Graeme Shinnie

Graeme Shinnie

Shinnie at the Scottish League Cup in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Graeme Garry Shinnie [1]
Date of birth	(1991-08-04) 4 August 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth	Aberdeen, Scotland
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) [2]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder, left-back
Team information
Current team	Aberdeen
Number	4
Youth career
2008–2010	Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2015	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	156	(6)
2010	→ Forres Mechanics (loan)
2015–2019	Aberdeen	144	(8)
2019–2022	Derby County	84	(6)
2022–2023	Wigan Athletic	29	(0)
2023	→ Aberdeen (loan)	13	(2)
2023–	Aberdeen	46	(2)
International career‡
2012	Scotland U21	2	(0)
2018–2019	Scotland [3]	6	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:19, 3 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 07:55, 14 October 2019 (UTC)

Graeme Garry Shinnie (born 4 August 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or left back for and captains Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen.

He has previously played for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Forres Mechanics, Aberdeen and Derby County. Shinnie made his first full international appearance for Scotland in May 2018.

Career

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Shinnie started his career playing for Dyce Boys Club a boy's club in Aberdeen, alongside brother Andrew. ^[4] He joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle in July 2009, at the age of 17. ^[5] He made his senior debut for them in the Scottish League Cup on 1 August 2009, before making his League debut on 26 September 2009. ^[6]

Shinnie went on loan to Forres Mechanics in the Scottish Highland Football League in February 2010. ^{[5] [7]} His loan spell was extended until the end of the season. ^[8] Shinnie was offered a contract extension by Inverness on 30 November 2010, ^[9] agreeing a 3-year deal on 13 December 2010. ^[10] He suffered an intestinal problem that stopped him from playing between January and August 2011. ^[11]

In the 2011–12 season, Graeme's brother Andrew joined Inverness on a free transfer from Rangers. ^[12] Shinnie scored his first goal of his Inverness career on 27 August 2011 in a 2–1 win over Kilmarnock and after the match, manager Terry Butcher expressed delight for Shinnie on his first goal. ^[13] Following a 3–1 loss against Dundee United on 17 September 2011, captain Richie Foran spoken out about Shinnie, stating he was worthy of pass marks. ^[14] After two-months spell out for the side, Shinnie made his return in a 2–1 loss against Rangers on 17 December 2011. Despite the performance, Butcher praised the returning Shinnie and Lee Cox. ^[15] In December 2012, Shinnie signed a new contract extension, keeping him until 2015, ^[16] having vowed to remain at the club. ^[17]

In the 2014 Scottish League Cup Final, Shinnie played throughout the match until it went to a penalty shoot-out, won by opponents Aberdeen. ^[18] He was selected in the 2013–14 Premiership PFA Scotland Team of the Year. ^[19] In April 2015, Shinnie helped Inverness to reach the Scottish Cup Final; ^[20] Caley went on to win the trophy, beating Falkirk 2–1 on 30 May 2015, with Shinnie lifting the trophy as captain in his last game for the club. ^{[21] [22]}

Aberdeen

In January 2015 it was announced that Shinnie had signed a three-year contract with Aberdeen, despite interest from Football League Championship clubs, and would join the club when the summer transfer window opened in June 2015. ^[23] He made his competitive debut for Aberdeen on 2 July 2015, against FK Shkëndija in the first qualifying round of the Europa League. ^[24] He scored his first goal for Aberdeen on 9 August 2015, in a 2–0 league win against Kilmarnock. ^[25]

Shinnie signed a new contract with Aberdeen in January 2017, which ran until its expiry in summer 2019. ^[26] In May 2017 he was made team captain, after it was announced that Ryan Jack had signed a pre-contract agreement with Rangers. ^[27] During his four-year spell at Pittodrie, he took part in three finals (the 2016–17 and 2018–19 League Cup finals, and the 2017 Scottish Cup Final), losing to Celtic on each occasion. In the Premiership, Aberdeen finished runners-up to Celtic three times. ^[28]

Derby County

In May 2019 it was announced that Shinnie would join English club Derby County in July 2019 on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract. ^[28] He scored his first goal for the club, an injury time winner, against Wigan Athletic on 23 October 2019. ^[29]

Wigan Athletic

In January 2022 he signed for Wigan Athletic, for an undisclosed transfer fee, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract. ^{[30] [31]}

Return to Aberdeen

He returned to Aberdeen on loan in January 2023. ^[32] In June 2023 he signed a permanent three-year contract with Aberdeen, and was designated captain. ^[33]

