- Former Aston Villa striker Gary Shaw died on September 16 at the age of 63
- Shaw won the First Division, European Cup and European Super Cup with Villa
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A collection of medals and trophies won by Aston Villa legend Gary Shaw has reportedly been put up for auction less that three months after his death.
Shaw passed away on September 16 at the age of 63.
The former striker was mourned by thousands of Villa fans, who remembered him fondly from his decade at the club in the 1970s and 80s.
Shaw came through the youth ranks at his boyhood club before scoring 79 goals in 213 first-team games.
Those goals helped Shaw win the English First Division title in 1981, as well as the European Cup and European Super Cup in the following year.
According to The Telegraph, the collection that has been put up for auction includes Shaw’s European Cup medal, which was presented to him after Villa’s famous 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in Rotterdam.
The collection is said to also include his PFA Young Player of the Year trophy from 1981 and comes with an overall guide price of £50,000.
Shaw – who never married and did not have any children – sold his footballing silverware six years ago to a private buyer.
Upon selling, Shaw apparently made it clear that he wanted his items to be kept together and not be re-sold separately.
This wish is being respected by the current seller after the collection was put back on the market by an anonymous party via auctioneer Mullock Jones, based in Shropshire.
Ben Jones, the auctioneer who has been put in charge of the collection, told The Telegraph: ‘There will always be opinion around whether or not an item or items should be sold.
‘That is to be expected, but we always say that the fairest way to sell is at auction.
‘It could possibly have been more valuable to have broken the collection up and sold the medals and trophy as individual items, but the seller agreed to follow the wishes of Gary and keep it together in the hope it can be appreciated and cherished as a piece of football history.
‘Most sellers and buyers of high-value collections such as this prefer to remain anonymous and it could be for a number of reasons. We haven’t contacted Aston Villa about the auction yet, but it is open to everybody – including the club and private individuals.’
Former Villa striker Stan Collymore has urged the club to bid on the collection so that they can be displayed to fans at Villa Park.
Collymore tweeted earlier this week: ‘No better starting point to create a club museum worthy of our history than to buy a club legend’s medals back, for future Villans to know the name of Gary Shaw, and the team he played with.
‘Those medals deserve to be at Villa Park, B6.’
A bid of £30,000 is already on the table but the live online auction is not due to start until December 4.
