Shaw began his career with St Mirren but left the club in June 1991 for Partick Thistle when he and Mark McWalter were exchanged for Chic Charnley and David Elliot.
[1] He joined Dundee along with fellow Thistle player Gerry Britton in January 1994 for a combined fee of £250,000, but the club were relegated to the First Division at the end of the season.
After three years in the second tier, which also included a Scottish League Cup final defeat to Aberdeen in 1995, Shaw returned to the Premier Division in 1997 with Dunfermline Athletic.
[2] He later had spells at Ross County, Partick Thistle for a second time, Clydebank, Stranraer, Forfar Athletic and Arbroath before dropping out of the Scottish Football League to play for Junior sides Shettleston and Cumbernauld United.
Shaw returned to Forfar Athletic under manager Ray Farningham, initially serving as his assistant before succeeding him in the role.