Dean Shiels last home match of the 2008–09 season, when he scored the first goal in a 2–0 victory over Crystal Palace. Shiels scored six goals in 42 games during the 2009–10 season. However, during the 2010–11 season Shiels lost his place in the Doncaster starting line-up. He was loaned to Kilmarnock in July 2011 and his contract was mutually terminated in January 2012. Shiels signed a six-month loan deal with Kilmarnock, managed by his father Kenny Shiels, in July 2011. Shiels made his first appearance for Kilmarnock on 30 July 2011, in a goalless draw against Motherwell at Rugby Park, coming
Racism in association football fans had sung "The Famine Song" at Celtic Park. "The Famine Song" was also sung in March 2011 at a Scottish football game by Rangers fans, nevertheless, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill described the match as a "great advert for Scottish football". "The Herald" journalist Doug Gillon has written that "the sectarian intolerance which divides Scottish society [...] is rooted in anti-Irish racism". In February 2011, in an Old Firm match at Celtic Park, a Celtic supporter was caught mocking black Rangers player El Hadji Diouf with monkey noises and gestures as he was about to take a corner kick.