Shane Supple (born 4 May 1987) is an Irish coach and former

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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

. In 2015, he made a return to competitive football, after initially retiring in 2009, by signing for non-league Crumlin United, before returning to top-flight football in 2016 when he signed for Bohemians Prior to his initial retirement, he spent his career mainly with

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

, having been a graduate of Ipswich's

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

. He also played for

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

and

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

and was capped once by the Republic of Ireland U21 side.

Club career

Ipswich Town

In the 2004–05 season, he was part 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 ...

-winning Ipswich team. On 13 August 2005 he made his first appearance for the Ipswich first team, when an injury to first-choice goalkeeper Lewis Price forced Supple to play for an hour of the match against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

; Supple kept a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

. He retained the number one spot for Ipswich Town, and in the summer of 2006,

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

made a number of bids for the Republic of Ireland player, but Ipswich manager

Jim Magilton James Magilton (born 6 May 1969) is a Northern Irish former professional football player and current manager of NIFL Premiership side Cliftonville. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Southampton, Shef ...

rejected all them.

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

also showed interest but Ipswich informed the public that no bid had been made. He mainly featured among the Ipswich substitutes during the 2006–07 season with Lewis Price being first-choice keeper. In the summer of 2007, Price was sold to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, and Scottish international

Neil Alexander James Neil Alexander (born 10 March 1978) is a Scottish association football, football coach and former professional player. He began his career in the Scottish Football League with spells at Stenhousemuir F.C., Stenhousemuir and Livingston F. ...

was signed after having been released by

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

at the end of the 2006–07 season. Alexander was the first-choice goalkeeper in the 2007–08 season, consigning Supple once again to the bench. In 2008, Alexander left Ipswich, in a move to

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

for an undisclosed fee.

Stephen Bywater Stephen Michael Bywater (born 7 June 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He has made appearances for thirteen clubs, most notably for Derby County, where he made over 150 appearances and won the 200 ...

was immediately brought in on loan from

, while Supple was allowed to move to

on loan. Ahead of the 2008–09 season, Ipswich signed former player, Richard Wright from

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. The former

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, Everton and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

was made first-choice keeper. On 26 February 2009 Supple was linked with a loan move to

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

, but this was put on hold by Ipswich in order for the club to find a replacement for the departing keeper. Subsequently, the move fell through. Shane Supple

Falkirk (loan)

On 31 January 2008, Supple, along with teammate Billy Clarke joined

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

club

on loan. Supple was signed due to the injury to Falkirk's first choice goalkeeper

Tim Krul Timothy Michael Krul (; born 3 April 1988) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Luton Town. Krul's career began at youth clubs RAS and ADO Den Haag before moving to Newcastle United in 2005. At Newcastle, he m ...

, where he made four appearances for ''the Bairns''.

Oldham Athletic (loan)

Supple was loaned out to League One side

on 18 March 2009, following Ipswich Town's signing of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

goalkeeper,

Bartosz Białkowski Bartosz Marek Białkowski (; born 6 July 1987) is a Polish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (football), goalkeeper. He began his career playing in his native Poland, before moving to Southampton F. ...

until the end of the season.

Retirement from football

Supple played his last professional game in the League Cup against

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

on 11 August 2009, a game in which Supple saved a penalty from Jake Robinson in the shootout to help his side progress to the next round. Nine days later, Ipswich Town announced that they had agreed to cancel Supple's contract at the request of the player, allowing him to pursue a career outside professional soccer. He said that he had "fallen out of love with the game" and wished to pursue a different career path. His desire to play

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

with the Dublin county team was a major motivating factor.

Return to football

Supple returned to playing football when he signed for intermediate club Crumlin United in 2015. On 15 June 2016, it was announced that he had signed with

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

side Bohemians, marking his return to top-flight football. Supple made his first team debut on 9 July 2016 in a mid-season friendly at home to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. He made his league debut for Bohemians in a 1–0 defeat to Derry City at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

. He would go on to be voted Bohemians Player of the Year for the 2018 season. Supple announced his retirement from football in November 2018 due to an ongoing hip injury.

International career

Supple has represented the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

at under-21 level, his only cap in a UEFA European Under-21 qualification game at home to

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

on 25 March 2008, which ended 1-1. He was called up to the

side on 21 May 2018 by

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...

ahead of upcoming friendlies against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Coaching career

In January 2021, he was named as Gaelic football goalkeeping coach of the Meath under-20 county team under the management of

Bernard Flynn Bernard Flynn (born 26 June 1965) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for the Meath county team. As a teenager he attended secondary school in St Mary's of Drogheda. He enjoyed success play inter-county football in the 1980s and ...

. When Flynn prepared his management team to succeed Andy McEntee as Meath senior manager when that vacany next arose in 2022, Supple was included. However,

Colm O'Rourke Colm O'Rourke (born 31 August 1957) is a Gaelic football Manager (Gaelic games), manager, former player, retired secondary school principal, Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcaster and columnist. His National Football League (Ireland), ...

was then appointed manager instead of Flynn. Supple later joined O'Rourke's management team as goalkeeping coach.

Career statistics

Honours

;Ipswich Town *

: 2004–05 ;Individual * PFAI Team of the Year: 2018 Premier Division *Bohemians Player of the Year: 2018

Gaelic football career

Supple plays

, also as a goalkeeper, for St Brigid's. In 2010, he became a member of the senior

Dublin county football team The Dublin county football team represents County Dublin, Dublin in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Dublin GAA, the County board (Gaelic games), county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annu ...

, being substitute goalkeeper for their

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

game against Mayo in March, although he did not play any part in the game. Supple excelled in his first full season with his home club St Brigid's, acting as vice-captain during their run to the final of the 2010 Dublin Senior Football Championship. Supple was nominated for a Blue Star award due to his performances for Brigid's during the season. In November 2011, Brigid's won the

Dublin Senior Football Championship The Dublin Senior Football Championship (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the '' Go-Ahead'' Dublin Senior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top Dublin GAA clubs. The winners of t ...

References

External links

Shane Supple player profile
at itfc.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Supple, Shane 1987 births Living people Bohemian F.C. players Crumlin United F.C. players English Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Falkirk F.C. players Home Farm F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Irish expatriate sportspeople in England League of Ireland players Men's association football goalkeepers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players People educated at St Declan's College, Dublin People from Castleknock Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Scottish Premier League players Association footballers from Fingal 21st-century Irish sportsmen Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic footballers who switched code Gaelic football goalkeepers Gaelic football goalkeeping coaches Meath county football team non-playing personnel St Brigid's (Dublin) Gaelic footballers