Damon is an English futsal coach with UEFA A and AFC Futsal Level One Licences – studied for in Spain and Australia. He began his futsal coaching career at the tender age of 21 and has valuable experience over the last 20 years that has seen him coach in England, Spain, Malta, Malaysia, Poland and Sweden. He’s also coached in the UEFA Futsal Champions League and the FIFA Futsal World Cup.

In addition to being a highly qualified futsal coach, Damon is owner of Futsal Camp UK, an annual Summer camp for children who want to learn English and play futsal.

Damon is also an ambassador for the mental health charity, Suicide Awareness & Prevention UK founded by his sister, Danielle, after the death of their step-dad Bryan.

Damon began his futsal journey as a student at Teesside University where he set up the university futsal club, Teesside University which also spawned Middlesbrough Futsal Club.

He ran the two clubs side by side, winning the British University Championship on three occasions with two semi final appearances and a trophy win (the second tier competition) in six successful years. Middlesbrough became one of the leading clubs in England, winning the FA Futsal League North in 2009 and reaching the final playoffs on a regular basis while leading the way off the court, with the fantastic backing of Red Faction.

Spanish adventure

Damon moved to Spain to study futsal and embarked on a three year period that would change his career. Having taken the “monitor” and UEFA B, Damon joined LNFS Second Division club, Hospitalet Bellsport as Under-19s B coach before moving to LNFS side Industrias Garcia to work alongside Edu Blanco with the under-14s.

Damon completed his UEFA A – the highest qualification of any British futsal coach and then a season in the highly professional, competitive environment of a club in the LNFS gave him the biggest education of his early career. The only thing standing between Industrias Santa Coloma and silverware was the phenomenal FC Barcelona, dominant at all age groups.

From Barcelona to Birkenhead

In Summer 2016, Tranmere Rovers approached Damon to head up their futsal project and he spent two years in the North West, building a successful futsal academy and getting Tranmere into the FA Futsal Super League before being made redundant with a restructure of the club.

When one door closes, another opens

This rang true as shortly after leaving his role at Tranmere Damon was offered a job in Malta as technical director at Swieqi United. After six months, he was promoted to head coach but after a difficult start to season 2019-2020 Shaw and Swieqi mutually agreed to part ways. Once again, Shaw wasn’t out the game long and accepted an offer to coach in Malaysia for the 2020 season, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Back to the court

In 2021, Damon signed a 3 year contract with Śląsk Wrocław in the Polish third tier, with a long-term goal of reaching the Ekstraklase the motivation for dropping down 2 divisions. That experience turned sour when the club were unable to pay players and the coach and Damon had to leave. After this experience, it was unsure if he would return to coach. However, several offers from around the World led to a decision to coach in the Swedish Futsal League with Skoftebyns and after the club's best ever start, the dream job came calling and it was something that the well-travelled coach couldn't turn down - the chance to coach the legendary Solomon Islands national team as they prepared to qualify for a 5th World Cup.

It came down to the wire, but hosts New Zealand edged past the Kurukuru, beating Shaw's side 4-2 to take their place at the FIFA Futsal World Cup. Damon then got the opportunity to work in Australia as Futsal Development Manager for Northern NSW Football, based in Newcastle, with a blank slate to grow futsal in the region.

Coach education

Before moving abroad, Damon was an FA Futsal tutor and continues to help develop futsal coaches from afar through mentoring and sharing. Damon has also presented at several workshops over the last few years, both online and in person and is a certified tutor for Football Australia as part of his current role.