Shane Duffy

Shane Patrick Michael Duffy is an Irish centre back of Everton. He also plays for the Republic of Ireland national U-21 team and the full national squad. Shane was born in Derry, Northern Ireland and has a dual citizenship: Irish and Northern Irish.

He is a product of the Foyle Harps football academy, which was located in Duffy’s native town Derry. In 2007 the footballer drew the attention of Everton head coach David Moyes and was offered to move to the club in November 2008.

On 2 December 2009, Shane made his début for ‘The Toffees’ in the Europa League match against Greek side AEK. He came as a substitute for injured Sylvain Distin in the 17th minute of the game and Everton won 1-0 due to an accurate shot of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov. The Irish back made his start in the following Europa League match against BATE Borisov at Goodison Park and played till the full-time.

At the beginning of the 2010/2011 season Shane was seriously injured; he got his liver damaged. However, the footballer quickly recovered and returned on the pitch a half year later. On 24 March 2011, Duffy went on a one-month loan to Burnley and took part only in one match.

On 31 August 2011, the Irish back was sent on loan again, this time to Scunthorpe United. On 10 September, Shane made his début for the temporary team in the match against Sheffield United and was voted the player of that game. The footballer made 19 appearances for Scunthorpe and kicked one goal till 5 January 2012, when he was called back to Everton. The club suffered from the ‘injuries epidemic’ then.

On 11 January 2012, the Irish footballer made his Premier League début, coming as a substitute for Sylvain Distin in the 59th minute of the match against Tottenham (‘The Toffees’ lost 2-0). On 14 January, Shane made start in a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa. The back played four matches during the 2011/2012 season.

In the season 2013/2014 Duffy was loaned to Yeovil Town.

Shane represented different youth and reserve teams of Northern Ireland from 2008 till 2009. In 2010 the footballer accepted the offer of the IFA and started to perform for the Republic of Ireland national U-19 team and U-21 team in 2011. From 2012 he has been capped for the senior national squad.