Shane Ferguson

WHEN Shane Ferguson was given his full International debut against Italy in a friendly on 6^th June 2009 he was aged just 17 years and 329 days which made him the tenth youngest player ever to represent Northern Ireland.

In an experimental line-up Ferguson, who had played at every underage level prior to his appearance against the Italians in Pisa, came off the bench to replace Jonny Evans for the final 12 minutes of the game.

A product of the Derry City Youth team he moved to England in 2007 to join Newcastle United as a trainee and was one of that rare breed that made his club debut after winning his first senior International cap.

Although his natural position is wide left, he made his first team debut for the North East side at left-back in a League Cup tie versus Accrington Stanley in August 2010.

Over the next three seasons his appearances in the Newcastle first team were sporadic as he tried to establish himself at St James’ Park.

He had two relatively successful loan spells in the Championship with Birmingham City and a brief period at Rangers, before going on-loan with Millwall at the start of the 2015/16 season.

Ferguson made the move to the New Den permanent in January 2016 when he signed an 18-month deal with the League One outfit. 

In July 2021, Ferguson signed for League One side Rotherham United having been released by Millwall.