Shay Given – Newcastle United Goalkeeper
John James Shay Given – The Goalkeeper of Newcastle United F.C.
Séamus John James “Shay” Given (born 20 April 1976 in Lifford, County Donegal) is an Irish goalkeeper who currently plays for Newcastle United and the Republic of Ireland. He is the vice-captain of both his country and club. He has been named in the PFA Team of the Year twice (in 2002 and 2006) and has been voted Newcastle Player of the Year as well as FAI Player of the Year in 2006.
For Ireland, Given has been capped 89 times; a record for a goalkeeper. He has been the first choice goalkeeper since he made his debut, including the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Personal information
Full name : Séamus John James Given
Date of birth : 20 April 1976 (1976-04-20) (age 32)
Place of birth : Lifford, Ireland
Height : 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position : Goalkeeper
Club information : Newcastle United Football Club
League : Barclays English Premier League Football Club
Newcastle United Football Club
Given, signed for a fee of £1.5 million in 1997, was one of the first signings for Newcastle United of then-new manager Dalglish.
Given immediately established himself in the first team, beating fellow goalkeepers Pavel Srní?ek, 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 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, Harper injured himself in training, enabling Given to regain his place.
In the 2001–02 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.
Given warming up for Newcastle in 2007On 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.
Given became Newcastle’s most experienced European performer in the game against Bnei Sakhnin on 16 September 2004.
Given was named in the Premiership’s team of the year for his consistent performances throughout the 2005–06 season.
Before the start of the 2006–07 campaign, Given signed a new contract with Newcastle signaling his intention to see his career out with them. On 17 September 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] Then manager Glenn Roeder bought a temporary cover goalkeeper in the form of ex-Newcastle veteran Srní?ek to cover Harper, and rookie Tim Krul played a full match in Newcastle’s 0–1 UEFA Cup win at Palermo on 2 November. Given returned on 18 November with an impressive performance in Newcastle’s 1–1 Premier League draw at Arsenal. Given’s 2007–08 season was prematurely ended by injury in February when he had an occurrence of an old groin injury in the game with Manchester United.
Source: Shay Given, Goalkeeper of Newcastle United F.C., Barclays English Premier League Football Club information at wikipedia.org