Shane Duffy


Shane Patrick Michael Duffy is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Republic of Ireland national team.
He came through the youth academy at Everton, where he completed his development after being promoted into the senior squad, spending most of his time at the club out on loan. He joined Blackburn Rovers in 2014 for an undisclosed fee, spending two years with the Lancashire club before moving to Brighton in 2016, where he earned promotion to the Premier League.
Born in Derry in Northern Ireland, Duffy played for Northern Ireland at youth international level before switching allegiance to the Republic of Ireland. Duffy made his debut for their senior team in 2014 and represented the country at UEFA Euro 2016.

Early life

As a youth, Duffy played Gaelic football for Doire Colmcille CLG and association football for Foyle Harps, both based in Derry. He represented Northern Ireland at under 16 level in the 2007 Victory Shield tournament and impressed Everton manager David Moyes in a performance at Bloomfield Road against England.

Club career

Everton

Duffy joined Everton in November 2008 as a first-year scholar and worked his way through the U-18 and reserve teams. Manager David Moyes named him and several young players in the first team for the pre-season friendlies and Duffy scored his first Everton goal against Rochdale in a 4–0 victory. He made his professional debut versus AEK Athens in the UEFA Europa League in December 2009, coming on for the injured Sylvain Distin. In Everton's next European fixture, Duffy made his home debut at Goodison Park, completing the full 90 minutes against BATE Borisov.
In May 2010 Duffy got seriously injured after colliding with a goalkeeper during a training match. He had undergone emergency surgery after lacerating his liver, and losing over 3 litres of blood in what medical staff described as 'freak accident'.

Loan to Burnley

Duffy joined Burnley on loan on 24 March 2011 on an initial 28-day loan with the possibility of an extension until the end of the 2010–11 season. Duffy made his debut for Burnley on 2 April 2011 in the 2–1 defeat to Ipswich Town, playing the full 90 minutes.

Loan to Scunthorpe

Duffy joined Scunthorpe on loan on 1 September 2011. He made his debut on 10 September against Sheffield United, winning the Man of the Match award. He made a total of 19 appearances for the Iron before his parent club recalled him on 5 January 2012, due to an injury to Phil Jagielka, Everton's regular centre-back.

Return to Everton

Duffy made his Premier League debut at White Hart Lane on 11 January 2012, coming on as a substitute for the final 30 minutes in a 2–0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. With Everton's regular centre-backs, Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka, injured for the next game three days later, Duffy made the first Premier League start of his career in a 1–1 draw with Aston Villa.

Loan to Yeovil

On 26 September 2013, Duffy joined Championship club Yeovil Town on an initial month loan. Duffy's loan was eventually extended for a further two months and he made a total of 14 appearances for Yeovil before returning to Everton on 27 December 2013. Duffy rejoined Yeovil on 1 January 2014 when the transfer window re-opened, joining on loan until the end of the season.

Blackburn Rovers

On 1 September 2014, Duffy joined Blackburn Rovers, on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. Duffy lost out to Sam Byram after making it to the final 3-man shortlist for the December 2015 Championship Player of the Month.
In August 2016, during a league match against Cardiff City, Duffy scored 2 own goals and was later sent off in the final minutes of the game.

Brighton & Hove Albion

2016–17 season

On 26 August 2016, Duffy signed a four-year deal with Brighton & Hove Albion for an undisclosed fee. Earlier the same day, it had been reported by The Mirror that the transfer cost the Seagulls a club record fee of £4 million, after turning down an extension to his contract at Blackburn Rovers. Duffy was an ever-present in Brighton's backline in his first season at the club, helping them gain promotion to the Premier League in 2016–17 by making over 30 league appearances for the club. In the summer following Brighton's promotion, Duffy signed a new contract with the club, extending his stay on the south coast to June 2021.

2017–18 season

Duffy was named in the starting 11 for Brighton in their first ever Premier League fixture on 12 August 2017 where they lost at home to Manchester City 2–0. Duffy played in Brighton's first ever Premier League victory, a 3–1 home win over West Brom on 9 September. Duffy only made one FA Cup appearance in the 2017–18 season coming in the 2–0 quarter final defeat away to Manchester United on 17 March 2018. Just over a month and a half later Brighton beat United 1–0 at home to secure their Premier League status. Duffy played in all but one league appearance where the Sussex Club finished 15th in the table.

