George Martin Long (born 5 November 1993) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. Born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, he came through the youth ranks at his hometown Sheffield United before making the break into the first team, and has also represented England at

Under 18 ''Under Eighteen'' is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Marian Marsh, Anita Page, Regis Toomey, and Warren William. It is based on the short story "Sky Life" by Frank Mitchell Dazey and Agnes Chri ...

level. Long has previously had loan spells at

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

and

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

Club career

Long made his début for the Blades at the beginning of May 2011, starting the last game of the 2010–11 season against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

at the

Liberty Stadium The Swansea.com Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Swansea.com; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It ...

, in doing so becoming the youngest goalkeeper to play in a league game for the Blades in the club's history at just 17 years 183 days. Long was a member of the team that reached the final of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, only to lose to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. After a couple more first-team appearances he was handed a new long-term deal in February 2012 to keep him at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

until the summer of 2016. Long started the following season as second choice behind Mark Howard but, after an injury to Howard in October 2012, became the side's regular stopper. During his initial run in the team he conceded only one goal in 5 league appearances and was subsequently awarded

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

'Player of the Month' for October, followed by the Blades supporters' Player of the Month for November 2012. Long retained his place in the first team, despite the signing of experienced former

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

international keeper

Danny Coyne Daniel Coyne (born 27 August 1973) is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a goalkeeper who played between 1992 and 2018. He came through the youth ranks at Tranmere Rovers during the 1992–93 season. ...

, and in March 2013 he was named

Football League Young Player of the Month The EFL Young Player of the Month is an award for young players in all three divisions of the English Football League. To be eligible players must be under-21 or turn 21 during the current season. It was first awarded in December 2009. Victor Mose ...

for February, following six consecutive clean sheets over the period. Long remained United's first-choice keeper and finished the season having played 44 times in all competitions. On 25 July 2014, Long joined

on a six-month loan deal to play first-team football having dropped to second-choice keeper at Bramall Lane behind Mark Howard. In November, Blades manager

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was c ...

recalled Long from his loan spell after Oxford manager

Michael Appleton Michael Antony Appleton (born 4 December 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of Blackpool. As a player, he operated as a midfielder, in a nine-year career that began in 1994 and e ...

revealed that Long was no longer part of his plans and had been dropped from the first team to make way for further loan signings. On 2 February 2015, Long signed for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club

on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season. Long helped Motherwell preserve their top flight status with a 6–1 aggregate win over Rangers in the Scottish Premiership playoff Final. After returning to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, Long started the 2015–16 season as first choice keeper after impressing new manager

Nigel Adkins Nigel Howard Adkins (born 11 March 1965) is an English professional football manager and former player and physiotherapist. Adkins played as a goalkeeper for Tranmere Rovers and Wigan Athletic. He finished his playing career and began his mana ...

. However, after a disappointing loss to Gillingham in the first match of the season, Long was replaced by Mark Howard. Long was still used in cup matches and performed well saving two out of five penalties in a shoot out against Hartlepool United in the Football League Trophy. Long returned to first choice in November 2015 against Southend United. Some good performances led to him twice being named in the Sky Bet Football League Team of the week in December 2015. On 6 February 2016 the goalkeeper made his 100th starting appearance for Sheffield United in a League 1 game against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. United lost 0–2, though he did save a penalty in the game. On 9 June 2016 Long signed a two-year contract (with a club option for a third year) under new manager

Chris Wilder Christopher John Wilder (born 23 September 1967) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a right-back. He was most recently the manager of club Middlesbrough ...

. On 4 July 2017, he joined

on a one-season loan. He was transfer-listed by Sheffield United at the end of the 2017–18 season after the club had triggered his contract option year for the season 2018–19. On 18 July 2018, Long joined fellow

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

on a three-year contract. He made his Hull debut on 28 August 2018 in the

Second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

of the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

at home to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

which Hull lost 0–4. On 25 May 2021, it was announced that Long had opted not to sign a new contract with Hull City and instead signed for

on a free transfer.

International career

Long made his England U18 début in April 2011, coming on as a second-half substitute during a 1–1 draw with Italy in

Carpi Carpi may refer to: Places * Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, a large town in the province of Modena, central Italy * Carpi (Africa), a city and former diocese of Roman Africa, now a Latin Catholic titular bishopric People * Carpi (people), an ancie ...

. Following a successful 2012–13 season, Long was selected in the provisional 35-man squad for the 2013 FIFA Under 20 World Cup, and was later confirmed as part of the 21-man squad for the finals themselves. Long featured in a pre-tournament practice match against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, but failed to make any competitive appearances during the tournament. On 8 August 2013 Long got his first call up to the England U21 team for the match against Scotland U21s on 13 August at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane. Upon his first call up to the U21s Long stated "It makes it a bit more special that it's at Bramall Lane. There will be a great atmosphere there and a packed stadium, so I'm looking forward to it." On 27 August 2013 Long was called up for the England U21s again under new boss

Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a defender and midfielder. He has been the manager of the England national team since 2016. Southgate won the League Cup w ...

for matches against Moldova U21s and Finland U21s for Group 1 2015 U-21 Euro Qualifier matches and once more in November for matches against San Marino U21s and Finland's U21s again.

Career statistics

Honours

Hull City *

EFL League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

Champions:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual *

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

Player of the Month: October 2012 *

: February 2013

References

External links

*
Club profile
at Sheffield United F.C.
England profile
at The FA {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, George 1993 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English footballers England youth international footballers Association football goalkeepers Sheffield United F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Millwall F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players