938 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Scottish footballers Sportspeople from East Dunbartonshire Men's association football goalkeepers Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Scottish Football League players Southern Football League players Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States New Bedford Whalers players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Scottish football managers Scottish Football League representative players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Scottish emigrants to the United States