Shane Ferguson

Shane Ferguson

With Birmingham City in 2013 pre-season
Personal information
Full nameShane Kevin Ferguson[1]
Date of birth12 July 1991
Place of birthDerry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Playing positionLeft back / left winger
Club information
Current team
Rangers
(on loan from Newcastle United)
Youth career
2001–2007Derry City
2007–2009Newcastle United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2009–Newcastle United23(0)
2013→ Birmingham City (loan)11(1)
2013–2014→ Birmingham City (loan)18(0)
2015–→ Rangers (loan)0(0)
National team‡
2007–2008Northern Ireland U178(0)
2008–2009Northern Ireland U1916(3)
2008–2012Northern Ireland U2111(0)
2009Northern Ireland B1(0)
2009–Northern Ireland18(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:30, 4 February 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 08:30, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

Shane Kevin Ferguson (born 12 July 1991) is a Northern Irish footballer who is currently on loan at Scottish Championship club Rangers from the English Premier League club Newcastle United. He previously spent two spells on loan to Birmingham City of the English Championship. Ferguson also plays for the Northern Ireland national team. He is capable of playing anywhere on the left flank as a full back or winger.

Early life

Born in Derry, County Londonderry, Ferguson began playing youth football for his hometown club, Maiden City Academy, and Gaelic football for Derry GAA.[3] After finishing his GCSEs at St Mary's High School, he moved to England where he was offered a scholarship at the Newcastle United Academy.

Club career

Newcastle United

Ferguson joined the Newcastle United youth system in July 2007.[4] In June 2009, he signed a new three-year contract.[5]

Ferguson made his first team debut at left back on 25 August 2010, in a League Cup tie away at Accrington Stanley.[6] He then played in the next round of the League Cup, on 22 September, away at Chelsea and he assisted in the first goal in the 4–3 win.[7] He made his Premier League debut on 5 January 2011 against West Ham United as a second half substitute.[8] He made his first Premier League start against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 2 April 2011.[9] Ferguson signed a new five-year contract on 27 May 2011, having made a good impression in the final part of the season.[10]

A lengthy lay off due to a pre-season ankle ligament injury sustained against Darlington meant the young full back was unable to travel with the first team to a pre-season tournament in the United States.[11] After appearing in the League Cup second round against Nottingham Forest, he made his first Premier League appearance on 10 December 2011, as a late substitute for Davide Santon.

In the early months of the 2012–13 season Ferguson assisted a number of goals for strikers Demba Ba and Papiss Cissé with some quality crosses from the left wing.

Loans to Birmingham City

In late February 2013, Ferguson joined Championship club Birmingham City on loan until 1 April.[12] He scored his first goal for the club, and his first senior competitive goal, with a free kick from just outside the penalty area, to complete Birmingham's 4–0 away win against Crystal Palace on 29 March.[13] His loan was extended until the end of the season,[14] and he made 11 appearances before returning to Newcastle.

In July 2013, Ferguson rejoined Birmingham on loan for the season.[15] He played regularly at the start of the season, but fell out of favour, and appeared only three times in the last three months of the season after the arrival of Liverpool's Jordon Ibe on loan.[16]

Having made no first-team appearances in the first half of 2014–15, he was one of five Newcastle players to join Scottish Championship club Rangers on loan on 2 February 2015.[17]

International career

Ferguson has been capped for the Northern Ireland national team at various youth levels. He made his senior debut when he came on as a substitute in a 3–0 friendly defeat to Italy on 6 June 2009.[18] He was called up for the 2011 U21 European Championship qualifier against Germany on 13 November but did not leave the bench. Simultaneously, he had also been a regular in the U-19 squad in their bid to qualify for the 2010 European Championships and helped them to a place in the elite round.[19] He played all three matches of that round, but Northern Ireland failed to win any of the games and finished at the bottom of their group.[20]

