By Phil Tooley
The only outfield 'newcomer' to Saltergate this summer has been 32 year-old Paul Shaw, an experienced frontman with close on 400 first team appearances and 80-odd goals under his belt. And for good measure, he's a really nice bloke as well who's thoroughly enjoyed his time in the Beautiful Game.
Paul began as a youngster with Arsenal, spending time out on loan at a number of Clubs whilst he was contracted to the 
Highbury Club, before joining this afternoon's opponents Millwall in 1997. His most successful spell came at Gillingham, whom he helped to three creditable mid-table finishes in The Championship. His reign at Priestfield was obviously impressive, he's had the honour of having one of the Conference Rooms at the Stadium named after him, so we can all look forward to visiting the Paul Shaw Suite when we play in Kent later in the season!
So how did he come to the attention of the Highbury hierarchy? "Through Schools football, I was brought up at Maidenhead near Reading and I went to Arsenal at 14 or 15 and joined them full-time when I was 16 and I had a good time there, it was a good grounding."
He couldn't have had better role models to work with, the likes of Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp, John Hartson and Kevin Campbell were all strikers at The Gunners during his time there, and as for the other end of the park, Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Bould and Winterburn must have been decent to play against on the training ground. Paul recognises the part players like that played in his development, "The big thing about playing at a Club like that is that you're learning from the very best, you're with the best day in, day out. You saw how they did things and it obviously rubs off on you, it's not possible for something not to rub off on you, so from an early age through to my early 20's, it had a big, positive effect on my career."
His debut for the first team came in 1994-95 in a 2-2 draw at Forest, "I was only on the pitch for a few minutes, maybe three 
or four minutes after coming on as sub, I managed to touch the ball a couple of times and that was it, but in truth, the game passed me by a bit and I was a little bit in awe of the whole thing during my time on the pitch. However it was the start of a career that I've enjoyed every minute of."
Inevitably, Paul bulked his experience out in spells away from London, going out on loan on three occasions, "That's another part of growing up, it's OK going through the youth team and reserve team football, but the reserves only really any good for you when you're 17 or 18, once you go past that, it's important that you play League football and I went out to Burnley, Cardiff City and Peterborough United and learned my trade with them, they were very important times for me and I enjoyed my time at all of those clubs."
Back at Arsenal, he notched up a few more appearances and even managed a couple of goals, "It was weird when I came back and played a few games for Arsenal because the two goals I scored were both against Southampton, one at home and one away, very strange, but they were obviously the highlights of my time at Arsenal. In a way, you hope you're going to get a regular spot but at a Club like Arsenal, if you're honest, it's going to be unlikely, so the important thing was the grounding and what I learned there."
On to Millwall in 1997 where, according to our new boy, "It was completely different, coming from a fringe position into being a first team regular, it was much needed, it's easy to forget what real football's all about. Going to a Club like Millwall and playing in what was Division Two, the equivalent to League One now, it was so important for me and you grow up very quickly, regular competitive men's football, I had a really enjoyable time there, I had three years there and every minute was great."
Paul reached double figures in the scoring charts in his first two seasons at The Den, but after that, he began to see the end of his time there, "It was disappointing after two seasons as a regular to sit on the bench for a lot of games in my third season there, new players had been brought in and at that time I didn't really see eye to eye with the Manager, Keith Stevens, though these things happen of course in football, so it was the right time for me to move on and I had no regrets when I did move on to Gillingham, it was something I needed to do at the time."
And it was a very successful for the striker, who cost the Kentish outfit £450,000, "To date, my time at Gillingham was my most enjoyable spell in the game, I went there in the summer after they'd won promotion and I was there for three and a half years, all in the Championship and we progressed every year, albeit slightly, we finished in 13th then 12th and then 11th which was the Club's highest ever position in the League. For a Club like Gillingham to stay in that Division comfortably for that time was a really great achievement."
One of those quirks of football occurred in his time at Priestfield, Gilligham's first game with Arsenal for 36 years and only the fourth ever meeting between the two clubs. With Henry, Adams, Wiltord, Pires, Edu, Campbell & Dixon in opposition it was always going to be tough, "The final score made it look like we took a battering, 5-2 to Arsenal, but it was 2-2 with 20 minutes to go and we gave a good account of ourselves. It was at Highbury so it was good for me to go back there, I saw a lot of faces I'd not seen for a long time and I really did enjoy it, one of the highlights of my time at Gillingham. It was a great time there, I've got nothing other than nice words to say about the whole club, it was a bit like Chesterfield in a way, a small club but they had their time in the Championship and they worked really hard to stay there, it was good to be part of that."
Then on to the home of the surplus striker, Sheffield United. "It was a frustrating time, I did go up there with lots of expectations, I was joining a big club that at the time were third or fourth in the Championship and promotion looked a good bet but I didn't really play enough games but one comfort is that I'm not the only forward at Bramall Lane that's happened to in the last few years and it's just another part of my experience. I enjoyed my time at the Sheffield United, I just wish I'd played more games, but I needed to move on. I scored on my debut there against West Ham and was so looking forward to playing at a big club with a great chance of getting in the Premiership, but it didn't work out on the football side, my time there was good and in a funny way, from a family point of view, it's the best move I've made because we love living up in this part of the World."
However, he did manage at least one memorable game, back in the South East, "That was when I was given a chance, I played around 15 games on the trot, other players were injured and it just happened that in that run we played Gillingham and going back to Priestfield and scoring a couple of goals there was good for me, but whether it was Gillingham or anyone else, it didn't matter, it was what I needed at the time, a run in the team and a few goals."
Last season of course, we saw Paul play against us, for his new Club, Rotherham United. "That was a funny sort of game, it was close but the goals that Chesterfield scored that day were superb, unbelievable, all four were great goals that meant a 4-0 hammering for Rotherham. My time at the end of the season at Rotherham was also very enjoyable, we were struggling to avoid relegation and to stay up was a good achievement."
Onto Saltergate, how's his time up front with Colin Larkin shaping up? "It's good to play alongside Larks, he's quick, likes getting behind the defence, he can finish, so I'm enjoying my link up with him but there are four strikers here seeking just two places and I'm sure the Manager will use all of use throughout the season, it's just down to whoever's got the shirts at the time to keep their place."
Finally, after his debut goal at Bournemouth, does he still feel confident that his expectations for a successful season are based on solid foundations? "The important thing is that we've beaten Bournemouth comfortably but it's just one game. It's important to get a good start but we need to build on it. I've every confidence in the team being able to get into the top six, but we need to escape any significant injuries, we've not got a huge quad, but if we stick together as a Club, I'm sure we can have a good season."
Originally used in Millwall programme article, 12th August 2006
