Shane Long

Cork City

Long was discovered and brought to Cork City with a scholarship on 1 July 2004 by Pat Dolan. He 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. His only other appearance was again as a substitute in the Setanta Sports Cup on 2 May. 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.

Reading

In Reading's Championship-winning 2005–06 campaign, Long scored three goals in ten substitute appearances, 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. On 4 July 2007, Long signed an improved four-year contract to keep him at Reading until the end of the 2010–11 season. 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…

Long's form for Reading in the 2005–06 season earned him four Republic of Ireland U19 caps. Due to injuries to his Reading teammate Kevin Doyle and Sunderland's Stephen Elliott, he earned his first senior cap for the Republic of Ireland in their 2–1 win away to San Marino on 7 February 2007. 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. Long scored his first international goal in a friendly 1–1 draw against Bolivia on 26 May 2007, 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. In March 2011, Long was brought on early to replace the injured Kevin Doyle in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia in Dublin. 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. On 26 May 2012, Long scored when he headed the winner in a 1–0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. He played in UEFA Euro 2012, coming off the bench against Croatia and Italy. On 29 May 2013, Long scored his ninth goal for Ireland, a header against England at Wembley Stadium, a match which finished 1–1. He then captained Ireland for the first time on 2 June 2013 against…

Long was born in Gortnahoe, County Tipperary, Ireland. He was a talented hurler and appeared in two All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship (under-18) semi-finals with Tipperary at Croke Park, and was regarded as a pacey and promising forward. Long was also 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.

Long Played Minor hurling for Tipperary and made in the back to back All Ireland Semi-Finals in 2002 and 2003. He played club hurling for Gortnahoe in his youth and in 2024 returned to play junior hurling with them. In June 2013, Long married his partner Kayleah Adams in Enniskerry in County Wicklow. They have three children.