Shaun Maloney Bio Send To Friend  

He was born in Miri, Malaysia where he lived for the first four years of his life. He then moved to his mother's home-town of Aberdeen in Scotland and he joined Celtic as a trainee in 1999.

Making his first team debut for the Hoops in April 2001, Maloney began to make his name as a pacy striker, who could also operate as a winger. Usually deployed as an attacking midfielder, Maloney is also a set-piece specialist.

Halfway through the 2003-04 season he picked up a cruciate ligament injury and would not return to action until late in the following season.

The 2005-06 campaign proved to be a successful year for the youngster, and he picked up the SPFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards (the first time any player had picked up both awards), after scoring 16 goals and contributing 28 assists. He also won Celtic Fans' Player of the Year, and the Players' Player of the Year.

Celtic offered Maloney a new deal as his current contract was ending in the summer of 2006-07, but negotiations did not go well and he signed a pre-contract agreement with Aston Villa.

Villa's new boss Martin O'Neill had been influential in developing his career at Celtic, and Maloney jumped at the chance to be re-united with his old boss. Moments before the January transfer window shut, he signed for a reported fee of £1m and made his debut in the 2-0 defeat at Reading in February.

He spent just 18 months with Villa, starting only 16 Premier League games, before heading back to Celtic, where he made himself an important first-team player.

Despite having the chance to play for the Republic of Ireland or Malaysia, Maloney chose Scotland as his country of origin and made his international debut in Scotland's 1-0 defeat to Belarus at Hampden Park in October 2005.