Shane Long returns to Reading FC training for the first time in 11 years!
The 35-year-old signed a one year deal with the club yesterday
Last updated 13th Jul 2022
Reading football club have re-signed striker Shane Long 11 years after he left the club and 17 years after he first joined as an unknown 18-year-old.
He'll train with his new teammates at Bearwood for the first time this morning.
Head of Football Operations, Mark Bowen, said:
“When he first arrived at this club, very few fans will have known anything about Shane Long. But now, he needs absolutely no introduction to Royals supporters. A return to the club where it all began for Shane has been rumoured for a number of years, so I am delighted to have made that rumour a reality.”
Royals boss Paul Ince said:
“The arrival of Shane is something of a football fairytale for Reading fans. But make no mistake about it – he is coming into the dressing room purely on the merits of what he can offer this squad out on the pitch. Experience, energy, leadership, desire and a natural instinct you need to score goals…Shane will be an important addition to the group we are patiently trying to build and grow.”
Long’s Reading career was just 28 minutes old when he first rippled the net as a Royal, coming off the bench away at Derby on New Year’s Eve to head home from close range in the 88th minute of a game that importantly kept an extraordinary unbeaten streak alive.
His second and third league goals also came against Derby – Long again making an impact from the bench to score a brace in a 5-0 rout against the Rams that saw Reading claim the Championship title as early as 1st April in 2006.
After leaving Reading Long went on to spend the next 11 campaigns in his career in the Premier League. Two-and- a-half years at the Hawthorns was followed by a short spell with Hull City. But aside from a brief loan stint at Bournemouth in 2021, the last eight years on his CV have been spent on the south coast with Southampton.
In total, Long has totted up 344 appearances competing at the highest level of English football and, amongst the 119 career goals he has to his name, is the fastest ever scored in Premier League history – Shane scored just 7.69 seconds into a meeting between the Saints and Watford at Vicarage Road in 2019.
Long has also scored 17 goals in winning 88 caps for his native Republic of Ireland – the first of which came against Bolivia whilst still a Royal in 2007. He featured in consecutive European Championships tournaments for his country in 2012 and 2016 and made his most recent appearance for the Republic against Qatar last year.