England national football team, 11 April 1959

Joseph Shaw (23 June 1928 – 18 November 2007) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

between 1945 and 1966. He also worked as a manager, being in charge of

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

from 1967–1968 and

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

from 1973–1976.

Career

Shaw made 714 appearances for

in all competitions, including 632 in the League and 53

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

ties, all three being club records. Shaw was a former Durham County schoolboy who joined United from

Upton Colliery Upton Colliery was a coal mine near to the village of Upton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The site was north west of Doncaster and north east of Barnsley. Coal was transhipped from the colliery by the former Hull and Barnsley Railw ...

as an inside-forward and later successfully converted into a half back. He played for United in two wartime fixtures in the

Football League North The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created temporarily for the League to continue through the Second World War while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The leagues star ...

during the 1944–45 season. The first game was a 3–1 victory over

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

on 2 April 1945 when Shaw was just 16 years and 285 days old. His League debut came in a

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

game against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

on 30 August 1948, with United severely short of players, as a left-back. United lost 2–1, mainly against 10 men. Shaw was off the field with a bleeding nose when the first went in after around 21 minutes, missing a quarter of an hour of the first half and the majority of the second. In the next few years he played at wing half and right half, but after two heavy defeats in season 1954–55, Reg Freeman decided to select him at centre half. He was described as hard-working, the pivot of United's "double banking" defensive system, where his lack of height never let him down owing to his superb anticipation and ability to read the game. He was so successful that he was selected for the position for 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 ...

although the England cap that many thought he deserved was never awarded. In 1951, he also toured Australia with a

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

team. His 600th League appearance came on 6 February 1965 in a 2–1 victory over

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 ...

and his last game was against the same team on 19 February 1966. He had three spells as team captain, 1954–1956, 1957 and 1964–1965. He died at the age of 79 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

on 18 November 2007. In 2010, a statue of Shaw was erected at the

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

home of Sheffield United, to commemorate his service to the club.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Joe 1928 births People from Murton, County Durham Footballers from County Durham 2007 deaths English footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Upton Colliery F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players English Football League players English football managers York City F.C. managers Chesterfield F.C. managers English Football League managers English Football League representative players