1. Shane Patrick Long was born on 22 January 1987 and is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a striker.
38 Facts About Shane Long
1. 2.
Shane Long was a talented hurler and appeared in two All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship semi-finals with Tipperary at Croke Park, and was regarded as a pacey and promising forward.
3.
Shane Long was playing Gaelic football at this time, and started his career in the game with Two-Mile Borris club St Kevin's FC in 1994, joining St Michael's in Tipperary Town in 2002.
4.
Shane Long was discovered and brought to Cork City with a scholarship on 1 July 2004 by Pat Dolan.
5.
Shane 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 debut on 25 March 2005 as a substitute for Joe Gamble.
6.
Cork were forced to sell Doyle due to a contract clause, but the circumstances surrounding Shane Long's transfer were not disclosed.
7.
Shane Long started all of the games in Reading's FA Cup campaign and scored one goal.
8.
Shane Long made a full apology on the official club website.
9.
Shane Long then scored a glancing header in the 100th minute in front of the Anfield Kop from a cross supplied by Brynjar Gunnarsson, which sent Reading into the Fourth round of the FA Cup to play at home against Burnley.
10.
On 13 February 2010 in an FA Cup fifth round match at home to West Bromwich Albion, Shane Long was sent off for a careless lunge at West Brom Ivorian defender Abdoulaye Meite.
11.
However, a hat-trick from Norwegian striker John Carew and a strike from Ashley Young in the second-half saw Shane Long's brace go to waste as Aston Villa booked themselves a place in the semi-finals.
12.
On 4 November, Shane Long signed a one-year contract extension, valid until 2012.
13.
Shane Long followed up with a brace against Bristol City on Boxing Day.
14.
On 8 January 2011, Shane Long then hit the only goal in the FA Cup's third round encounter with West Brom.
15.
Shane Long received the Man of the Match award for his efforts.
16.
Shane Long finished the season with 28 goals in 58 matches for club and country, the best season in his career to date.
17.
On 9 August 2011, Shane Long signed for Premier League side West Bromwich Albion on a three-year deal, with a further year's option.
18.
On 16 October 2011, Shane Long was named man of the match in the Black Country derby against Wolverhampton Wanderers, despite not scoring.
19.
Shane Long suffered a chipped bone in his knee after a match against Aston Villa after a robust challenge by Alan Hutton, ruling him out for approximately six weeks.
20.
Shane Long finished the season with 11 goals in all competitions, supplemented with two goals for Republic of Ireland.
21.
Shane Long continued his good run of form against Aston Villa with two superb goals in the first 11 minutes, later being named Man of the Match.
22.
On 17 January 2014, Shane Long signed for Hull City for an undisclosed fee on a three-and-a-half-year deal.
23.
Shane Long missed out on Hull's historic run to the FA Cup Final as he was cup-tied, having played in West Brom's third-round tie against Crystal Palace.
24.
Shane Long almost scored a late equaliser when he nodded a header just wide of the post.
25.
On 21 July 2016, Shane Long signed a new contract with Southampton, extending his stay with the club until 2020.
26.
On 23 April 2019, Shane Long scored the fastest goal in Premier League history against Watford, clocking in at 7.69 seconds after kick off.
27.
On 1 July 2022, Shane Long's contract expired and Southampton announced that he would be leaving the club.
28.
On 13 July 2022, Shane Long returned to Reading, signing a one-year contract.
29.
Shane Long retired from playing at the end of the season.
30.
When Shane 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.
31.
Shane Long was nominated as the Football Association of Ireland Young Player of the Year for 2007.
32.
In March 2011, Shane Long was brought on early to replace the injured Kevin Doyle in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia in Dublin.
33.
Shane Long played in UEFA Euro 2012, coming off the bench against Croatia and Italy.
34.
On 29 March 2015, Shane Long came off the bench to score a last-minute equaliser against Poland in 2016 Euro qualifier.
35.
On 8 October 2015, Shane Long again came off the bench to score the winning goal against reigning world champions Germany in another 2016 Euro qualifier in the Aviva Stadium.
36.
Shane Long Played Minor hurling for Tipperary and made in the back to back All Ireland Semi-Finals in 2002 and 2003.
37.
Shane Long played club hurling for Gortnahoe in his youth and in 2024 returned to Play junior hurling with them.
38.
In June 2013, Shane Long married his partner Kayleah Adams in Enniskerry in County Wicklow.