Shaka Hislop

Neil Shaka Hislop CM (born 22 February 1969) is a retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Born in England, he played for them at under-21 level before representing Trinidad and Tobago at senior international level.

The majority of his career was spent in the top division in England where he was a part of the Newcastle United team which finished second in the Premier League for two successive seasons under Kevin Keegan's first tenure.

Before this, he played for Reading, where he was on the losing side in the First Division play-offs despite finishing second overall (the only occasion on which second place was not an automatic promotion position).

He went on to sign professional forms with Reading for the 1992–93 season and remained there for two more years.

While there, he established himself as a firm fan favourite after an uncertain start, twice earning the club's "Player of the Year" award.

He was instrumental in Reading's rise from the third tier of English football to the brink of the Premier League, where he narrowly missed out on promotion following a 4–3 defeat to Bolton Wanderers in the 1995 play-off final, and was voted the club's Player of the Season in 1994–95.

Hislop was one of many Reading players to move that summer of 1995, signing with Newcastle United for £1.575m.

In a poll to compile the Royals' greatest-ever XI, Hislop was voted the best goalkeeper with 46.7% of the vote ahead of Steve Death and Marcus Hahnemann.

He was also voted joint third along with Death in a poll to decide the club's 'Player of the Millennium'.

Hislop's first season at Newcastle United was spent battling with incumbent goalkeeper Pavel Srníček for the starting role.

After starting strongly and being the starter through until December 1995, Hislop suffered an injury against Chelsea that allowed Srníček to regain the starting role.

Hislop then didn't return until April 1996 for the final 6 games of the season.

That season Newcastle blew a 12-point lead in January to finish the season in second place.

In 1996–97, Hislop started the first league game of the season against Everton but then remained on the bench thereafter.

He had to watch Srníček tend the nets until a perceived dip in form and a number of mistakes from Srníček allowed Hislop to take the starting role back again in December 1996, and he made only his second league start of the year in a 7–1 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur.

Hislop successfully retained the starting position until the final 4 games of the season when Srníček returned, as Newcastle pipped Arsenal and Liverpool to second place on goal difference at the end of the season.

Hislop's role further came under threat when new manager Kenny Dalglish opted to purchase a former player of his own from Blackburn Rovers.

Dalglish brought in Shay Given, costing £1.5 million, and a season-long battle for the number one spot ensued between the two goalkeepers.

Given initially started the season, but after a string of defeats and five games without a win, Dalglish went back to Hislop in November and he stayed there until an injury in February allowed Given back into the frame.

With his contract running out, and having not yet managed to play a full season at Newcastle, Hislop chose to leave on a free transfer.

West Ham United had operated a "goalkeeper by committee" approach the previous season, seeing first Luděk Mikloško, then Craig Forrest, then Bernard Lama hold the starting role.

With Mikloško now with Queens Park Rangers and with the team being unable to secure Lama beyond his three-month loan, Harry Redknapp snapped up Hislop and installed him as first choice goalkeeper.

In 1998–99, Hislop's first season saw him provide excellent service to the team, culminating in winning the "Hammer of the Year" award at the first attempt.

His following season seemed to be following suit until he broke his leg in a match against Bradford City.

The game saw young Stephen Bywater make his league debut in a 5–4 victory, but signalled the end of Hislop's season.

Hislop returned the following year in 2000–01 but in a tumultuous season, he saw his manager fired, and two of the club's most promising players in Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard sold on.

His performances were strong in an unsettled team.

However, new manager Glenn Roeder purchased the unsettled David James from Aston Villa, who had publicly fallen foul of his manager John Gregory.

The deal was seen as a coup for West Ham, though it resigned Hislop to the bench for what was seen to be his final season with the club as James (a year younger) was intended to be the obvious long-term option.

However, before the 2001–02 season could even start, James tore his knee ligaments on England-duty after a collision with Martin Keown.

He later played for West Ham United on two occasions (receiving an FA Cup runners-up medal during his second season in 2006) and also for Portsmouth (where he won the First Division in 2002/03).

Hislop was eligible to play for both England and Trinidad and Tobago.

He initially played for the England U-21 team and was on the bench for a full International against Chile, but in the end opted to play for Trinidad and Tobago.

A dispute with the national team ruled him out of contention for several years, but he returned to play and starred in the country's first ever World Cup appearance in 2006.

Hislop is now working for sports news and broadcasting service ESPN where he is most often seen as a commentator on ESPN FC.

He had also briefly worked as a goalkeeping coach for the football team at Quinnipiac University.

At an early age, Hislop wanted to be a striker, but was thrust in goal as he was the tallest player on his team.

He eventually grew to just under 6'5" in height. After graduating from St. Mary's College in Trinidad, Hislop earned a scholarship to play college soccer at Howard University in the United States and led his team to the NCAA Final as a freshman starter. He graduated from Howard with honours with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. During this time, he interned at NASA.

Shortly after graduating, Hislop was spotted by a scout from Reading at a friendly indoor match against Aston Villa of the Premier League.