Paul Martin Shields (born 15 August 1975) is a Scottish

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 has played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

in the

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) Th ...

for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, as well as clubs in both the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

and English Football Leagues.

Career

Shields began his professional career with Raith Rovers in 1998 and his early form earned him a spell training with Tottenham Hotspur the following year. He joined

in March 2000 for a fee of £100,000, becoming then manager

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...

's last signing for the club. Shields made one substitute appearance for the Parkhead side towards the end of the season, being loaned to

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...

in the early stages of the 2000–01 season. Following his return in December 2000, Shields failed to add to his solitary appearance for Celtic and was loaned out again in February 2002 to

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

. At the start of the following season, Shields undertook his third loan spell, this time with Queen of the South and when he returned to Celtic Park in January 2003, he was promptly released, joining Clyde on a short-term deal. With no permanent deal on offer, Shields joined

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

on a one-year deal in July 2003, subsequently agreeing a new two-year deal at the end of the season. In the first half of 2005, Forfar rejected approaches from

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

and Grimsby Town, although Gillingham secured his signature in a £25,000 deal. Shields made just six league starts for ''The Gills'' before being released in May 2006, and he quickly joined

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

. In August 2007, Shields was released from ''Livi'' on his 26th birthday, allowing him to move with fellow player Daryl Smylie to

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

side

Östersunds FK Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known simply as Östersunds FK, Östersund () or (especially locally) ÖFK, is a Swedish professional football club located in Östersund, Sweden and since 2022 play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan. The ...

. Shields took a year out of the game after his spell in Sweden, before joining Junior side

Bo'ness United Bo'ness United Football Club is a Scottish football club, based in the town of Bo'ness. The team plays in the after winning the East of Scotland and gaining SFA membership in 2020. They presently play their home games at Newtown Park, which ...

in August 2009. During his spell at Bo'ness, he helped the club to the East Superleague title in 2009–10. In the following seasons Scottish Cup, Shields scored the winning goal in a second round tie against

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

side Queen's Park. He joined Broxburn Athletic in January 2011 before signing for

Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic Bonnyrigg Rose Football Club is a Scottish football club from the town of Bonnyrigg, Midlothian. Formed in 1881 and nicknamed ''the Rose'', the team plays in , having been promoted after winning the Lowland Football League in 2021–22. Their ...

later that year. Shields left Bonnyrigg in March 2013.

Post playing career

Since retiring from playing, he has worked in masseur roles for Hearts,

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

and Scotland.

Statistics

''Correct after 11 September 2008''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, Paul 1981 births Footballers from Dunfermline Living people Scottish men's footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Raith Rovers F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Albion Rovers F.C. players Clydebank F.C. (1965) players Queen of the South F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Forfar Athletic F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Östersunds FK players Bo'ness United F.C. players Bonnyrigg Rose F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Broxburn Athletic F.C. players Men's association football forwards English Football League players