D.O.B. :22/01/1987
Place of Birth :Gortnahoe, Co Tipperary
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Shane Patrick Long (born 22 January 1987) is a professional footballer with Reading. Before concentrating on football, Long was an Under-18 hurler with Tipperary.
Club career
Long was born in Gortnahoe, County Tipperary, Ireland.He started his football career with Tipperary club St Michael's in 2000, joining Cork City with a scholarship on 1 July 2004. Long was called to the first team squad for the 2005 season when manager Pat Dolan was replaced by Damien Richardson, and the new manager awarded him his senior début in the Setanta Sports Cup in March 2005. However, following Dolan's consultation with his brother, Reading coach Eamon 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.
In Reading's Championship-winning 2005–06 campaign, he scored three goals in 10 substitute appearances, making his first league start on 17 April 2006 in the 3-1 home victory against Stoke City. He also 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.
International career
Long's form for Reading in the 2005–06 season earned him four Republic of Ireland U19 caps.
Due to injuries to his Reading team mate 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.
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Debut:7 February 2007 v San Marino
Clubs: St Michaels (Tipperary), Cork City Reading
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