Shane Long playing for Ireland against Serbia in 2008 |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Shane Patrick Long | ||
| Date of birth | 22 January 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Gortnahoe, North Tipperary, Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | West Bromwich Albion | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1994–2002 | St. Kevin | ||
| 2002–2004 | Saint Michaels | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004–2005 | Cork City | 1 | (0) |
| 2005–2011 | Reading | 174 | (46) |
| 2011– | West Bromwich Albion | 16 | (5) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006 | Republic of Ireland U21 | ||
| 2007– | Republic of Ireland | 23 | (6) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 December 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Shane Patrick Long (born 22 January 1987) is an Irish footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League team West Bromwich Albion and the Republic of Ireland national football team. With Ireland he was part of the team that secured qualification for UEFA Euro 2012.
Long began his career at Cork City. He later moved to Reading where, among other achievements, he scored three goals in ten substitute appearances during his team's Championship-winning 2005–06 campaign, guided his team into the Fourth round of the FA Cup by defeating Liverpool in a third round replay match in 2010, and later won a player of the season award. He signed for Premier League side West Bromwich Albion in 2011. One of his teammates at West Bromwich is his Ireland teammate Simon Cox.
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Long was born in Gortnahoe, County Tipperary, Ireland.[1] He was a talented hurler and appeared in two All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship (Under 18) semi-finals with Tipperary at Croke Park,[2] and was regarded as a pacey and promising forward.[3] Long was also playing football at this time, and started his career in the game with Tipperary club St Kevin's in 1994, joining Saint Michaels in 2002.
Long was discovered and brought to Cork City with a scholarship on 1 July 2004 by Pat Dolan. When ready, Long was called to the first team squad for the 2005 season when manager Dolan was replaced by Damien Richardson, and the new manager awarded him his senior League of Ireland début on 25 March 2005 as a substitute for Joe Gamble.[4] His only other appearance was again as a substitute in the Setanta Sports Cup on 2 May.[5] However, following Dolan's consultation with his brother, Reading coach Eamonn Dolan, Reading made bids for both Long and Kevin Doyle. Cork were forced to sell Doyle due to a contract clause, but the circumstances surrounding Long's transfer were not disclosed. Long signed as a Reading player on 7 June 2005.
In Reading's Championship-winning 2005–06 campaign, Long scored three goals in 10 substitute appearances,[6] making his first league start on 17 April 2006 in the 3–1 home victory against Stoke City. For the first season, he was mostly second choice in the pecking order behind fellow Irishman Kevin Doyle, Dave Kitson and Leroy Lita. He started all of the games in Reading's FA Cup campaign and scored one goal.[7]
On 4 July 2007, Long signed an improved four-year contract to keep him at Reading until the end of the 2010–11 season.[8]
On 16 March 2008, in a 2–1 defeat at Anfield against Liverpool Long was involved in an incident as to where he flung his shirt to the ground, citing frustration at his performance and frustration with the match official Andre Marriner, after being subbed by manager Steve Coppell.[9] In the post match interview, Steve Coppell made a stern point in that "It will not happen again." Long made a full apology on the official club website.[10]
His 2008-09 season ended happily after scoring an equaliser in a 1–1 draw at Southampton, before ending the season with a brace in a 2–0 victory at Norwich City.[11]
In 2010 FA Cup third round replay match against Liverpool, Long was fouled by Yossi Benayoun to win a 93rd minute penalty[12] as Liverpool led 1–0 at Anfield to bring the match into extra time.[13] Long then scored a glancing header in the 100th minute in front of the Anfield Kop[14] from a cross supplied by Gunarsson, which sent Reading into the Fourth round of the FA Cup to play at home against Burnley.[15][16]
On 30 January 2010 Long scored a crucial goal at home to strugglers Barnsley which gifted Reading all three points, in a 1–0 win for the Royals.[17] The following Saturday his good run of form continued with an opening goal which contributed to a 2–1 win away to Doncaster at the Keepmoat Stadium.[18] His goalscoring prowess saw no end and on 9 February 2010 he scored a brace in a 2–1 win at home to Plymouth, giving Reading their third consecutive league victory and Long's fourth goal in three games.[19]
However, on 13 February 2010 in an FA Cup fifth round match at home to West Bromwich Albion, Long was sent off for a careless lunge at West Brom Ivorian defender Abdoulaye Meite.[20] It was his second straight dismissable offence of the season, the first procured away to Derby County in a Championship match in November.[21] On 7 March 2010 in Reading's FA Cup Quarter Final against Aston Villa, Long scored a brace in the first half which saw Reading leading 2–0 at half time. However a hat-trick from Norwegian striker John Carew and a strike from Ashley Young in the second half saw Long's brace go to waste as Aston Villa booked themselves a place in the semi-finals.[22] On 2 May 2010, Long played his 150th game for Reading in the 4–1 Championship win over Preston North End at the Madejski Stadium.[23]
On 11 September 2010, Long won two penalties and converted the first in Reading's 3–0 win over Crystal Palace.[24]
On 4 November 2010 Shane Long signed a one year contract extension valid until 2012.[25]
On 18 December 2010, Long scored twice against Derby County which led to his best goal-scoring form of his life.[26] He followed up with a brace against Bristol City on Boxing Day.[27] On 3 January 2011, Long scored another brace to give Reading the three points against Burnley in a 2-1 victory.[28] On 8 January 2011, Long then hit the only goal in the FA Cup's third round encounter with West Bromwich Albion.[29]
After an impressive season for Reading, Long won the player of the season award, beating Jimmy Kebe and Jem Karacan.
