Lawrence Shankland (born 10 August 1995) is a footballer who plays as a striker for club Heart of Midlothian and the Scotland national team. Shankland began his career at Queen's Park before moving to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in 2013. He played on loan with

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

, St Mirren and

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...

before joining Ayr United in 2017. He signed for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

in 2019 and made his debut for Scotland later that year. In 2021 Shankland moved to Belgian club

Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen (), or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the top tier Pro League after promotion from second tier in 2023–24 season. In 2013, KFCO Wil ...

, but returned to Scotland after one year, signing with Hearts.

Club career

Queen's Park

Shankland was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and attended

Bannerman High School Bannerman High School is a state secondary school in the Baillieston suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It is a non-denominational, co-educational, comprehensive school within the Glasgow City Council local education authority. The school teaches pup ...

Baillieston Baillieston () is a working class suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It is about east of the city centre. It also gives its name to Ward 20 of Glasgow City Council and forms part of the Glasgow East constituency of the UK Parliament. Geographical ...

. He progressed through the Queen's Park youth system and was their top goalscorer in the 2012–13 season, having moved to the senior squad straight from the under-17 team; he also worked part-time as a tool setter in a local plumbing supplies company, a position arranged by the amateur club to help their young players earn a wage. He scored his first senior goal on 4 August 2012, aged 16, in a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

tie against Airdrieonians. Shankland signed for

at the end of the season. He was one of three Queen's Park players to move to top flight Scottish clubs at that time, as Andy Robertson and

Aidan Connolly Aidan Charles Patrick Connolly (born 15 August 1995) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Queen's Park. Connolly began his career with Queen's Park before joining Dundee United in 2013, and also played for ...

signed for

. Blair Spittal also made the move to Dundee United a year later.

Aberdeen

Shankland was initially placed in the Aberdeen under-20 squad, as he adjusted to full-time professional training. He made his debut appearance for Aberdeen in September 2014, in a 3–2 victory against

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

. After impressing in the under-20s, scoring plenty of goals, and making first team appearances as a substitute, Shankland signed a new contract to run until summer 2017; however, he was loaned to lower-division clubs for the vast majority of its duration. At the end of the 2016–17 season, Aberdeen confirmed that Shankland would be leaving the club.

Dunfermline loan

He moved to

on loan for the latter part of the 2013–14 season. The 18-year-old striker scored seven league goals during his short spell in Fife; however, injury prevented him taking part in the ''Pars end-of-season

promotion play-off Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

with local rivals

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

which ended in defeat.

St Mirren and Morton loans

Shankland was loaned to St Mirren in August 2015 for the rest of the 2015–16 season. He scored his first goal for the ''Buddies'' in a 2–1 home defeat to

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. The club has won f ...

on 18 September 2015. Shankland scored 10 goals in 32 appearances during his loan spell, and returned to Aberdeen at the end of the season. In July 2016 it was confirmed that Shankland had returned to St Mirren, on a season-long loan. However, having failed to score any league goals in the first half of the season, his St Mirren deal was cut short and on 11 January 2017, he moved on loan to their

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

, fellow

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

side

. After helping the club to a fourth-place finish, his final appearance for Morton was in the Scottish Premiership playoff defeat to Dundee United.

Ayr United

In September 2017, free agent Shankland signed a short-term contract to play for

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

club Ayr United until the following January. On 24 March 2018 he scored a hat-trick against former club Queen's Park. Ayr won

the league ''The League'' is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...

by one point, and after finishing with 29 goals, Shankland was named as the division's

PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year The PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year (often called the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Scottish Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in Scottish footba ...

. He started the 2018–19 season with a hat-trick against former club Morton in the League Cup. On 28 July, he scored a "stunning goal" from 45 yards as Ayr defeated

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

to qualify for the knockout stage of the competition. With a goal against Dunfermline on 25 August 2018, Shankland moved to 41 goals in 42 games for the ''Honest Men''. In November 2018, he scored four goals in a league fixture away to Dundee United which ended 5–0 and put Ayr five points clear at the top of the table. However he then sustained an injury, and Ayr's form deteriorated in his absence. He returned towards the end of the season, but the team's campaign ended with defeat to Inverness CT in the opening round of the Premiership promotion play-offs, having finished in fourth position. Shankland, whose total return was 34 goals in 41 games, was nominated for the division's PFA Player of the Year Award, but lost out to another prolific striker,

Stephen Dobbie Stephen Dobbie (born 5 December 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He is a first-team coach at Blackpool. Dobbie is Queen of the South's second-highest goalscorer of all time (166 goals) and the club's record scorer for a sing ...

. Both were named in the

Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...

