REPUBLIC OF IRELAND international defender Paul McShane most definitely had an up and down playing career spanning 20 years and involving 400+ games for 10 clubs.
He left a lasting impression of the right kind in a season-long loan from Manchester United at Brighton who he joined in the Championship aged just 19, as I reported in my 1 May 2018 blog post.
He won both the player of the season award and the away supporters’ player of the season award, and Steve Claridge, in his Scouting report for The Guardian, wrote: “That’s some achievement for a loan player – particularly one who knows he is unlikely to sign for the club – and it says an awful lot about his attitude and application.”
That sentiment was echoed by Albion boss Mark McGhee who said after McShane’s initial loan spell came to an abrupt end when he damaged right ankle ligaments in a 1-1 draw away to Cardiff: “He has performed consistently for us during his time here and as a loan player he has also shown a commitment to the cause way above the call of duty.”
A matchday programme piece added: “Paul’s cool reading of the game and his ability to overcome some of the most effective attacking players in the division marked him out as a fine prospect, and he proved competitive in the air and on the ground, his pace and positional sense being a real asset.”
Alas, with the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić ahead of him at United, not to mention Wes Brown, he was unable to break into the United first team and in August 2006 McShane left Old Trafford for Championship West Brom together with goalkeeper Luke Steele as makeweights in the deal that took goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak to United.
United legend Bryan Robson was manager of the Baggies at the time and Tony Mowbray took over in the autumn. They eventually finished fourth in the division with McShane playing 42 games as they agonisingly lost to Derby County in the play-off final.
But McShane was destined for the Premier League anyway because Sunderland, under Roy Keane, snapped him up for £1.5m, one of 12 new signings for the newly-promoted Black Cats.
“It was a huge move for me to be just 21 and given an opportunity to play in the Premier League, especially at a club like Sunderland,” he told the Sunderland Echo.
“I was aware of the amazing fanbase and it was an exciting time around the club. I was really looking forward to working with Roy Keane, who I’d come across before when I was a youngster at Manchester United. He was my idol growing up, so the move felt perfect.”
Expanding on Keane’s influence, he said: “He was passionate, and his standards were top. I remember him as captain at Manchester United, and suddenly I was in the dressing room with him every day.
“I’d trained with him in pre-season friendlies, so I already knew the standards he kept. They were the highest I’ve ever seen. He demanded everything and had a presence about him. There was definitely a fear factor, but I was desperate to go out and play for him. He was someone you didn’t want to let down.”
McShane made his debut against Spurs and recalled: “It was amazing. We’d had a really good pre-season and I remember playing Juventus at the Stadium of Light, where the atmosphere was incredible.
“Before the first game I was very nervous because it was my Premier League debut and we were facing some huge names. I remember wondering how it was going to go.
“But, once the game started, I just thought: ‘Let’s go and face the challenge.’ We fought tooth and nail to stay in the game and then Michael Chopra scored the winner late on. It was a perfect start and an amazing feeling. I still remember the noise of the crowd when that goal went in.”
However, in his second game he scored an own goal, diverting a Stephen Kelly header into his own net, although Sunderland recovered to salvage a 2-2 draw at Birmingham. He went on to make 21 appearances (plus one as sub) as the Black Cats finished just three points clear of the drop zone, but, by the player’s own admission, he suffered at times.
“I loved it at the start when I was playing every week and learning loads. But being so young and playing at centre-back, I did make mistakes,” he conceded in a March 2026 matchday programme interview. “Some weeks I was really good, and other weeks I wasn’t. You have to swallow those mistakes, and it can be tough. Overall, I really enjoyed it, but when I left, I felt like I had unfinished business at Sunderland. I loved playing for the fans there.”
Sunderland fans, it seems, didn’t love him though. For instance, Kevin Moeliker on Roker Report said of that own goal in only his second match: “Sadly, it was a sign of things to come as McShane resembled a bull in a China shop: rash, reckless and simply all over the place.”
On the same forum, Paddy Hollis recounted a game against Manchester United on Boxing Day 2007: “Paul McShane had a mad five seconds where he got the ball, slipped on the ball, retained the ball, and then passed it straight to a United player. This summed up his Sunderland career, for me.”
While Connor Bromley concluded: “McShane was all about heart and hard work, but that is really it because he never quite displayed the characteristics of being a decent defender in the Premier League.”
Maybe the fans would have been more forgiving if it hadn’t all gone wrong in a Tyne-Wear derby at St James’ Park in April 2008 when Michael Owen scored twice as United won 2-0. “I played right-back and remember Owen nipping in front of me for a header,” said McShane. “I struggled in that game, and it was a tough one to take. I just got it wrong and mistimed it.
“As a defender, you’ve got to look at yourself afterwards and think about what you could have done better. I knew how much it meant to the fans, and to be honest, I didn’t want to leave my house for a while after that.”
Sunderland let him leave on a half-season loan to newly-promoted Hull City in August 2008 and although Keane’s successor Ricky Sbragia recalled him to Sunderland in January 2009, he moved permanently to the Tigers the following summer.
He reckoned the best years of his career were spent at Hull, although over seven seasons even there it was something of a rollercoaster ride, his time in East Yorkshire punctuated by frustration and spells in the wilderness: he was twice sent out on loans to Championship sides, to Barnsley and to Crystal Palace.
• See my pre-Palace blog post for more on McShane’s topsy turvy career.
His passion and aggression sometimes got the better of him and the only reason he wasn’t ever present was a penchant for bookings – 12 over the course of the season – which earned suspensions, and a couple of injury-induced absences. And he was missed when he wasn’t available.
McShane and Steele had both been members of United’s winning FA Youth Cup team of 2003, a side which also included Kieran Richardson and Chris Eagles, who went on to make names for themselves in the game.