In May 2011 it was reported that Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington believed that Ferguson would switch his allegiance to the Republic of Ireland after he failed to reply to telephone calls.[21] In the months that followed, Ferguson did not comment on his future at international level. However, under-21 coach Steve Beaglehole later stated that he believed Ferguson never attempted to switch allegiances despite failing to respond to Worthington's calls[22] as he had started in all the 2013 European Championship qualifiers from September onwards. In November, Ferguson ended the speculation by publicly committing his international future to Northern Ireland. On 20 February 2012 Ferguson was included in Michael O'Neill's first squad following his appointment as the Northern Ireland manager.[23][24]

Ferguson scored his first goal for Northern Ireland in an international friendly versus Finland on 15 August 2012. A year later, he produced what O'Neill called "90 minutes of the really highest quality" as Northern Ireland beat Russia in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.[25]

Career statistics

Club

As of 2 February 2015
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Newcastle United 2009–10[26] Championship 000000—00
2010–11[27] Premier League 700020—90
2011–12[28] Premier League 701010—90
2012–13[29] Premier League 9000104[lower-alpha 1]0140
2014–15[30] Premier League 000000—00
Total 230104040320
Birmingham City (loan) 2012–13[29] Championship 1110000—111
2013–14[16] Championship 1802030—230
Total 2912030—341
Rangers (loan) 2014–15[30] Scottish Championship 0000——00
Career total 521307040661
  1. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 14 October 2014[31][32]
National team Year Apps Goals
Northern Ireland 2009 1 0
2012 5 1
2013 7 0
2014 5 0
Total 18 1

References

  1. ↑ "Clubs submit retained and released lists". Premier League. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  2. ↑ "Player profile: Shane Ferguson". Premier League. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Douglas, Mark (10 October 2010). "Shane Ferguson reveals his tough side". Evening Chronicle (Newcastle upon Tyne). Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Shane Ferguson". Newcastle United F.C. Archived from the original on 12 September 2010.
  5. ↑ "Toon starlet signed new deal". Shields Gazette. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "Accrington Stanley 2 – NUFC 3". Newcastle United F.C. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  7. ↑ Dawkes, Phil (22 September 2010). "Chelsea 3–4 Newcastle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  8. ↑ Chowdhury, Saj (5 January 2011). "Newcastle v West Ham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  9. ↑ Chowdhury, Saj (2 April 2011). "Newcastle v Wolverhampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  10. ↑ "Shane Ferguson signs a five-year deal at Newcastle". The Journal (Newcastle). 27 May 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  11. ↑ "Shane Ferguson could miss start of season". Daily Mirror. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  12. ↑ Walker, Andy (28 February 2013). "Fergie signs". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  13. ↑ King, Dan (29 March 2013). "Loan Watch: Fergie Storms The Palace". Newcastle United F.C. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  14. ↑ "Birmingham City: Newcastle's Shane Ferguson extends loan deal". BBC Sport. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "More Fergie time at Blues". Birmingham City F.C. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Games played by Shane Ferguson in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  17. ↑ "Rangers sign five Newcastle players on loan on deadline day". BBC Sport. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "Italy 3–0 Northern Ireland". BBC Sport. 6 June 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  19. ↑ Euro goals for Toon Teens
  20. ↑ "U19s complete qualifiers". Irish Football Association. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  21. ↑ "NI poised to lose Devine and Ferguson to Republic". BBC Sport. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  22. ↑ Ryder, Lee (15 November 2011). "Shane Ferguson 'focused on Northern Ireland'". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  23. ↑ McKinlay, Stuart (16 November 2011). "Ferguson: I won't switch to Republic". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  24. ↑ King, Dan (17 November 2011). "Ferguson Pledges His International Future". Newcastle United F.C. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  25. ↑ "Michael O'Neill savours first win as Northern Ireland boss". BBC Sport. 14 August 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  26. ↑ "Games played by Shane Ferguson in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  27. ↑ "Games played by Shane Ferguson in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  28. ↑ "Games played by Shane Ferguson in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 "Games played by Shane Ferguson in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "Games played by Shane Ferguson in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  31. ↑ "Ferguson, Shane". National Football Teams. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  32. ↑ "Northern Ireland: S. Ferguson". Soccerway. Global Sports Media. Retrieved 16 October 2013.

External links