2018–19 season

Brighton played Man United in their second match of the 2018–19 season where Duffy scored to help The Seagulls to a consecutive win over United in a 3–2 victory at Falmer Stadium on 19 August 2018. Duffy scored again on 17 September opening Brighton's come back in the eventual 2–2 away draw at Southampton. Duffy was shown a straight red card for head butting Patrick van Aanholt on 4 December in a match against rivals Crystal Palace. Brighton went on to win 3–1 at home with Leon Balogun netting a goal - Sent on to replace Duffy's absence in defence. Duffy played in 5 FA Cup appearances where The Albion made the Semi final in which they were knocked out by the eventual champions, Manchester City. Duffy played the whole game at Brighton's trip to Wembley. On 27 April 2019 Duffy featured in the 1–1 home draw against Newcastle in which was a vital point in Brighton's survival battle coming against Cardiff. Brighton's Premier league safety was secured on 4 May as a result of Cardiff losing at home to Brighton's bitter rivals, Crystal Palace. This confirmation came exactly a year after The Seagulls secured their safety in the 2017–18 season. However, after narrowly avoiding relegation, Chris Hughton was dismissed on 13 May, a day after the 2018–19 season ended. Duffy was named Brighton's player of the year for the 2018/19 season helping the club maintain Premier League football.

2019–20 season

Hughton was replaced by Swansea City and former Östersund's boss, Graham Potter on 20 May.. Duffy played in Potter's first ever game in charge of a Premier League club, a 3–0 away win over Watford on the opening day of the 2019–20 season. He made his first EFL Cup appearance for the Sussex Club where he captained the side on 25 September 2019 in a 3–1 home loss to Aston Villa where he went off injured in the game where Potter gave 10 debuts with an average team age of just over 21. Duffy netted his first goal of the season in a 2–0 home victory over Norwich on 2 November 2019. Throughout Graham Potter's first season Duffy's playing time fell due to extra competition in defense including the new signing Adam Webster consistently keeping him out of the starting 11.

International career

Northern Ireland

Duffy was part of the Northern Ireland youth set-up from the U16 level upward. An U17 regular, he was in the squad for their unsuccessful 2009 European Championship qualifying campaign and scored the only goal of the match, a penalty, in the opening game against Liechtenstein.
Aged 17, he was called up to the senior team in June 2009 for a friendly against Italy but was an unused substitute. In August 2009, he made his Northern Ireland U21 debut, playing the whole match and scoring in the 2–1 away loss to Portugal.
Duffy played several games in the 2010 UEFA Under-19 Championship qualifiers, scoring twice in a 4–0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland's first win of the qualifying campaign.

Republic of Ireland

Duffy opted to play for the Republic of Ireland, for which he was eligible through his Irish nationality. Following a discussion with former international Liam Brady, Duffy was called up to the Republic of Ireland training camp in May 2010. Everton formally informed the IFA of Duffy's change in allegiance, and the player was called up for a training camp squad for the Republic of Ireland squad to take place in May 2010. At the camp Duffy suffered a 'freak' injury, during a match between the Republic of Ireland development squad and the Ireland amateur side, when he collided with goalkeeper Adrian Walsh and had to undergo life saving surgery at the Mater Hospital after damaging his liver and was discharged six days later after making a full recovery. Although it was expected to take a number of months for him to recuperate and regain his fitness, Duffy returned to action in little over ten weeks after his injury and has since appeared for Republic of Ireland under-19 and under-21 squads. He was called up for the U21 friendly versus Portugal in March 2011.
Players such as Duffy, James McClean, Daniel Kearns, Darron Gibson and Marc Wilson had represented Northern Ireland at youth level but later opted to play for Republic of Ireland. The IFA disputed the players' right to do so under FIFA rules and felt the current rules were a "clear disadvantage over all other 206 Associations". The Irish Football Association took a case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport with the hope of getting FIFA to 'uphold' the rules. Although Duffy's name is often linked with this dispute and the IFA appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, his situation differs from that of players such as Darron Gibson because of his close family ties to Donegal. This means he would have been eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland wherever he was born.
On 13 February 2012, less than two years after sustaining a life-threatening injury, Duffy received a call-up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad, replacing the injured Richard Dunne. On 1 November 2012, Duffy was named in the provisional 26-man Republic of Ireland squad for the friendly fixture against Greece on 14 November 2012. Duffy received his next call-up on 9 May 2014 when he was included in the 32-man provisional squad ahead of friendlies against Turkey, Italy, Costa Rica and Portugal.
Duffy had his international debut in June 2014 lining up against Costa Rica in a friendly in Philadelphia. Two years later, he made his second appearance for Ireland against Switzerland, winning the Man of the Match award, setting up Ciaran Clark for the only goal of the game.
He was called up for Euro 2016, but was an unused sub for the first two matches against Sweden and Belgium. In the final group game of the tournament Duffy came into the team and a heroic performance helped secure an historic victory against Italy to propel the Republic of Ireland into the last sixteen. He was sent off for a professional foul on Antoine Griezmann as the Republic of Ireland were knocked out Euro 2016, losing 2–1 to France.
On 7 June 2019, Duffy scored an 85th minute headed equalizer for the Republic of Ireland against Denmark in a Euro 2020 qualifier, securing a 1–1 draw and preserving Ireland's unbeaten start to the campaign.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
12 September 2017Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia121–01–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
214 November 2017Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland171–01–52018 FIFA World Cup qualification
37 June 2019Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark281–11–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Honours

Club

Brighton & Hove Albion