Shay Given

Shay Given

Personal information
Full name	Séamus John James Given
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Newcastle United
Number	1
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:28, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

Séamus John James "Shay" Given (born 20 April, 1976 in Lifford, County Donegal) is an Irish football goalkeeper who currently plays for Newcastle United and the Republic of Ireland, and is regarded as one of the finest and most reliable custodians in the Premier League. He is also vice-captain of both his country and club.

For Ireland, Given has been capped 80 times and was his country's starter at the 2002 World Cup.

Career

Given was playing for the local men's team Lifford Celtic at the age of 15. He was propelled into the limelight when he played in the FAI's Junior Cup for Lifford in the semi-final in Dundalk. In spite of being on the wrong end of the 1-0 score line, Shay had done enough by holding his own between the sticks.

Given was invited to join Celtic F.C. on a pre-season tour of Ireland when he was just 14 and then signed terms at 16 under the stewardship of another Irish football legend, Liam Brady.

He spent two years playing for Celtic Youth under-18 team in the Scottish League, with one of his highlights being when he made the subs bench for the senior team against Rangers on January 1 1994 when they were beaten 4-2. He subsequently was transferred to Blackburn Rovers in 1994 by manager Kenny Dalglish. Despite notable performances when given first team opportunities he was unable to permanently dislodge England international Tim Flowers from goal at Ewood Park. Consequently Shay then went on loan to Swindon Town and then Sunderland after playing only two games for Blackburn. At Sunderland he put in a notable performance, keeping 16 clean sheets out of 17 appearances.

Even though he had been brought back to Blackburn, Given received a Division One winners medal from Sunderland, having made over 10 appearances for the club during his loan spell.

Dalglish later became the manager of Newcastle United and one of his first signings was Given in 1997 for a fee of £1.5 million.

Given immediately established himself in the first team, beating fellow goalkeepers Pavel Srníček, Shaka Hislop and Steve Harper to the position. He played in the 1998 FA Cup Final and then missed out on the 1999 FA Cup Final when Steve Harper was preferred. He would later regain his place in the team from Harper by the end of the 1999-2000 season,

Given later lost his place in the Newcastle team to Harper again, this time due to injury, he subsequently handed in a transfer request. The request was more a protest rather than a genuine wish to ever leave the club. The club rejected the request and, as it happened, Steve Harper injured himself in training and Given could regain his place.

In the 2001-2002 season, Given played in every Premiership match and was named in the PFA Premiership Team of the Season. He competed in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea/Japan, but could not prevent the Republic of Ireland being eliminated by Spain after a penalty shoot-out.

On 30 April, 2003, Given became Newcastle's most capped player when he won his 41st cap of the season, overtaking Alf McMichael's previous record. [1] He ended 2003 as the holder of the Premiership's record for the most consecutive appearances record, now surrendered to Frank Lampard of Chelsea F.C..

Given was named in the Premiership's team of the year for his consistent performances throughout the 2005-2006 season.

Before the start of the 2006-2007 campaign Given signed a new contract with Newcastle United signalling his intention to see his career out with the Magpies. On September 17, 2006 Given suffered a one-centimeter tear in his bowel after a heavy challenge from West Ham United striker Marlon Harewood. Doctors likened the injury to one more likely to happen in a car crash. [2] Glenn Roeder bought a temporary cover keeper in the form of Pavel Srníček to cover Steve Harper, and rookie Tim Krul played a full match in Newcastle's 0-1 UEFA Cup win at Palermo on November 02. Given returned on November 18 with an impressive performance in Newcastle's 1-1 Premier League draw at Arsenal.

Trivia

• Given became Newcastle's most experienced European performer in the game against Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin on 16 September, 2004.
• Given's Premiership shut-out record is 387 minutes. His record for all competitions is 425 minutes.
• At the beginning of the 2006/2007 Premiership season, Given changed sponsors from Adidas to Puma. He now wears Puma boots and a SMU (Special Make Up) of the Puma V-Konstruct Glove. The Glove features Negative Cut Seams and a wrap over thumb as well as improved finger protection spines over the retail model. The Glove is very similar to the glove he wore while with Adidas.
• Given married Jane Cunningham in Hexham, England in a Roman Catholic ceremony attended by his teammates. The couple received a papal blessing from the late John Paul II, himself an amateur goalkeeper in his youth.
• Given's younger brother, Paul is also a footballer. However, he plays in the Irish Ulster Senior League, for Letterkenny Rovers F.C..

Statistics

Club Performance

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Newcastle	2006-07	22	0	2	0	1	0	8	0	33	0
	2005-06	36	0	4	0	2	0	3	0	45	0
	2004-05	36	0	3	0	1	0	14	0	54	0
	2003-04	38	0	2	0	0	0	13	0	53	0
	2002-03	38	0	1	0	0	0	12	0	51	0
	2001-02	38	0	5	0	1	0	6	0	50	0
	2000-01	34	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	35	0
	1999-2000	14	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	16	0
	1998-99	31	0	6	0	2	0	2	0	41	0
	1997-98	24	0	4	0	0	0	6	0	34	0
Total		311	0	29	0	8	0	54	0	417	0

External links

• Shay Given at Soccerbase
• Official site
• 4thegame Profile