Graham Shaw (footballer)
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| Graham Shaw | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Graham Paul Shaw | |
| Date of birth | June 07, 1967 (age 39) | |
| Place of birth | Newcastle-under-Lyme, England | |
| Height | 5'8" | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1983-1985 | Stoke City | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1985-1989 1989-1992 1992-1995 1994 1995-1996 |
Stoke City Preston North End Stoke City Plymouth Argyle (Loan) Rochdale Total |
99 (18) 121 (29) 38 (5) 6 (0) 22 286 (52) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Graham Shaw was an English footballer who played in the English football league between 1985 and 1996.
Contents |
[edit] Early days at Stoke
Born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire on 7 June 1967 Graham first signed professional terms for Stoke City at the age of 18 in June 1985 making him new City manager Mick Mills first signing for the club. A striker by trade Graham soon earned a reputation as an exciting young forward who although slightly built had excellent ball skills and electrifying pace and in four years with the club played 95(22) games scoring 23 goals.In July 1989 though Preston North End boss John McGrath came in with an offer of £70,000 which to many City fans surprise was, accepted.
[edit] The move to Preston
Graham's time at Deepdale was a mixed affair however with him brilliant one game and then extremely disappointing the next.Much of this can however be put down to injuries and the fact that he never really had a regular or good enough strike partner.His first season with the club though started like a house on fire with him scoring 6 goals in his first 4 games including a League cup hat-trick against Tranmere Rovers.The rest of the season was a disappointment though with Graham picking up an injury a few games later against Bristol Rovers and adding only 5 more goals to his early season burst.
His next two seasons with the club were more consistent with Graham missing only a few games and scoring 15 goals in 1990-91 and 17 in 1991-92. Surprisingly though Graham was offered the chance to return to Stoke on the eve of the 1992-93 season.With North End boss Les Chapman given funds to strengthen his squad after 2 disappointing seasons in which the club only just avoided relegation Graham was sold to Stoke as part payment for bringing Tony Ellis back to Preston.In all Graham played 136(8) games for Preston scoring 42 goals.
[edit] Back at Stoke
Graham's second spell at Stoke was however a huge disappointment.His persistent back injury limited his appearances and despite showing early promise he played only 29(19) games in nearly 3 seasons scoring just 6 goals. A spell on loan at Plymouth Argyle at the beginning of the 1994-95 also proved fruitless with Graham failing to register a goal in 6 games.
[edit] Rochdale
In March 1995 though Rochdale offered him a chance and signed him on a free transfer. In little over a season Graham played 15(13) games for The Dale scoring just 2 goals but due to his troublesome back and lack of luck in front of goal he was released in May 1996 a month before his 29th birthday.During his career Graham played 281(62) first team games for his various clubs scoring 73 goals.
[edit] After football
After a short spell at non-league Leek Town Graham found himself on the football scrapheap.With no chance of a comeback due to his back problems he went to the PFA for help.Graham did consider having a shot at coaching but after much deliberation decided to go to Staffordshire University and study criminal law. After 6 years of hard work,Graham with the help of the PFA's education fund passed his final exams to become a fully qualified criminal lawyer, a profession he now practices for a firm in Stoke-on-Trent where he is now the head of the criminal department.
