WINDSOR, Colo. – Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC midfielder Shane McFaul has announced his retirement from football via a post on his social media. The following is his statement:
“I firstly want to thank all my family and friends for being by my side throughout my whole career.
I’m especially so grateful to my parents for giving me everything they had to help me fulfill my dream of being a footballer. My dad Stephen was the person who taught me how to kick a ball and developed me as a young player and was at every single game supporting me until I moved abroad at 16 to play in England.
Love you Da
My mam Ann has been such a rock for me throughout everything wherever I’ve been in the world, through my toughest of times and I would be lost without her to this day.
Thanks and love you Ma
To my brothers & sisters – Daniel, Gace, Sarah, & Karl, my grandparents, aunties and uncles, nieces and nephews, godchildren, family in-laws, and my best friends, thank you so much also for your love and support over all these years.
I’d like to thank all of the coaches of every level that helped me from the very start with C.A.R.C in my local field right up until this very moment in Colorado, U.S.A.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to everyone at Cherry Orchard FC for developing me as a player as a kid and I was so proud, being a local kid from the Cherry Orchard area playing for the team. Without their support and guidance, I never would’ve had a career in the game so thank you.
I want to thank all of my teammates, staff, and coaches of the clubs that I was privileged to have played almost 400 professional appearances for in my career.
Notts County, Virginia Beach Mariners, UCD, Brighton & Hove Albion, Sporting Fingal, St. Patrick’s Athletic, FC Haka, FC KTP, DSK Shivajians, Mikkelin MP, Sudet, & Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC.
I want to thank John & Karen, Martin & Bev plus Josie and Lol for looking after me so well as a kid when I was in digs in Nottingham.
Thank you to all of the staff, physios, kitmen, bus drivers, masseuses, doctors, marketing directors, etc from all of the clubs that I’ve played for who have helped me manage to get through 20 years of playing.
I want to give a special thanks to the amazing coaches and managers that have given me the opportunities to play for them and who have helped me so much in my career too.
Peter Byrne, Mick Hoolahan, Mich & Deco, Eddie Andrews. Paul Somers, Terry Delaney, John Gaunt, Gary Brazil, Billy Dearden, Gary Mills, Ian Richardson, Gudjon Thordarson, Pete Mahon, Aaron O’Callaghan, Liam Buckley, John Devine, Martin Russell, Robbie Horgan, Sami Ristila, Ossi Virta, Dave Rogers, Ravi & Kaizad at DSK, Johnny Andrews, Jani Wilkman, Mike Keeney, Éamon Zayed, Kevin Sawchak, Owain Fôn Williams, Zac Lubin, Kyle Emerick, Vincent Butler, Paddy Hillard, Maurice Price, Fran Butler, Brian Kerr, Sean McCaffrey, Noel O’Reilly & Don Givens.
I’m also hugely proud to have represented Ireland at every age group from U14-U21 level. Representing my country gave me the proudest moments of my career for sure.
Making my professional debut for Notts County in League One when I just turned 17 versus Swindon Town will always be a moment I’ll treasure. I’m forever grateful to John Gaunt & Gary Brazil for signing me at Notts County and to Billy Deardon for giving me my first professional appearance and then going on to make over 50 appearances and playing in the FA Cup and Carling Cup will always bring back amazing memories to me.
Winning the FAI Cup with Sporting Fingal and getting Man of the Match in the cup final was also very special to me. As was winning the Airtricity League title with St. Pats – moments I’ll cherish forever.
Playing in the Europa League qualifiers and getting through rounds against top-class opposition was also incredible. Playing against top teams from Portugal, Ukraine, Iceland, Kazakhstan, and Lithuania were fantastic experiences, and I’ll miss having the buzz of playing in front of huge crowds and stadiums so much. Football is nothing without the fans so thank you to all of the fans of the clubs I played for over the years for making incredible atmospheres that I was lucky enough to play in.
I’ve been so blessed to have lived my dream, doing what I love and traveling the world doing so. Playing and living in England, U.S.A., Finland, and India along with all the other countries I got to see through playing football is what dreams are made of.
I’m so grateful to have been able to see so many different countries, cultures, and ways of life on my journey and I’ve met so many amazing people and lifelong friends along the way.
Not many players can say they got to play football professionally for 20 years in five different countries on three different continents – and that’s something I can look back on with immense pride and can say that I did – but I would not have been able to achieve that without the love and support of everyone I’ve just mentioned in this post.
I’m going to stay in the game and pursue my other huge passion which is coaching and I’m so excited for what the future holds with an amazing opportunity coming my way.
Thank you everyone,
Thank you football
– Shane”
Northern Colorado would like to thank Shane for being a part of the inaugural season in club history and wish him all the best in retirement and his coaching endeavors going forward.
The future home of Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, 118-acre Future Legends Complex will feature 6,500-seat TicketSmarter Stadium, 2,500-seat Future Legends Field, multiple baseball diamonds, multi-purpose fields, an indoor sports arena, lodging, and retail; and will host guests for major sports tournaments, events, leagues, and more.