34. Shane Lowry
Position: Centre Back Date of Birth: 12th June 1989 Place of Birth: Perth, Australia Caps: 0* Height: 185cm
Shane Lowry started his career playing youth football for Australian club ECU Joondalup. Villa moved to sign the promising defender, along with Chris Herd, in February 2005.
Shane made 9 appearances for Villa reserves towards the end of the 06/07 season. He also took part in the Hong Kong Soccer Sevens in May 2007. The young Villa side returned home as champions of the competition.
It was in August 2007 when Shane made his debut for Villa, in a pre-season game at the Britannia Stadium against Stoke. He replaced Stephen O’Halloran with 17minutes to go. Villa won the game by 2 goal to nil. He also competed in the pre-season tournament The Peace Cup in 2009, which Villa went on to win after a penalty shoot out against Juventus. Lowry cooly finishing his penalty in the shoot out
His competitive debut came in the Europa League in 09/10 against Rapid Vienna in Austria. Plymouth Argyle moved to snap Lowry up on a 3 month loan deal in September 2009. He impressed during his 13 league appearances in the Championship and was recalled by Villa to help cover an injury crisis at the club.
Leeds United was his next destination in January 2010, where he signed a 2 month loan deal at Elland Road. He made his debut for Leeds at left back against Colchester United. He impressed on his debut but missed the next few games due to injury. Lowry started in the Johnson’s Paint Trophy Northern Area Final against Carlisle United. Leeds United lost on penalties with Shane missing the decisive spot kick. Lowry returned to Villa at the end of his loan deal, but Leeds signed the Australian again on loan at the end of March 2010. He would stay until the end of the season. Lowry didn’t impress during this second spell, which could have been due to him playing out of position at left back. His loan spell ended with success however, with Leeds being promoted to the Championship. He made 11 appearances for the Yorkshire side.
Lowry earned a new 2 year deal at Villa Park upon returning from his loan spell.
He joined another Yorkshire side in Sheffield United in January 2011 on loan until the end of the season. He made 16 league appearances for the club, but was unable to prevent them from being relegated from the Championship at the end of the season.
The 22-year-old has only made 3 appearances for Villa, and has not been selected in a league game yet. As with a number of the younger players, they will be looking to establish themselves sooner rather than later due to get older.
Honours;
Hong Kong Soccer Sevens 2007 (Aston Villa)
Peace Cup Winner 2009 (Aston Villa)
Football League One Runner Up 09/10 (Leeds United)
(*-as of 1st May 2011)