International career

Shinnie made his debut for the Scotland national under-21 football team in April 2012. ^[34] On 29 September 2015, he was called up to the senior squad for games against Poland and Gibraltar. ^[35] He was called up again in October 2017, ^[36] and in May 2018. ^[37]

Shinnie made his full Scotland debut on 29 May 2018, in a 2–0 defeat to Peru. ^[38] In March 2019 he was selected to play at left-back in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match away to Kazakhstan, but was at fault for one of the goals as Scotland lost 3–0; in the aftermath, Shinnie acknowledged that he had performed poorly and would be unlikely to be selected again once Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney were available. ^[39]

Personal life

Shinnie is the younger brother of fellow footballer Andrew Shinnie, who joined him at Inverness in 2011. ^[11] The first time that the two brothers faced each other in a competitive game was in a 2016–17 Scottish Cup semi-final, between Andrew's Hibernian and Graeme's Aberdeen. ^[40] The brothers grew up in Cove Bay and attended Kincorth Academy. ^[41]

Playing style

Originally a left back at Inverness, Shinnie played primarily as a central midfielder at Aberdeen. ^[42]

Career statistics

As of 2 November 2024

^[6]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		League Cup [lower-alpha 2]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2009–10	Scottish First Division	1	0	0	0	1	0	–		1 [lower-alpha 3]	0	3	0
	2010–11	Scottish Premier League	19	0	2	0	2	0	–		–		23	0
	2011–12		26	1	3	0	1	0	–		–		30	1
	2012–13		37	0	3	0	4	1	–		–		44	1
	2013–14	Scottish Premiership	36	3	4	0	4	0	–		–		44	3
	2014–15		37	2	6	1	0	0	–		–		43	3
	Total		156	6	18	1	12	1	0	0	1	0	187	8
Aberdeen	2015–16	Scottish Premiership	37	1	1	0	1	0	6 [lower-alpha 4]	0	–		45	1
	2016–17		36	2	5	1	4	0	6 [lower-alpha 4]	0	–		51	3
	2017–18		35	2	4	1	2	0	4 [lower-alpha 4]	1	–		45	4
	2018–19		36	3	5	0	3	1	2 [lower-alpha 4]	0	–		46	4
	Total		144	8	15	2	10	1	18	1	0	0	187	12
Derby County	2019–20	Championship	23	2	2	0	2	0	–		–		27	2
	2020–21		40	3	0	0	2	0	–		–		42	3
	2021–22		21	1	1	0	1	0	–		–		23	1
	Total		84	6	3	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	92	6
Wigan Athletic	2021–22	League One	10	0	0	0	0	0	–		1 [lower-alpha 5]	0	11	0
	2022–23	Championship	19	0	0	1	0	0	–		–		20	0
	Total		29	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	31	0
Aberdeen (loan)	2022–23	Scottish Premiership	13	2	0	0	1	0	–		–		14	2
Aberdeen	2023–24	Scottish Premiership	37	1	3	1	4	1	5 [lower-alpha 6]	0	–		49	3
	2024–25	Scottish Premiership	9	1	0	0	6	2	0	0	–		15	3
	Total		46	2	3	1	10	3	5	0	1	0	64	6
Career total			472	24	39	4	38	5	23	1	2	0	575	34

1. Includes Scottish Cup, FA Cup
2. Includes Scottish League Cup, EFL Cup
3. Appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Appearance in EFL Trophy
6. One appearance in the Europa League, four appearances in the Europa Conference League

Honours

Forres Mechanics

• Highland League Cup: 2009–10 ^[43]

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

• Scottish Cup: 2014–15 ^[21]
• North of Scotland Cup: 2009–10 ^[44]

Wigan Athletic

• EFL League One: 2021–22 ^[45]

Individual

• Derby County F.C. Player of the Year: 2020–21 ^[46]
• PFA Scotland Team of the Year (Premiership): 2013–14, ^[47] 2014–15, ^[48] 2017–18, 2018–19 ^[49]

