 Shankland withScotland in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lawrence Shankland[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1995-08-10)10 August 1995 (age 30)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Heart of Midlothian | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2012 | Queen's Park | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012–2013 | Queen's Park | 34 | (11) |
| 2013–2017 | Aberdeen | 17 | (0) |
| 2014 | →Dunfermline Athletic (loan) | 13 | (7) |
| 2015–2016 | →St Mirren (loan) | 31 | (10) |
| 2016–2017 | →St Mirren (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 2017 | →Greenock Morton (loan) | 16 | (4) |
| 2017–2019 | Ayr United | 61 | (50) |
| 2019–2021 | Dundee United | 59 | (32) |
| 2021–2022 | Beerschot | 26 | (5) |
| 2022– | Heart of Midlothian | 118 | (63) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015 | Scotland U21 | 4 | (2) |
| 2019– | Scotland | 18 | (4) |
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10 November 2025 (UTC)‡ National team caps and goals as of 18 November 2025 | |||
Lawrence Shankland (born 10 August 1995) is a footballer who plays as astriker forScottish Premiership clubHeart of Midlothian and theScotland national team.
Shankland began his career atQueen's Park before moving toAberdeen in 2013. He played on loan withDunfermline Athletic,St Mirren andGreenock Morton before joiningAyr United in 2017. He signed forDundee United in 2019 and made his debut for Scotland later that year. In 2021 Shankland moved to Belgian clubBeerschot, but returned to Scotland after one year, signing with Hearts.
Shankland was born inGlasgow and attendedBannerman High School inBaillieston.[4] He progressed through theQueen's Park youth system and was their top goalscorer in the2012–13 season, having moved to the senior squad straight from the under-17 team;[5] he also worked part-time as a tool setter in a local plumbing supplies company, a position arranged by the amateur club to help their young players earn a wage.[4] He scored his first senior goal on 4 August 2012, aged 16, in aScottish League Cup tie againstAirdrieonians.[6]
Shankland signed forAberdeen at the end of the season.[7][8] He was one of three Queen's Park players to move to top flight Scottish clubs at that time, asAndy Robertson andAidan Connolly signed forDundee United.[7][4]Blair Spittal also made the move to Dundee United a year later.
Shankland was initially placed in the Aberdeenunder-20 squad, as he adjusted to full-time professional training.[8][4] He made his debut appearance for Aberdeen in September 2014, in a 3–2 victory againstInverness Caledonian Thistle.[9] After impressing in the under-20s, scoring plenty of goals, and making first team appearances as a substitute, Shankland signed a new contract to run until summer 2017;[10][4] however, he was loaned to lower-division clubs for the vast majority of its duration. At the end of the2016–17 season, Aberdeen confirmed that Shankland would be leaving the club.[11]
Shankland moved toDunfermline Athletic on loan for the latter part of the2013–14 season.[12] The 18-year-old striker scored seven league goals during his short spell in Fife; however, injury prevented him taking part in thePars' end-of-seasonpromotion play-off withlocal rivalsCowdenbeath which ended in defeat.[13]
Shankland was loaned toSt Mirren in August 2015 for the rest of the 2015–16 season.[14] He scored his first goal for theBuddies in a 2–1 home defeat toRaith Rovers on 18 September 2015.[15] Shankland scored 10 goals in 32 appearances during his loan spell, and returned to Aberdeen at the end of the season.[16]
In July 2016 it was confirmed that Shankland had returned to St Mirren, on a season-long loan.[17] However, having failed to score any league goals in the first half of the season, his St Mirren deal was cut short and on 11 January 2017, he moved on loan to theirrivals, fellowScottish Championship sideGreenock Morton.[18] After helping the club to a fourth-place finish, his final appearance for Morton was in theScottish Premiership playoff defeat to Dundee United.[19]
In September 2017, free agent Shankland signed a short-term contract to play forScottish League One clubAyr United until the following January.[20] On 24 March 2018 he scored a hat-trick against former club Queen's Park.[21] Ayr wonthe league by one point, and after finishing with 29 goals, Shankland was named as the division'sPFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year.[22]
He started the 2018–19 season with a hat-trick against former club Morton in theLeague Cup.[23] On 28 July, he scored a "stunning goal" from 45 yards as Ayr defeatedPartick Thistle to qualify for the knockout stage of the competition.[24] With a goal against Dunfermline on 25 August 2018, Shankland moved to 41 goals in 42 games for theHonest Men.[25]
In November 2018, he scored four goals in aleague fixture away to Dundee United which ended 5–0 and put Ayr five points clear at the top of the table.[26] However he then sustained an injury, and Ayr's form deteriorated in his absence. He returned towards the end of the season, but the team's campaign ended with defeat to Inverness CT in the opening round of thePremiership promotion play-offs, having finished in fourth position.[27] Shankland, whose total return was 34 goals in 41 games, was nominated for the division's PFA Player of the Year Award,[28] but lost out to another prolific striker,Stephen Dobbie. Both were named in theTeam of the Year.[29]
On 3 July 2019 it was announced that Shankland had left Ayr to join fellow Championship side Dundee United on a three-year contract, turning down offers from other clubs in both England and Scotland.[30][31] He scored on his debut for the club in aScottish League Cup tie againstHearts on 12 July 2019,[32] and scored four goals in a 4–1 victory againstInverness Caledonian Thistle on the opening day of the2019–20 Scottish Championship season.[33] Shankland was namedScottish Championship Player of the Month for August 2019, having scored eight goals in four appearances during the month.[34] The season was suspended in March 2020 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Scotland, and curtailed a month later, with Dundee United declared winners and promoted;[35] up to that point Shankland had scored 24 league goals to finish as the division's top scorer, and maintained the ratio of almost a goal-per-game he had set at Ayr, with a total of 28 from 33 appearances.