Long scored two goals for Reading on 17 May 2011 in a 3-0 away win against Cardiff City in the second leg of the Championship Play-Off semi finals. One goal came from the penalty spot and the other a lob after a blocked clearance from Cardiff goalkeeper Stephen Bywater. Long received the Man of the Match award. Long finished the season with 28 goals in 58 matches for club and country; this being his best season in his career to date. After the play-off final defeat against Swansea, chairman John Madejski declared Long to be world class. "What is the value I would place on him? £20m."[30]
On 9 August 2011, Long signed for Premier League side West Bromwich Albion on a three-year deal, with a further year’s option.[31] Although the fee was undisclosed, it is believed to be £4.5m, with add-ons that could eventually rise to £6.5m, which would be a record fee for West Bromwich, surpassing the £4.7m paid for Spanish international midfielder Borja Valero from Real Mallorca in 2008.[32][33] On 12 August, he was handed the number 9 shirt. Long made his debut on 14 August 2011 in the league opener against Manchester United at home. He marked his debut by scoring an equalising goal that went past Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea. United won the match 2-1.[34] Long scored again in the fourth minute of his second match, against Chelsea on 20 August 2011, in what proved to be yet another 2-1 defeat. Long scored his third goal in the fifth minute against Sunderland, on 1 October which was currently his seventh game of the season. The match ended 2-2 with James Morrison also scoring on the fourth minute.[35] On 16 October 2011, Long was named man of the match in the Black Country derby, even though he did not score; the match ended 2-0 to West Brom with Chris Brunt scoring in the eighth minute and Peter Odemwingie scoring in the 76th minute.[36] Long suffered a chipped bone in his knee after a match against Aston Villa after a robust challenge by Alan Hutton and was ruled out for approximately six weeks. On the 19th of November, weeks before he was predicted injury free, he played 90 minutes against Bolton Wanderers F.C., a game which West Brom won 2-1, with Shane scoring what proved to be the winner with a header against a much more physical opponent in David Wheater. On the 3rd of December Long scored goal off a deflected shot in the last minutes of the West Brom game against QPR earning West Brom a draw by leveling the game at 1-1.
Long's form for Reading in the 2005–06 season earned him four Republic of Ireland U19 caps.[37] Due to injuries to his Reading team mate Kevin Doyle and Sunderland's Stephen Elliott,[38] he earned his first senior cap for the Republic of Ireland in their 2–1 win away to San Marino on 7 February 2007.[39]
When Long earned his second cap as a substitute against Slovakia on 28 March 2007 he became the first person to play both hurling and international football at Croke Park, having been part of the Tipperary team for the All-Ireland Minor semi-finals in 2003 and 2004.[40][41] Long scored his first international goal in a friendly 1–1 draw against Bolivia on 26 May 2007,[42] and followed this with a brace in Ireland's 4–0 win over Denmark on 22 August 2007. He was nominated as the Football Association of Ireland Young Player of the Year for 2007.[43][44]
In March 2011, Long was brought on early to replace the injured Kevin Doyle in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia in Dublin.[45] His performance was rewarded with a start in Ireland's next game against Uruguay in which Long scored the first of Ireland's goals with a header in a 2-3 loss.[46]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 26 May 2007 | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, USA | Bolivia | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 2. | 22 August 2007 | NRGi Park, Aarhus, Denmark | Denmark | 0–3 | 0-4 | Friendly |
| 3. | 22 August 2007 | NRGi Park, Aarhus, Denmark | Denmark | 0–4 | 0-4 | Friendly |
| 4. | 8 October 2010 | Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland | Russia | 2–3 | 2-3 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| 5. | 17 November 2010 | Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland | Norway | 1–0 | 1-2 | Friendly |
| 6. | 29 March 2011 | Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland | Uruguay | 1–1 | 2-3 | Friendly |
Statistics accurate as of 3 December 2011[47]
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2005–06 | Reading | Championship | 11 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 4 |
| 2006-07 | Premier League | 21 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 4 | |
| 2007-08 | 29 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 3 | ||
| 2008-09 | Championship | 39 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 9 | |
| 2009-10 | 31 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 9 | ||
| 2010-11 | 45 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 25 | ||
| 2011-12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reading Total | 177 | 46 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 201 | 54 | ||
| 2011–12 | West Brom | Premier League | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 5 |
| West Brom Total | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 5 | ||
| Career Total | 189 | 51 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 213 | 59 | ||
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