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Derby County" (PDF). English Football League. p. 24. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
2. "Greame Shinnie". Wigan Athletic F.C. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
3. "Graeme Shinnie". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
4. "League Cup Final: Inverness star Graeme Shinnie out to make Aberdeen pay for snubbing him as a kid". Daily Record. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
5. "Profile". Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
6. Graeme Shinnie at Soccerbase
7. "Home form keeps title hopes alive". Inverness Courier. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2014.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
8. "Winger loan deal blocked". Inverness Courier. 16 March 2010. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
9. "Nick Ross and Graeme Shinnie offered Inverness deals". BBC Sport. 30 November 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
10. "Graeme Shinnie extends contract with Caley Thistle". BBC Sport. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
11. "Terry Butcher praises comeback by Graeme Shinnie". BBC Sport. 20 August 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
12. "Andrew Shinnie and Josh Meekings to join Inverness". BBC Sport. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
13. "Terry Butcher delighted for Inverness goal hero Graeme Shinnie after illness almost cut short is career". Daily Record. 28 August 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
14. "Inverness CT skipper Richie Foran: Graeme was a Shinnie example to us all". Daily Record. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
15. "Butcher praises young duo". Inverness Courier. 20 December 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2014.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
16. "Graeme Shinnie & Josh Meekings sign new Inverness deals". BBC Sport. 24 December 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
17. "Inverness ace Graeme Shinnie vows to sign new deal after club stood by him during injury hell". Daily Record. 22 December 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
18. "Aberdeen 0 – 0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle". BBC Sport. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
19. "Celtic and Dundee United trios in SPFL Premiership team of year". BBC Sport. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
20. "Inverness CT: Graeme Shinnie eyes Scottish Cup-winning finale". BBC Sport. 19 April 2015.
21. Lamont, Alasdair (30 May 2015). "Inverness CT 2–1 Falkirk". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
22. Lamont, Alasdair (31 May 2015). "Graeme Shinnie signs off from Inverness in 'the best way'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
23. "Shinnie deal". www.afc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
24. Spence, Jim (2 July 2015). "Shkendija 1–1 Aberdeen". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
25. Davie, Scott (9 August 2015). "Aberdeen 2–0 Kilmarnock". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
26. "Graeme Shinnie signs Aberdeen contract until 2019". BBC Sport. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
27. Mackenzie, Alasdair (23 May 2017). "Graeme Shinnie to replace Ryan Jack as Aberdeen captain for Scottish Cup final clash with Celtic". The Herald. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
28. "Graeme Shinnie: Aberdeen captain signs pre-contract with Derby County". BBC Sport. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
29. "Derby 1–0 Wigan". BBC Sport. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
30. "Wigan Athletic confirm Scottish ace capture". www.wigantoday.net. 16 January 2022.
31. "Wigan sign Derby midfielder Shinnie". BBC Sport. 16 January 2022.
32. "Shinnie returns to Aberdeen on loan from Wigan". BBC Sport. 5 January 2023.
33. "Aberdeen re-sign Shinnie as Williams joins on loan". BBC Sport. 28 March 2023.
34. "Scotland U21 1–4 Italy U21". BBC Sport. 25 April 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
35. "Scotland: Shinnie & Rhodes called up for Euro 2016 qualifiers". BBC Sport. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
36. "Scotland: Interim manager Malky Mackay calls up three new faces for friendly". BBC Sport. 30 October 2017.
37. "Scotland pick Johnny Russell plus seven uncapped players including Lewis Stevenson & Lewis Morgan". BBC Sport. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
38. Lamont, Alasdair (30 May 2018). "Peru 2–0 Scotland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
39. Lindsay, Matthew (21 March 2019). "Graeme Shinnie: Blame me for sorry Kazakhstan debacle – I won't get back in the Scotland team". Evening Times . Retrieved 23 March 2019.
40. "Hibernian v Aberdeen: Graeme and Andrew Shinnie vie for Scottish Cup final place". BBC Sport. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
41. "Aberdeen school pride as Shinnie brothers prepare for first competitive battle". Evening Express. 18 April 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
42. "Scotland call ups a 'laughing stock', says Kris Boyd". BBC Sport. 7 November 2017.
43. "Highland League Cup Final: Forres Mechanics 2 Rothes 0". Daily Record . 10 May 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
44. "Inverness 3 - 2 Nairn County". Nairn County Archive. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
45. "Watch: Latics clinch Sky Bet League One title". www.efl.com. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
46. "Supporters Name Shinnie As 2020/21 Jack Stamps Player Of The Season". dcfc.co.uk. 29 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
47. "Celtic and Dundee United trios in SPFL Premiership team of year". BBC Sport. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
48. "PFA Scotland Teams of the Year". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 1 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
49. "James Forrest, Steve Clarke & Ryan Kent win PFA Scotland annual awards". BBC Sport. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.