Shaleum Narval Logan (born 29 January 1988) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right-back.
He began his career in the Premier League with Manchester City and played on loan at Grimsby Town, Scunthorpe United, Stockport County and Tranmere Rovers before signing for League One side Brentford in 2011. He joined Aberdeen in 2014, initially on loan, and he made over 250 appearances for the club over a seven year-spell before moving on to Heart of Midlothian and Cove Rangers. After two years with the club he retired from professional football.
Club career Manchester City Born in Wythenshawe, Manchester, England, Logan was a product of the Manchester City youth academy since 2000 and progressed both through the academy and reserve side. He first came into prominence after impressing during the U18s run to the 2005–06 FA Youth Cup final. Ahead of the 2006–07 season, Logan’s first team breakthrough occurred when he was given a number thirty–eight shirt.
Ahead of the 2007–08 season, Logan was called up to the Manchester City’s first team for the pre–season tour by manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. On 18 July 2007, he started in the club’s friendly match against Örgryte IS, playing 56 minutes before being substituted, in a 4–1 win. After the match, Logan’s performance was praised by Sven-Göran Eriksson. On 28 August 2007, he signed a three-year contract with Manchester City. The next day on 29 August 2007, Logan made his first-team debut in the 2–1 League Cup second round victory over Bristol City, becoming the 23rd graduate of the club’s Academy to play for the senior side. On 25 September 2007, he made a second appearance in the next round against Norwich City, starting once again, in a 1–0 win. After being recalled by the club, Logan appeared as an unused substitute, in a 3–2 loss against Fulham on 26 April 2008.
Ahead of the 2008–09 season, Logan switched number shirt from thirty–eight to thirty. Having played for Manchester City’s first team on the substitute and playing for the club’s reserves, he made his Premier League debut for Manchester City in a 2–0 away defeat to Portsmouth on 14 February 2009, starting the game and playing the full 90 minutes. This turned out to be his only appearance of the 2008–09 season.
In the 2010–11 season, Logan was a surprise inclusion in Manchester City's 25-man Premier League squad, making him City's 11th Englishman and 12th home-grown player in the list in September 2010. However, he continued to spend the rest of 2010–11 season, playing the club’s reserve. Logan was released at the end of the 2010–11 season, having made just three first team appearances.
Loan spells from Manchester City On 11 October 2007, Logan joined League Two club Grimsby Town on a one-month loan. The next day on 12 October 2007, he scored a goal on his debut for the club by "carrying the ball forward to the edge of the box before unleashing a drive into the bottom corner from 18 yards on 17 minutes", in a 2–1 loss against Rochdale. After suffering a knock, Logan quickly recovered in time to start against Bradford City on 27 October 2007 and scored in the 49th minute, in a 2–1 win. He made five appearances for Grimsby Town before returning to his parent club.
On his return to Manchester City, Logan was immediately loaned out to Scunthorpe United, again for a month. The next day on 10 November 2007, he made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, in a 1–0 loss against Blackpool. Logan made four appearances for Scunthorpe United before returning to his parent club.
On 22 February 2008, Logan joined Stockport County on a one-month loan. The next day on 23 February 2008, he made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, in a 2–0 win against Accrington Stanley. Logan became a first team regular for Stockport County until he returned to Manchester City after being recalled by his parent club. By the time Logan was recalled by his parent club, he made seven appearances in all competitions.
On 24 July 2009, Logan joined Tranmere Rovers on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season, after signing a new contract at Manchester City. He made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, in a 2–0 loss against Yeovil Town in the opening game of the season. In a follow–up match against Gillingham, Logan played a role in a match when he provided a double assist for John Welsh and Ian Thomas-Moore in a 4–2 win. However, in a match against Carlisle United, on 5 September 2009, Logan received a red card for a second bookable offence, in a 3–0 loss. After serving a one match suspension, he returned to the starting line–up, in a 2–1 loss against Exeter City on 19 September 2009. Since the start of the 2009–10 season, Logan then established himself in the starting eleven, playing in the right–back position. After missing two matches due to a groin injury, he returned to the starting line–up and set up the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win against Leyton Orient in the first round FA Cup replay to send Tranmere Rovers through to the next round. In a follow–up match against Southend United, Logan set up the club’s second goal of the season, in a 2–0 win. He helped Tranmere Rovers keep three clean sheets in the league on 19 December 2009, 28 December 2009 and 20 January 2010 against Bristol Rovers, Carlisle United and Oldham Athletic respectively. After serving a two match suspension, Logan returned to the first team, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute, in a 4–1 loss against Leeds United on 9 March 2010. However, he underwent an operation on his hernia and was out for a month. On 24 April 2010, Logan made his return from injury, starting the whole game, in a 1–1 draw against Colchester United. After expressing optimism that the club can avoid relegation, he started the last game of the season against Stockport County and helped Tranmere Rovers win 3–0 to avoid relegation. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Logan made thirty–nine appearances in all competitions. Following this, he returned to his parent club after completing his loan spell at the Rovers.
