Name: Richard Shaw Born:
Height:
Weight:
Position: Outside-Left
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Representative Honours: Ireland: 1 Amateur Cap (1928), Junior; North of Ireland Combination Representative.
Club Honours: (with St Nicholas) North of Ireland Combination Third Division Champion 1926/27; (with Willowfield) Irish Cup Winner 1927/28; Irish Intermediate League Champion 1927/28; Irish Intermediate Cup Winner 1927/28; Steel & Sons Cup Winner 1927/28.
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Club Career:
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Teams
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Seasons
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Signed
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Fee
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League
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FA.Cup
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Other
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St
Nicholas
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-
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-
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Amateur
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(North of Ireland Combination)
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Willowfield
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27/28-28/29
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c/s-27
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Amateur
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(Intermediate League)
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Ballymena
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28/29
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Sep-28
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Amateur
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21/3
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4/1
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3/0
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Willowfield
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29/30
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Aug-29
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Amateur
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(Intermediate League)
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Ballymena
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30/31
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Aug-30
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-
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10/3
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2/1
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3/0
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TOTALS
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-
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£-
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36/6
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6/2
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6/0
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Biography:
Dick Shaw had the honour of becoming the first Ballymena player to secure a senior representative honour. At the time of the amateur international match against England in November 1928 the County Antrim team had been only a matter of months in senior football, and Shaw just a few weeks.
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Ballymena, the Irish League's "babes", surprisingly coaxed Shaw from Willowfield, the giants of the intermediate scene, early in their debut 1928/29 season. A light-weight outside-left, "fleet of foot with good control [who could] centre the ball with the best", Shaw's early performances made him hard to ignore for the Amateur Ireland selectors.
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Prior to arriving at Ballymena Shaw had already tasted significant success. While with St Nicholas in 1926/27 he was selected for the North of Ireland Combination's representative match against the Scottish Western League and the same season his club finished as the Combination's Third Division champions.
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The following year Shaw was part of the Willowfield side that shocked Irish football by winning the Irish Cup final against Larne. That same season they also claimed the Intermediate League, Intermediate Cup and Steel Cup as well as finishing as runners-up in the McElroy Cup.
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Perhaps lacking the "weight to stand a big amount of buffeting" Shaw lasted only a short time in the Ballymena first eleven, losing his place to ex-Scotland international Joe Cassidy and so missing out on another Irish Cup winner's medal.
Shaw then returned to Willowfield for the 1929/30 season, and was selected for the Ireland Junior team that drew 2-2 with Scotland at Grosvenor Park. He re-signed for Ballymena in August 1930, but once again struggled to hold down a regular starting place and again missed out on an Irish Cup final appearance as Ballymena lost to Linfield in their third successive appearance in the show-piece match.
Shaw's Irish League career appears to have been brought to a close in 1931 as he was not retained by Ballymena.
Shaw then returned to Willowfield for the 1929/30 season, and was selected for the Ireland Junior team that drew 2-2 with Scotland at Grosvenor Park. He re-signed for Ballymena in August 1930, but once again struggled to hold down a regular starting place and again missed out on an Irish Cup final appearance as Ballymena lost to Linfield in their third successive appearance in the show-piece match.
Shaw's Irish League career appears to have been brought to a close in 1931 as he was not retained by Ballymena.
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Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
10-11-1928 England H L 0-2
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Summary: 1/0. Won 0, Drew 0, Lost 1.
Photo and details from ISN article kindly forwarded by Jim Murphy.
Ballymena details from "Neil Coleman - The Official History of Ballymena United FC."
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