Chris Shields

Chris Shields

Chris Shields playing for Dundalk against Zenit Saint Petersburg in the 2016–17 Europa League
Personal information
Date of birth	(1990-12-27) 27 December 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Linfield
Number	5
Youth career
1998–2008	St Francis
2008	Bray Wanderers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2011	Bray Wanderers	90	(3)
2012–2021	Dundalk	249	(9)
2021–	Linfield	94	(19)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 June 2024

Chris Shields (born 27 December 1990) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Linfield in the Irish Premiership. He previously played for Bray Wanderers where he played for four seasons before joining Dundalk, where he remained for more than nine seasons.

Shields won five Premier Division medals during his time with Dundalk, in addition to three FAI Cups. He featured regularly in European competition for the club and was part of the team that became only the second-ever Irish side to reach the group stage of the Europa League in 2016 as well as reaching the same stage in 2020. ^[1]

Career

Early career

A native of Clondalkin, Shields played youth football for St Francis and spent ten years there before joining League of Ireland side Bray Wanderers where he initially played for their U20 side.

Bray Wanderers

Shields made his senior League of Ireland debut with the first team in the final game of the 2008 season in a 2-0 defeat away to Sligo Rovers.

He became a first team player in the 2009 season and was part of a Bray side that battled to preserve its Premier Division status during his time with the club. The highlight of his time with Bray was an extraordinary promotion/relegation playoff match with Monaghan United in November 2010. Shields scored an own goal in the 119th minute which saw his side fall behind. Celebrations from Monaghan fans resulted in a perimeter wall collapsing and a long delay. When play resumed, Shields set up an equalizing goal for Bray and he then scored the winning penalty kick in the shoot-out that followed. ^[2]

Dundalk

Shields left Bray at the end of the 2011 campaign and was a free agent training with Leinster Senior League side Booth Road Celtic F.C. when then-Dundalk manager Sean McCaffrey offered him the opportunity to move to Louth as club captain. ^[3]

He was part of a team that struggled badly in the 2012 season and only avoided relegation because Monaghan United went out of business during the year. McCaffrey left his post during the year, but Dundalk succeeded in staying in the topflight after winning a promotion/relegation playoff match. ^[4] Shields was one of two players to stay on when new manager Stephen Kenny was appointed, although he was not retained as captain. There was a massive improvement in the 2013 Premier Division, with Dundalk finishing in second place, three points behind winners St. Pat's, and they also reached the semi-final of the FAI Cup. In 2014, Kenny guided Dundalk to the League title, winning the League of Ireland Cup in the process. Shields was an important member of that team and was an integral part of the club's success during the remainder of Kenny's time in charge. He was part of the group that made history in Europe in 2016, although they suffered disappointment the following year as Cork City won both the league and FAI Cup.

In 2018, Shields enjoyed the best season of his career and scored the decisive goal in their top of the table clash with Cork that helped them secure a fourth league win in the space of five years. His performances were recognized by his peers when he was voted onto the PFAI Team of the Year and shortlisted for the Player of the Year award which was collected by his team-mate Michael Duffy ^[5]

In 2019, Shields scored the winning penalty in a shootout after a 2-2 draw with Derry City in the EA Sports Cup final.

In the 2020 Europa League third qualifying round, he scored in the penalty shoot-out against Sheriff Tiraspol helping Dundalk qualify for the playoffs. Dundalk went on to qualify for the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage and he scored a goal from a penalty in Dundalk's 3-1 defeat against Rapid Vienna at the Aviva Stadium. ^[6]

Linfield

On 22 June 2021, Shields joined NIFL Premiership side Linfield on a three-year contract from 1 July 2021. ^[7] He scored his first goal in the 2021 Champions League qualifiers against Zalgiris Vilnius, but lost 3-1. ^[8]

Career statistics

As of match played 18 July 2024 ^[9]