Dundee United

On 3 July 2019 it was announced that Shankland had left Ayr to join fellow Championship side Dundee United on a three-year contract, turning down offers from other clubs in both England and Scotland. He scored on his debut for the club in a

tie against Hearts on 12 July 2019, and scored four goals in a 4–1 victory against

on the opening day of the

2019–20 Scottish Championship The 2019–20 Scottish Championship (known as Ladbrokes Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 26th season in the current format of 10 teams in the second-tier of Scottish football. Ten teams contested the league: Alloa Athletic, Arbroath, ...

season. Shankland was named Scottish Championship Player of the Month for August 2019, having scored eight goals in four appearances during the month. The season was suspended in March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland The COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland is part of the COVID-19 pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease-2019, caused by the virus Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2. The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Scotland on 1 M ...

, and curtailed a month later, with Dundee United declared winners and promoted; up to that point Shankland had scored 24 league goals to finish as the division's top scorer, and maintained the ratio of almost a goal-per-game he had set at Ayr, with a total of 28 from 33 appearances. On 12 January 2021, Shankland scored with a "wonder strike" from to secure a 2–2 draw against

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

Beerschot

On 11 August 2021, Shankland moved to Belgian side

for an undisclosed fee. Shankland scored five league goals for Beerschot during the 2021–22 season as they were relegated from the Belgian top division.

Heart of Midlothian

2022–23

Shankland returned to Scottish football in July 2022, signing a three-year contract with Heart of Midlothian. He scored his first goal for Hearts in a 1–1 draw with Hibernian at

Easter Road Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-largest ...

on 7 August 2022. After a season-ending injury to club captain

Craig Gordon Craig Sinclair Gordon (born 31 December 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Heart of Midlothian and the Scotland national team. Gordon started his career with Currie Boys before joining Heart of ...

in a match on 28 December 2022, Shankland was named team captain for the rest of the season. Shankland became the first Hearts' player since John Robertson in the 1991–92 season to score 20 goals in all competitions following his goal in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Jamie Walker.

International career

Shankland represented Scotland under-18s in

Victory Shield The Victory Shield is an annual football (soccer), football tournament competed for by the under-16 teams of Scotland national under-16 football team, Scotland, Republic of Ireland national under-16 football team, Republic of Ireland, Northern Irel ...

matches against the other home nations in 2012. He was first selected for the

Scotland national under-21 football team The Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team. As a European under-21 t ...

in March 2015; he made his debut away to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, scoring two late goals in a 2–1 victory. He made three other under-21 appearances, also in 2015, producing one draw and two defeats. On 1 October 2019,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

manager

Steve Clarke Stephen Clarke (born 29 August 1963) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Scotland national team. Clarke played for St Mirren, Chelsea and the Scotland national team, winning three majo ...

called up Shankland to the senior squad for the first time. He won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

when he came on as a second-half substitute in the side's 4–0 defeat by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

on 10 October (playing alongside national team captain Andy Robertson for the first time since their time at Queen's Park in the fourth tier of Scottish football, nearly seven years earlier) and three days later made his first start and scored his first goal, the fourth in a 6–0 victory over

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

. Shankland was recalled to the squad in March 2023, as an injury replacement for

Ché Adams Ché Zach Everton Fred Adams (born 13 July 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Torino and the Scotland national team. Adams began his senior career in non-league football with Oadby Town and Ilkeston before mo ...

. He scored his second international goal on 16 November 2023, a late equaliser in a

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that would join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Eur ...

match against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Shankland had again been a late addition to the squad as an injury replacement for Adams. On 23 March 2024, Shankland was named in Scotland's starting XI for the first time since 2019 in a

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

warm-up match against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. On 7 June 2024, he was named in Scotland's 26-man squad for Euro 2024. He played the final eight minutes of the 5–1 loss to hosts

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the opening match of the tournament on 14 June. He went on to appear as a substitute against both

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

as Scotland finished bottom of

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...

with one point from three matches.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.''

Honours

Ayr United *

: 2017–18 Dundee United *

: 2019–20 Individual *

: 2023–24 *

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

top scorer: 2023–24 * PFA Scotland Team of the Year (Premiership): 2023–24 *

SFWA Footballer of the Year The Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the SFWA Footballer of the Year, or simply the Scottish Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the se ...

: 2023–24 *

(League One): 2017–18 *

Player of the Month: November 2023, December 2023 *

Player of the Month: August 2018, August 2019 *

Player of the Month: November 2017, March 2018

References

External links

* * *
Profile and stats
at ''AFC Heritage Trust'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Shankland, Lawrence 1995 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow People from Baillieston Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's youth international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scotland men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Queen's Park F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium K Beerschot VA players Belgian Pro League players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen