PAUL McSHANE’S move to Selhurst Park at the beginning of 2012 was quite bold considering he had memorably scored a winner for Brighton on that ground on 18 October 2005.

But did he actually get the final touch on the goal that gave the Seagulls their first win at Selhurst Park in more than 20 years?

‘McShane 78 minutes’ went into the record books and it certainly looked like he’d got his head, or maybe his shoulder, on the ball as it went into the box from Seb Carole’s corner.

But Albion’s skipper Charlie Oatway offered some playful banter about it in his matchday programme column for the following home game.

“Paul McShane claimed he scored the goal, but he is fibbing,” said Charlie. “Seb’s corner went over my head and as I turned round I saw Emerson Boyce head it. Fair play to the compulsive liar though for actually having the front to go on TV and radio and claim it, saying ‘I managed to get something on it’.

“After hearing about the number of fans who won thousands of pounds betting on the 1-0 scoreline and ‘Ginger’ scoring the winning goal, all the lads reckon he’s on a percentage of the take!”

Such was the enormity of the result at that time that each player’s white shirt from that evening was put up for auction by the club with fans bidding hundreds of pounds for the sweaty mementoes!

The club also produced 1,260 limited edition versions of the then one-off shirt embroidered with the match date and score and they released a DVD ‘One Night at the Palace’ for fans to remember it by.

“Crystal Palace was a special night, because of the rivalry,” said McShane. “It was a great atmosphere and scoring that goal was brilliant.”

Fast forward six and a bit years and, with McShane out of favour at Hull, Palace took him on loan to Selhurst and, as if the fates would have it, one of his first appearances for the Eagles was in a 1-1 draw against Brighton – making their first return to Croydon since that 2005 victory.

On January transfer deadline day 2012, the game finished with honours even, although Inigo Calderon came close to snatching another win in stoppage time.

It proved to be a game of two penalties, both involving Albion winger Will Buckley. After Wilfred Zaha went down in the box under Buckley’s challenge, Chris Martin netted from 12 yards for Palace in the 64^th minute.

At the other end, ten minutes later, Buckley was fouled in the penalty area by Nathaniel Clyne and Ashley Barnes equalised from the spot for the Albion.

Shortly afterwards, McShane’s loan was extended until the end of the season and he told yourlocalguardian: “I am enjoying my time here and I was hoping I would be able to stay until the end of the season.

“I have to be playing as many games as I can if I am going to get in the (Republic of Ireland) squad for the Euros and I just needed to get away from Hull as I wasn’t getting a chance to play in a regular spot.”

Palace’s first choice central defensive pairing were Anthony Gardner and Paddy McCarthy, but McShane said: “It is good to have a bit of competition and I will be pushing them all way.”

The temporary move worked out as he’d hoped after he made nine appearances (plus three as a sub) in Dougie Freeman’s side in their 17^th place finish in the Championship table, seven places below Brighton.

He was included in Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad for the 2012 Euros although he didn’t get a game as the Irish fell to three defeats in Group C, to Croatia, Spain and Italy.

McShane had made his full international debut six years earlier (against the Czech Republic at Lansdowne Road) and he recalled: “The atmosphere was amazing. I was up against Jan Koller, who was about 6ft 8in, so I decided to give him a right bash. I ended up getting man of the match.”

He won 29 of his caps by the time he was 24 and scored an own goal on the stroke of half-time in his 33^rd and final appearance for his country, a 2-2 draw with Slovakia in March 2016 (by which time he’d moved on to Reading).

The Palace loan was his second successive temporary spell away from Hull: in February 2011, he joined a Barnsley side who had his old Man Utd and West Brom teammate Luke Steele in goal and one-time Albion loanee Diego Arismendi in midfield.

The last of his 10 games for the Tykes had come on 17 April 2011 when he was sent off for violent conduct after 69 minutes of a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough.

But his time on Humberside was not up, because, when Steve Bruce took over as manager at Hull in June 2012, McShane returned to the City fold. Fans of a certain vintage also remember it was his goal against Cardiff on the final day of the 2012-13 season that took the Tigers back up to the Premier League. He went on to hold down a regular place in the top flight for two seasons.

McShane wasn’t in the Hull side that beat Brighton 2-1 in a FA Cup fifth round replay in 2014, after a 1-1 draw at the Amex, nor the one that beat Sunderland 3-0 in the quarter-finals, but he got on as a substitute in the final when Arsenal overturned the Tigers’ early lead to win the game 3-2 after extra time.

“I’d been injured but got back just before the final,” said McShane. “It was a sickener to lose in extra time after being in such a good position.”

In a retrospective piece for the Hull Daily Mail in March 2020, Philip Buckingham recounted: “McShane was an extraordinary figure during an association that spanned seven campaigns at the KCOM Stadium. His talent and technique failed to elevate him above team-mates, but the defender’s perseverance and drive encountered few rivals.

“McShane found the resolve to conjure more comebacks than Frank Sinatra. Nigel Pearson, Nick Barmby and Steve Bruce all swung the exit door open, encouraging McShane to move on, but on every occasion he came bouncing back to prominence. Only when his contract expired with City condemned to the Championship (in 2015) did he finally reach the end of the road.”

McShane told the reporter: “The beauty was in the struggle. And there was a lot of struggle.

“But that’s why the relationship between me and the club grew so strong. There were some tough times but I always had a feeling I could turn it around. I suppose I did in the end.”

McShane ended up making a total of 136 appearances for Hull, and he reflected: “It was the best times of my football career but also the worst times as well, to be honest.

“There were some difficult moments in there but that was the beauty of it all. I think the bond was strong because I was on the journey with everyone.

“Every time I stepped on the pitch I gave my all. It sounds silly but I would probably die on the pitch to be honest with you.

“That’s just the way I’ve always played the game and just the way I am. Football is everything to me. Competing is everything to me and the fans recognised that.

“But every time I thought I was getting somewhere, I was always hit with another setback. It was difficult and at times I wanted to give up in all honesty.

“And that was to give up football, not just being at Hull City. I was just so fed up with the setbacks. But I saw it out. I never gave up.”

His final Hull appearance was in a 0-0 Premier League draw at home to Manchester United, and reflecting on the end of his turbulent Tigers tenure, he told the Hull paper’s Buckingham: “My career has been one long fight in a lot of ways.

“Even before I came over from Ireland, you’d have people tell you that not many made it, only one per cent stay and make a career of it.

“I came over thinking they’d have to take me home in a body bag. There was not a chance I wasn’t going to make it. I was determined to do everything I possibly could to make it as a professional footballer.

“Sometimes I look back and think ‘Jesus, if I could’ve just relaxed a bit.’ I was maybe too tense about it all. Even in the youth team at Man United I was like a mad man, so determined to make it.

“I was always told I wasn’t big enough to be a centre-back. I was always told I wasn’t quick enough or I wasn’t good enough technically. So, I just kept on going to try and prove those people wrong. It meant so much to me.”

After a couple of seasons playing in League One for Rochdale, McShane returned to United as an academy coach but spent the 2025-26 season as an assistant coach at League One Huddersfield.

In July 2026, he was appointed first team coach at Lincoln City, who were newly-promoted to the Championship. He also coaches the Republic of Ireland under-21s.

“I think the ambition has to be to become a number one eventually,” he said. “But I always wanted to make sure I was ready for it rather than jumping straight in. I want to continue my football education and hopefully move into a job where I know I’ve covered every angle if I want to become a successful manager.”