In the summer of 2010 Logan went on trial at Doncaster Rovers and Sheffield United. playing in friendly matches. On 23 November 2010, Logan played as a trialist for Watford in a reserve team game against local rivals Luton Town, but the club opted against signing him.
Brentford With his contract expiring at the end of the 2010–11 season, Logan was told by the Manchester City’s management that he can leave the club. Logan joined Brentford on 24 June 2011, the League One side being managed by former Manchester City player Uwe Rösler. On his move to Brentford, there was a clause to automatically extend his contract for a further year if he played a certain number of games.
2011–12 season Logan made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, against Yeovil Town in the opening game of the season and scored from 12 yards for his first goal, in a 2–0 win. Following a 2–1 win over Exeter City on 16 August 2011, he had to have a scan on his ankle despite wearing a protective boot. After the ankle scan, Logan was out for two months. On 12 October 2011, he recovered from his injury and returned to training.
On 25 October 2011, Logan made his return from injury, starting the whole game, in a 1–0 loss against Stevenage. On 7 November 2011, he scored his second goal of the season, in a 6–0 win against AFC Bournemouth in the last 16 of the EFL Trophy to help Brentford advance to the next round. However, during a match against Charlton Athletic on 19 November 2011, Logan suffered a concussion after colliding with his own goalkeeper Richard Lee and was taken off on a stretcher in the 63rd minute, in a 1–0 loss. After the match, he was taken to Charing Cross Hospital for CT scans and observation. But he recovered and returned to the starting line–up, in a 2–1 win against Rochdale on 26 November 2011. After missing three matches in early–January, Logan made his return to the starting line–up and helped he club win 5–2 against Wycombe Wanderers on 28 January 2012. After missing three matches due to his fitness issues, he returned to the starting line–up, in a 2–0 loss against Sheffield United on 10 March 2012.
Two weeks later on 27 March 2012, Logan scored his third goal of the season, in a 3–1 win over Preston North End. On 7 April 2012, he set up a goal for Sam Saunders who went on to score twice before scoring a goal for himself, in a 3–0 win over Bury. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Logan made 32 appearances and scored four times in all competitions. On 30 June 2012, he signed a contract extension with Brentford.
2012–13 season
In the 2012–13 season, Logan won his place in the first team when he was Brentford’s first choice right–back. When the club suffered a crisis in the left–back position, Logan was used as a cover to play in the left–back position, where he played two times against Millwall and Chelsea on 13 August 2012 and 28 January 2013 respectively. On 24 August 2012, Logan set up two Brentford goals in a 5–1 win over Crewe Alexandra.
In a match against Scunthorpe United on 13 October 2012, he started the whole game and managed to help the club end in a 1–1 draw. After the match, Logan was named Team of the Week. He helped the club keep three clean sheets in the league on 29 December 2012, 1 January 2013 and 12 January 2013 against Shrewsbury Town, AFC Bournemouth and Oldham Athletic respectively. For his performance, Logan signed a new 18-month contract with Brentford on 4 January 2013. Since the start of the 2012–13 season, he played in every league match until being dropped for one match against Stevenage on 12 February 2013. But Logan returned to the starting line–up, playing 90 minutes, in a 4–0 loss against Chelsea in the fourth round replay of the FA Cup on 17 February 2013.
He later regained his first team place, playing in the right–back position towards the end of the 2012–13 season and helped the club qualify for the EFL League One play–offs by finishing third place in the league. Logan played in both legs of the League One’s play–off semi–final against Swindon Town, as Brentford won 5–4 on penalties following a 4–4 draw on aggregate to reach the final. In the final, Logan started the whole game, as the club went on to lose 2–1 against Yeovil Town. At the end of the 2012–13 season, he made thirty–three appearances in all competitions.
2013–14 season In the opening game of the 2013–14 season, Logan scored Brentford's first goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw with Port Vale. He continued to be the club’s first choice right back, starting twelve times. However, he made two mistakes, coming against Leyton Orient and Rotherham United on 23 September 2013 and 5 October 2013 respectively. As a result, Logan was replaced by Alan McCormack for both his mistakes and his fitness concerns and was demoted to the substitute bench.
On 30 November 2013, he returned to the first team, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 victory over Notts County. His next appearance for the Brentford came against Milton Keynes Dons on 29 December 2013, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute, in a 3–1 win. It was Logan's first appearance under new manager Mark Warburton and he was assured of his Brentford future in talks with Warburton the following day. A reshuffle of the Brentford side led to Logan being awarded with a starting appearance against Port Vale on 11 January 2014, in what his first start since 12 October 2013 and started the whole game, in a 2–0 win. On 28 January 2014, he made his final appearance for the club, starting the whole game, in a 3–1 win against Bristol City at Griffin Park. By the time Logan was loaned out in January 2014, he made nineteen appearances and scoring once in all competitions.