Greg Shields

Greg Shields (born 21 August 1976) is a Scottish football player and coach. His playing career was most closely associated with Dunfermline Athletic, as he played for the club over 200 times across two spells and was their captain in two national cup finals. Shields also played for Rangers, Charlton Athletic, Walsall, Kilmarnock, Partick Thistle and the Carolina RailHawks. He represented Scotland in under-21 and B internationals.

Greg Shields
Personal information
Full name Greg Shields[1]
Date of birth (1976-08-21) 21 August 1976
Place of birth Falkirk, Scotland
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Gairdoch United
0000–1995 Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 Rangers 7 (0)
1997–1999 Dunfermline Athletic 75 (0)
1999–2002 Charlton Athletic 25 (2)
2002 → Walsall (loan) 7 (0)
2002 → Kilmarnock (loan) 5 (0)
2002–2004 Kilmarnock 53 (2)
2004–2009 Dunfermline Athletic 129 (4)
2009–2010 Carolina RailHawks 11 (0)
2010 → Partick Thistle (loan) 5 (0)
2010–2013 Carolina RailHawks 33 (0)
Total 350 (8)
National team
1996[2] Scotland U21 2 (0)
2003[3] Scotland B 1 (0)
Teams managed
2013–2019 North Carolina FC (assistant)
2019– Dunfermline Athletic (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Early career

Shields started his career with Gairdoch United Boys Club before joining the youth system at Rangers. One of his first senior appearances was in October 1996 in a UEFA Champions League tie against Ajax.[4] He went on to play only 11 times for the Glasgow club[5] before a £200,000 move to Dunfermline Athletic in 1997.

England and Scotland

After 86 consecutive appearances for the Pars he swapped west Fife for south London in a £600,000 move to Alan Curbishley's Charlton Athletic in 1999.[6] After an impressive start at The Valley, Shields ran into some injury problems which eventually ruined his Charlton career.

After a brief spell on loan at Walsall, Jim Jefferies brought him back home to Scotland at SPL side Kilmarnock, initially on loan then permanently. He quickly established himself in the Rugby Park side,[7] becoming captain in season 2002–03. This alerted his former employers Dunfermline Athletic, who swooped to take him back to East End Park during the January 2004 transfer window (coincidentally, both his goals for Killie were scored against Dunfermline and they were also the last opponent he faced while at the Ayrshire club).[7]

Dunfermline played in the final of the Scottish Cup that season but Shields was cup-tied after playing in an earlier round for Kilmarnock. Injury again wrecked most of the 2004–05 season for him. He captained the Pars in the 2006 Scottish League Cup Final and the 2007 Scottish Cup Final, both of which ended in defeat to Celtic; his defensive colleagues included former Rangers youth teammate Scott Wilson.[8][9]

United States

On 26 May 2009, Shields was poised to join Carolina RailHawks in the United States, managed by Scotsman Martin Rennie.[6] Carolina RailHawks announced on 16 July 2009 that they had signed Shields.[10] He had a loan spell back in Scotland with Partick Thistle before returning to RailHawks where he finished his playing career in 2013.

Coaching career

Shields worked as an assistant coach with the RailHawks,[11] as well as being a head coach with Capital Area RailHawks, Carolina RailHawks' academy programme.[12] He was appointed assistant head coach at Dunfermline Athletic in January 2019.[13]

References
  1. "Greg Shields". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  2. "Scotland U21 player Greg Shields". FitbaStats. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  3. "Scotland B player Greg Shields". FitbaStats. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  4. David McKinney (31 October 1996). "Rangers come to end of road". The Independent. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  5. "Rangers player Greg Shields". FitbaStats. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  6. "Shields to leave Pars for America". BBC Sport. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  7. "Kilmarnock player Greg Shields". FitbaStats. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  8. "Dunfermline 0-3 Celtic". BBC Sport. 19 March 2006. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  9. "Celtic 1-0 Dunfermline". BBC Sport. 26 May 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  10. "Carolina signs Shields of Dunfermline". Carolina RailHawks News Release. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
  11. "Greg Shields". Carolina RailHawks. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  12. "Greg Shields". Capital Area RailHawks. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  13. "Dunfermline: Stevie Crawford appointed head coach". BBC Sport. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
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