Richard Shaw

Club

Shaw started his career at Crystal Palace, coming up through their youth system. He enjoyed a brief loan spell to Hull City before becoming a major part of the first team, playing in the 1990 FA Cup final. Crystal Palace were a yo-yo-club at the time after a promising start to the 1990s, where they also finished third in the league a year after reaching the FA Cup final. They were relegated in 1993, promoted in 1994 and relegated again in 1995, with Shaw being established as a regular player by the time they were in this period of instability. They also reached a further two League Cup semi-finals and an FA Cup semi-final in the five seasons which followed their FA Cup final appearance. One of his more infamous moments in a Palace shirt came in January 1995, during the Eagles' home fixture against Manchester United. United midfielder Eric Cantona attempted to get on the end of a long clearance by Peter Schmeichel and was obstructed by Shaw, who had very effectively marked him out of the game. The Frenchman retaliated by kicking Shaw and was sent off. On his way from the pitch Cantona launched a 'kung-fu' style kick against a Crystal Palace fan, Matthew Simmons, followed by a series of punches. The event has become a famous part of English football's history for the wrong reasons. Despite Shaw's best efforts throughout the season (for which he was named "Player of the Year"), Palace were relegated back to Division One. They had reached the semi-finals of both…

In October 2007, while still a player, Shaw was appointed caretaker manager of Millwall after the sacking of Willie Donachie. The club appointed Kenny Jackett as manager on 6 November 2007, after which Shaw played very little. Approaching his 40th birthday, he retired at the end of the 2007–08 season and took up a coaching role with the South London club. Prior to the start of the 2012–13 season, Shaw left Millwall to take up the assistant manager's position at his previous club Coventry City, working under his former Crystal Palace teammate Andy Thorn. The Midlands side had removed their previous assistant manager Steve Harrison following the club's relegation from the Championship. After the club drew their opening three games of the League One season, Thorn was sacked and Shaw was appointed caretaker manager, working alongside first-team coach Lee Carsley. His first game in charge saw Coventry defeat local rivals Birmingham City 3–2 in the League Cup. At this time Shaw succeeded in reaching the final shortlist for the permanent manager's post alongside Mark Robins and Paul Ince. Shaw managed five further Coventry matches, winning a Football League Trophy tie against Burton Albion on penalties, but losing four consecutive league games. On 19 September, the day after the last of those matches, a 4–1 defeat at recently promoted Shrewsbury Town, Robins was appointed permanent manager of Coventry. Shaw returned to his position of assistant manager, but Steve Taylor, Robins's…

Source: Richard Shaw at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

Crystal Palace

Full Members' Cup: 1990–91 FA Cup runner-up: 1989–90 Individual

Crystal Palace Young Player of the Year: 1986 Crystal Palace Player of the Year: 1994–95 Coventry City Player of the Year: 1998–99, 2001–02 Coventry City Hall of Fame Millwall Player of the Year 2006–07