Joe Shaw (footballer born 1883)

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Joe Shaw (footballer born 1883) bigraphy, stories - English footballer and manager

Joe Shaw (footballer born 1883) : biography

May 7, 1883 – September 1963

Joseph Ebenezer "Joe" Shaw (May 7, 1883 – September 1963) was an English football player and coach.

Born in Bury, Lancashire, Shaw first played for 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 sixth place in 1908-09, Woolwich Arsenal soon found themselves in trouble, and were relegated in 1912-13.

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 1933-34 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.

Shaw remained at Arsenal through the rest of the 1930s and during the Second World War. After the war ended, he spent a brief period as a coach at Chelsea, but returned to Arsenal to become assistant manager to Tom Whittaker in 1947. He later served 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.