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bray Wanderers	2008	League of Ireland Premier Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
	2009		30	1	4	1	0	0	—		1 [a]	0	35	2
	2010		30	1	4	0	2	1	—		5 [b]	0	41	2
	2011		29	1	1	0	0	0	—		0 [c]	0	30	1
	Total		90	3	9	1	2	1	—		6	0	106	5
Dundalk	2012	League of Ireland Premier Division	26	2	4	0	2	0	—		2 [d]	0	34	2
	2013		19	1	2	0	0	0	—		0	0	21	1
	2014		28	0	4	0	2	0	3 [e]	0	4 [f]	1	41	1
	2015		30	0	5	0	0	0	2 [g]	0	2 [h]	1	39	1
	2016		25	0	6	2	1	0	10 [i]	0	3 [j]	0	45	2
	2017		26	0	5	0	3	0	2 [g]	0	0	0	36	0
	2018		33	3	2	0	0	0	4 [e]	0	1 [k]	0	40	3
	2019		29	0	3	0	3	0	6 [l]	0	3 [m]	0	44	0
	2020		17	0	5	1	—		8 [n]	1	—		30	2
	2021		16	3	—		—		—		1 [k]	0	17	3
	Total		249	9	36	3	11	0	35	1	18	2	347	15
Linfield	2021–22	NIFL Premiership	33	6	0	0	1	0	5 [o]	1	1 [p]	0	40	7
	2022–23		35	6	2	0	3	1	7 [q]	0	5 [r]	1	52	8
	2023–24		26	7	3	1	2	0	4 [s]	0	1 [p]	0	36	8
	2024–25		0	0	0	0	0	0	2 [g]	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		94	19	5	1	6	1	18	1	7	1	130	23
Career Total			433	31	50	5	19	2	53	2	31	3	587	43

1. Appearances in League of Ireland promotion/relegation playoffs
2. 3 appearances in League of Ireland promotion/relegation playoffs & 2 appearances in Leinster Senior Cup
3. Appearances in Leinster Senior Cup
4. Appearances in League of Ireland promotion/relegation playoffs
5. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearances in Setanta Sports Cup
7. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
8. 1 appearance in President's Cup & 1 appearance in Leinster Senior Cup
9. 5 appearances in UEFA Champions League & 5 appearances in UEFA Europa League
10. 1 appearance in President's Cup & 2 appearances in Leinster Senior Cup
11. Appearance in President's Cup
12. 4 appearances in UEFA Champions League & 2 appearances in UEFA Europa League
13. 1 appearance in President's Cup & 2 appearances in Champions Cup
14. 1 appearance in UEFA Champions League & 7 appearances, 1 goal in UEFA Europa League
15. 2 appearances, 1 goal in UEFA Champions League & 3 appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
16. Appearances in County Antrim Shield
17. 4 appearances in UEFA Champions League, 1 appearance in UEFA Europa League & 2 appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
18. 3 appearances & 1 goal in County Antrim Shield, 1 appearance in NIFL Charity Shield & 1 appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup
19. Appearances in UEFA Conference League

Honours

Dundalk

• League of Ireland Premier Division (5): 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019
• FAI Cup (3): 2015, 2018, 2020
• League of Ireland Cup (3): 2014, 2017, 2019
• President's Cup (3): 2015, 2019, 2021
• Leinster Senior Cup (1): 2014–15
• Champions Cup (1): 2019

Linfield

• NIFL Premiership (1): 2021–22

Individual

• PFAI Team of the Year (2): 2018, ^[10] 2019
• FAI League Player of the Year (1): 2018
• NIFL Premiership Team of the Year (1): 2021–22 ^[11]
• Linfield Player of the Year (1): 2021–22 ^[12]
• Ulster Footballer of the Year (1): 2021–22 ^[13]
• NIFWA Player of the Year (1): 2021–22 ^[13]

References

1. "Chris Shields – UEFA player profile". UEFA. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
2. "Bray defeat Monaghan on penalties". FAI. 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
3. "'I never thought my career would go the way it's gone'". the42.ie. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
4. . Irish Examiner. 3 November 2012 https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/rafter-keeps-dundalk-in-top-flight-212885.html . Retrieved 3 November 2011.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
5. "Duffy wins PFAI Player of Year Award". the42.ie. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
6. "Rapid Vienna condemn Dundalk to another Europa League defeat". the42.ie. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
7. "David Healy - delighted to announce signing of Chris Shields". www.linfieldfc.com. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
8. "Linfield lose Champions League opener". BBC Sport.
9. "Republic of Ireland - C. Shields - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway".
10. "Dundalk dominate PFAI team of the year". Irish Times. 24 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
11. "Premiership Team of the Year 2022".
12. "Latest News: Linfield FC Player of the Year 2021-22 award presentation". Linfield FC. 16 May 2022. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
13. "Player of the Year Chris Shields backs David Healy against his critics". Belfast Telegraph. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2023.