On 12 January 2021, Shankland scored with a "wonder strike" from 53 yards (48 m) to secure a 2–2 draw againstSt Johnstone.[36]
On 11 August 2021, Shankland moved to Belgian sideBeerschot for an undisclosed fee.[37][38] Shankland scored five league goals for Beerschot during the 2021–22 season as they were relegated from the Belgian top division.[39]
Shankland returned to Scottish football in July 2022, signing a three-year contract withHeart of Midlothian.[39] He scored his first goal for Hearts in a 1–1 draw withHibernian atEaster Road on 7 August 2022.[40]
After a season-ending injury to club captainCraig Gordon in a match on 28 December 2022, Shankland was named team captain for the rest of the season.[41]
Shankland became the first Hearts' player sinceJohn Robertson in the1991–92 season to score 20 goals in all competitions following his goal in theScottish Cup against Hibs to make it 2–0.[42]
In Gordon's continued absence, Shankland retained team captaincy for the 2023–24 season. His second season at Hearts showed a similar prolific form as his first, hitting 50 club goals by February 2024, less than 18 months after joining the club, becoming only the second player to hit the milestone in the 21st century alongsideJamie Walker.[43]
Shankland representedScotland under-18s inVictory Shield matches against the other home nations in 2012.[44] He was first selected for theScotland national under-21 football team in March 2015; he made his debut away toHungary, scoring two late goals in a 2–1 victory. He made three other under-21 appearances, also in 2015, producing one draw and two defeats.[45]
On 1 October 2019,Scotland managerSteve Clarke called up Shankland to the senior squad for the first time.[46] He won his firstcap when he came on as a second-half substitute in the side's 4–0 defeat byRussia on 10 October[47] (playing alongside national team captainAndy Robertson for the first time since their time at Queen's Park in the fourth tier of Scottish football, nearly seven years earlier)[48] and three days later made his first start and scored his first goal, the fourth in a 6–0 victory overSan Marino atHampden Park.[49]
Shankland was recalled to the squad in March 2023, as an injury replacement forChé Adams.[50] He scored his second international goal on 16 November 2023, a late equaliser in aUEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match againstGeorgia.[51] Shankland had again been a late addition to the squad as an injury replacement for Adams.[51]
On 23 March 2024, Shankland was named in Scotland's starting XI for the first time since 2019 in aUEFA Euro 2024 warm-up match against theNetherlands.[52]
On 7 June 2024, he was named in Scotland's 26-man squad for Euro 2024.[53] He played the final eight minutes of the 5–1 loss to hostsGermany in the opening match of the tournament on 14 June.[54] He went on to appear as a substitute against bothSwitzerland andHungary as Scotland finished bottom ofGroup A with one point from three matches.[55][56]
After a year out of the international team, Shankland was recalled for2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers againstGreece andDenmark in November 2025.[57] He scored Scotland's second goal in a 4–2 win against Denmark on 18 November, which enabled them to top their group and thus qualify for theFIFA World Cup for the first time since 1998.[58]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Queen's Park | 2011–12[59] | Scottish Third Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2012–13[60][3] | 33 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | 4[c] | 2 | 43 | 15 | |||
| Total | 34 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 44 | 15 | ||
| Aberdeen | 2013–14[61] | Scottish Premiership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15[62] | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16[63] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17[64] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Dunfermline Athletic (loan) | 2013–14[61] | Scottish League One | 13 | 7 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | ||
| St Mirren (loan) | 2015–16[63] | Scottish Championship | 31 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 32 | 10 | |
| 2016–17[64] | 17 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | 3[d] | 1 | 24 | 4 | |||
| Total | 48 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 56 | 14 | ||
| Greenock Morton (loan) | 2016–17[64] | Scottish Championship | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2[e] | 0 | 18 | 4 | ||
| Ayr United | 2017–18[65] | Scottish League One | 30 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 33 | 29 | |
| 2018–19[66] | Scottish Championship | 31 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 9 | — | 3[f] | 0 | 41 | 34 | ||
| Total | 61 | 50 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 74 | 63 | ||
| Dundee United | 2019–20[67] | Scottish Championship | 26 | 24 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | — | 1[d] | 0 | 33 | 28 | |
| 2020–21[68] | Scottish Premiership | 32 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 9 | |||
| 2021–22[69] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | — | — | 5 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 59 | 32 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 74 | 40 | ||
| Beerschot | 2021–22[69][3] | Belgian Pro League | 26 | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 28 | 5 | |||
| Heart of Midlothian | 2022–23[70] | Scottish Premiership | 37 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8[g] | 3 | — | 47 | 28 | |
| 2023–24[71] | 37 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4[h] | 3 | — | 47 | 31 | |||
| 2024–25[72] | 32 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7[h] | 0 | — | 43 | 9 | |||
| 2025–26[73] | 12 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | — | — | 16 | 10 | ||||
| Total | 118 | 63 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 19 | 6 | — | 154 | 79 | |||
| Career total | 391 | 180 | 25 | 14 | 29 | 21 | 19 | 6 | 12 | 3 | 477 | 226 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 2019 | 2 | 1 |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 9 | 1 | |
| 2025 | 2 | 1 | |
| Total | 18 | 4 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 October 2019 | Hampden Park,Glasgow, Scotland |  San Marino | 4–0 | 6–0 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |
| 2 | 16 November 2023 | Dinamo Arena,Tbilisi, Georgia |  Georgia | 2–2 | 2–2 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualification |
| 3 | 7 June 2024 | Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland |  Finland | 2–0 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 4 | 18 November 2025 | Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland |  Denmark | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Ayr United
Dundee United
Individual
