Biography
Young centre back Richard Shaw spent a month on loan at Hull City in December 1989 and January 1990 as new manager Stan Ternent sought to turn around a squad that had performed poorly in Colin Appleton’s short second term in charge. Shaw’s four starts yielded three festive wins and a January 1-4 thumping at Bournemouth.
Richard Edward Shaw was born in Brentford, West London and came through the youth ranks at Crystal Palace in the mid-1980s. He made his debut for the Eagles in a Division Two match against Reading in September 1987, a week after his 19th birthday., and added three more senior appearances that season. In the 1988/89 season Palace won promotion to the top flight and Shaw made 17 further appearances as his career started to develop. Richard was given a run of games by Palace at full back during September and October 1989 and was still part of the first team squad when City borrowed him for a month. The spell at Boothferry Park benefitted Shaw greatly and when he returned to Selhurst Park he made the left back shirt his own for the remainder of the season as Palace avoided relegation and reached the FA Cup Final – Shaw started the Fifth Round win against Rochdale, the Sixth Round victory at Cambridge and the tumultuous 4-3 semi-final win against Liverpool at Villa Park. He then played in both the drawn Final in which Ian Wright came off the bench to twice rescue to Eagles and secure a 3-3 draw, and the replay that Palace narrowly lost 0-1.
Shaw was now a first team fixture at Palace and made 50 appearances in all competitions during the 1990/91 as they finished third in the First Division and won the Full Members’ Cup with in April 1991 a 4-1 win over Everton at Wembley – Richard also scored his first senior goal in a September 1990 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest. Injury kept him out of the team for much of the 1991/92 season but he returned to fitness and played regularly for the next two seasons as Palace were relegated then promoted at the first attempt. In the 1994/95 season Palace were again relegated at the same time as reaching both the League Cup semi-final and the FA Cup semi-final, which Palace lost to Liverpool and Manchester United respectively. In January 1995 it was Shaw that was on the receiving end of a kick from Eric Cantona that led to the Frenchman’s dismissal and subsequent infamous kung-fu style lunge at a mouthy Crystal Palace fan in the stands.
Back in the second tier, Shaw started the 1995/96 at Palace but in November 1995 he joined Coventry City for a £1 million fee, having made 268 appearances and scored 3 goals for the South London side. Returning to the Premier League, Shaw served Coventry in the top flight for six seasons until their relegation in 2001, then stuck around for another five seasons in the second tier. When he left Coventry in the 2006 close season he had made 362 appearances and scored once for the Sky Blues. Two seasons at League One side Millwall culminated in the end of his playing career, in which he made a tantalising 699 appearances and scored 4 goals across 21 seasons – a remarkable effort.
In October 2007, while a senior player at Millwall, Shaw was briefly appointed caretaker manager when Willie Donachie was dismissed. The Lions’ newly appointed boss Kenny Jackett relieved Shaw of his playing duties and appointed him to the coaching staff, a role he fulfilled for five years. In 2012 he was appointed assistant manager at Coventry City, who were now plying their trade in League One. Within a few weeks another sacking saw Shaw appointed caretaker manager, but within another four months he was back at Crystal Palace, joining the Under-23s’ coaching staff. In October 2019 Richard left Palace and in January 2021 he joined the Under-21s coaching staff at Watford. In the summer of 2023, while still working for Watford, Shaw joined the coaching staff for Canadian international mens’ team during the CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign.
In October 1995 Shaw was called up for the England senior squad by manager Terry Venables, though he was not chosen to play and never won an England cap.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 11 September 1968, Brentford
Hull City First Game: 26 December 1989, Wolverhampton Wanderers A (Division Two), 21 years, 106 days old
Hull City Final Game: 13 January 1990, Bournemouth A (Division Two), 21 years, 124 days old
Clubs
Crystal Palace (1985-1995), Hull City (1989-1990, loan), Coventry City (1995-2006), Millwall (2006-2008)
Hull City Record
Career: 4 apps, 0 goals
Richard Shaw| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989/90 | 4 (0) | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |