 WithBirmingham City in 2013 pre-season | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Shane Kevin Ferguson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1991-07-12)12 July 1991 (age 34)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Derry, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Left back /left winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2007 | Maiden City Academy | ||
| 2007–2009 | Newcastle United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2016 | Newcastle United | 23 | (0) |
| 2013 | →Birmingham City (loan) | 11 | (1) |
| 2013–2014 | →Birmingham City (loan) | 18 | (0) |
| 2015 | →Rangers (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | →Millwall (loan) | 25 | (2) |
| 2016–2021 | Millwall | 155 | (5) |
| 2021–2024 | Rotherham United | 73 | (4) |
| 2025 | Derry City | 13 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2007–2008 | Northern Ireland U17 | 8 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Northern Ireland U19 | 16 | (3) |
| 2008–2012 | Northern Ireland U21 | 11 | (0) |
| 2009 | Northern Ireland B | 1 | (0) |
| 2009– | Northern Ireland | 57 | (2) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:10, 13 November 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 20:13, 23 March 2023 (UTC) | |||
Shane Kevin Ferguson (born 12 July 1991) is a Northern Irish professionalfootballer most recently forDerry City and theNorthern Ireland national team. He previously played forNewcastle United in thePremier League, where he had two spells on loan toBirmingham City of the EnglishChampionship, as well asRangers of theScottish Championship andScottish Professional Football League andMillwall of theEFL Championship. He then spent five and a half seasons with Millwall, three withRotherham United and one withDerry City. He is capable of playing anywhere on the left flank as afull back orwinger.
Born inDerry, Ferguson began playing youth football for his hometown club,Maiden City, andGaelic football forDerry GAA.[4] After finishing hisGCSEs atSt Mary's High School, he moved to England where he was offered a scholarship at theNewcastle United Academy.[citation needed]
Ferguson joined theNewcastle Unitedyouth system in July 2007.[5] In June 2009, he signed a new three-year contract.[6]
Ferguson made his first team debut at left back on 25 August 2010, in aLeague Cup tie away atAccrington Stanley.[7] He then played in the next round of the League Cup, on 22 September, away atChelsea and he assisted in the first goal in the 4–3 win.[8] He made hisPremier League debut on 5 January 2011 againstWest Ham United as a second-half substitute.[9] He made his first Premier League start againstWolverhampton Wanderers on 2 April 2011.[10] Ferguson signed a new five-year contract on 27 May 2011, having made a good impression in the final part of the season.[11]
A lengthy lay off due to a pre-season ankle ligament injury sustained againstDarlington meant the young full back was unable to travel with the first team to a pre-season tournament in the United States.[12] After appearing in the League Cup second round againstNottingham Forest, he made his first Premier League appearance on 10 December 2011, as a late substitute forDavide Santon.[citation needed]
In the early months of the 2012–13 season Ferguson assisted a number of goals for strikersDemba Ba andPapiss Cissé and produced some quality crosses from the left wing.[13][14][15]
_(cropped).jpg)
In late February 2013, Ferguson joinedChampionship clubBirmingham City on loan until 1 April.[16] 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 againstCrystal Palace on 29 March.[17] His loan was extended until the end of the season,[18] and he made 11 appearances before returning to Newcastle.[citation needed]
In July 2013, Ferguson rejoined Birmingham on loan for the season.[19] 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 ofLiverpool'sJordon Ibe on loan.[20]
Having made no first-team appearances in the first half of 2014–15, he was one of five Newcastle players to joinScottish Championship clubRangers on loan on 2 February 2015.[21] He was still recovering from a knee ligament injury,[22] and only regained fitness in time to make two appearances: as a second-half substitute in the first leg of theplay-off final and as a starter in the second, as Rangers lost out toMotherwell.[23]
Ferguson joinedMillwall on loan on 7 August 2015 on a 92-day loan from parent club Newcastle. His debut came a day later in a 2–1 away win againstShrewsbury Town. On 1 September, Ferguson's loan spell at the club was extended until 9 January 2016.[24] Ferguson scored his first Millwall goal in November 2015 againstColchester United. He made 24 appearances and scored 2 goals for Millwall before returning to Newcastle in January 2016.[25]
On 26 January 2016, Ferguson signed an eighteen-month contract with Millwall for an undisclosed fee.[26] In May 2021, he was released from the club.
On 20 July 2021, Ferguson signed a two-year contract (with the option of a third year) withRotherham United.[27] He made his debut in the first game of the2021–22 season againstPlymouth Argyle on 7 August 2021, coming on as a second-half substitute.[28]
On 7 May 2024, after the club were relegated, Rotherham announced the player would be released in the summer after his contract expired.[29]
On 11 December 2024, Ferguson signed forLeague of Ireland Premier Division clubDerry City ahead of their 2025 season.[30][31] He made 14 appearances in all competitions during the season, before it was announced on 13 November 2025 that he would be leaving the club at the end of his contract.[32]
Ferguson has beencapped for the Northern Ireland national team at various youth levels. He made hissenior debut when he came on as asubstitute in a 3–0 friendly defeat toItaly on 6 June 2009.[33] He was called up for the2011 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 the2010 European Championships and helped them to a place in theelite round.[34] 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.[35]
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.[36] In the months that followed, Ferguson did not comment on his future at international level. However,under-21 coachSteve Beaglehole later stated that he believed Ferguson never attempted to switch allegiances despite failing to respond to Worthington's calls[37] as he had started in all the2013 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 inMichael O'Neill's first squad following his appointment as the Northern Ireland manager.[38][39]
Ferguson scored his first goal for Northern Ireland in an international friendly versusFinland on 15 August 2012.[40] A year later, he produced what O'Neill called "90 minutes of the really highest quality" as Northern Ireland beatRussia in a2014 World Cup qualifier.[41]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Newcastle United | 2009–10[42] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2010–11[43] | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12[44] | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13[45] | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
| 2013–14[20] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2014–15[46] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16[47] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 32 | 0 | ||
| Birmingham City (loan) | 2012–13[45] | Championship | 11 | 1 | — | — | — | 11 | 1 | |||
| 2013–14[20] | Championship | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | ||
| Total | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 34 | 1 | |||
| Rangers (loan) | 2014–15[46] | Scottish Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[b] | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Millwall | 2015–16[47] | League One | 39 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6[c] | 0 | 46 | 3 |
| 2016–17[48] | League One | 40 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4[d] | 0 | 52 | 4 | |
| 2017–18[49] | Championship | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 28 | 1 | ||
| 2018–19[50] | Championship | 35 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 42 | 4 | ||
| 2019–20[51] | Championship | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 33 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21[52] | Championship | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | ||
| Total | 180 | 7 | 15 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 217 | 12 | ||
| Rotherham United | 2021–22[53] | League One | 32 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[e] | 0 | 40 | 1 |
| 2022–23[54] | Championship | 32 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 34 | 3 | ||
| 2023–24[55] | Championship | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| Total | 73 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 83 | 4 | ||
| Derry City | 2025[56] | LOI Premier Division | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 318 | 12 | 22 | 4 | 21 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 382 | 17 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | 2009 | 1 | 0 |
| 2012 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 57 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 August 2012 | Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland | 4 |  Finland | 1–0 | 3–3 | Friendly | [40] |
| 2 | 5 September 2021 | Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia | 50 |  Estonia | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly | [58] |
Millwall
Rotherham United
