Yahoo News I lifted the European Cup thanks to 'humble' Aston Villa hero Gary Shaw
As Aston Villa prepare for their first foray back into Europe's elite competition since the days of Gary Shaw - the only Birmingham born player to feature in claret and blue against Bayern Munich in the final in 1982 - the club are mourning the tragic loss of one of their European Cup heroes at the age of just 63.
Solihull-born Gary was Villa through and through, and remained a regular at Villa Park long after his premature retirement, forced by injury.
Gary and Patrick Whelan were neighbours in Castle Bromwich and, despite the 15-year age gap, they became friends. With Patrick being the older of the two and being able to drive, he'd often transport Gary to and from Villa games if the forward knew he was going to have a post-match pint.
"He used to live next door to us," Patrick, who is now 78, told BirminghamLive. "I used to run him about, because he'd often be running late for matches. He did drive, but invariably if he knew he might have a drink after the game, he was very aware of that. I had an SLK convertible, and he borrowed it to go to his sister's wedding. In those days, the stars didn't have cars.
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"We were really close pals, I was very young for my age. He was a great kid. We were good mates for a long time. We were neighbours and then we got to know each other pretty well. His dad lived just around the corner and we used to and see him a lot. They were a lovely family altogether."
When the pair were in their teens, the Shaw family were the victims of a burglary. This was before Gary had enjoyed his successes in England and in Europe with Villa, but nevertheless as a talented youngster coming through the ranks he'd accumulated plenty of silverware, which the thieves helped themselves to. Patrick took off in pursuit and tracked the perpetrators down.
"He had a break in of his house, and he had all his trophies and medals nicked," Patrick recalled. "He had loads of stuff. It was before he won the European Cup, he was a real young kid. Me and one of the neighbours went after them. They'd dropped most of the stuff from the house. When the police came they found loads of it."
In the years that followed, Shaw's career had hit new heights. Still only 21 at the time of the European Cup run to the final, where Munich awaited in Rotterdam, Shaw was permitted a day with the famous trophy - an allowance which surely wouldn't be afforded in the modern day - to share and enjoy with friends and family.
"When he brought that cup round, we didn't know anything about it," Patrick explained. "We'd watched him win it, of course, and the next day he just turned up and said 'I've got this for the day, I'm going to go around and do the family but you're the first ones - do you want a couple of photos?' How many people are going to get that opportunity? You couldn't get that now. There'd be more security around that cup now than Donald Trump!
"When he was playing in some of the big games to get to the final, he'd come round and tell us about the games and the players he was up against - 'he was a dirty so and so!' - we had a bit of an inside story to the European Cup.
"Then he had the problem with his knees. Villa hadn't got the insurance cover to pay for his knee surgery. He was gutted, because he loved the Villa, absolutely loved them. In the end, the FA came good and they paid for him to have all his surgery."
The close ties between the pair was despite their football allegiances, for Patrick comes from a family of avid Birmingham City supporters. The Whelans would head down - and still do - to St Andrew's, where they would enjoy hospitality in their box, accompanied occasionally by Gary, whose attempts to conceal his claret and blue themed identity often proved futile.
"We're Bluenoses all the way through," Patrick explained. "My daughter has moved to America but has never lost her love for the Blues. She was a mascot every year on her birthday, up until she was 16. Gary used to come down to the box, wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap, a scarf around his neck, but within five minutes the Blues fans were banging on the window! He was a lover, not a fighter, and such a laugh.
"I had a pub in the city centre, in Digbeth, called the Mercat, which was a mad house. Gary used to come in with his pals and have a drink. One day, there were a couple of drinks too many and they 'blue nosed' him with the pool cue! We had to wash him down. Great stories. We'd have a few laughs. He used to come in and have a few drinks and something to eat.
"After football, he started working for Ansells Brewery as a rep. That's when we got to meet up again, because he was working for Carlsberg and we were a Carlsberg pub. You pass away from each other, and you move on. Lo and behold, about three years ago we were thinking about selling our apartment in the city, and he turned up as the buyer! It's a small world."
"He was humble, he was such a caring young man," Patrick adds. "His outlook on life was incredible. He'd do anything for you. We were really close. A bromance, I suppose they'd call it nowadays. He was one of the nicest people I've ever met."
