Shay Given

Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Irish goalkeepers of all time.

With 134 caps, he is the second-highest capped Republic of Ireland player.

At 14, his performances for the club attracted attention from Scottish club Celtic, and he was invited to train with their youth side during a pre-season tour of Ireland in 1991.

Given signed for the club a year later.

Given started his career at Celtic, however he never made a first-team appearance and he was released by Celtic and signed by Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer in 1994.

Despite being named to the substitutes bench for the Old Firm derby against Rangers on 1 January 1994, Given never made a first-team appearance.

His performances for Celtic's youth team did bring him to the attention of Blackburn Rovers manager Kenny Dalglish, and he signed for the English side on a free transfer in the summer of 1994.

The season after Given's arrival saw Blackburn win the Premier League title and Given was unable to oust first-choice goalkeeper and England international Tim Flowers from the team.

He made two loan moves to Swindon Town.

Given was part of both the Sunderland team who won the Football League First Division title in 1995–96 and the Swindon Town team who won the Football League Second Division title that same season, while on loan from Blackburn.

Given acted as understudy during his first spell at the Wiltshire club but helped them start their Championship winning Division Two campaign during the 1995–96 season.

He played in five games for Swindon before returning to Blackburn at the end of 1995.

Given gained his first international cap in 1996 and played in goal during every match for his country during the 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign, helping them reach the knockout stage.

Given was sent on loan again in January 1996, this time to Division One side Sunderland.

Given kept 12 clean sheets during his 17 games for the club, and formed part of the team who won promotion to the Premier League as champions.

His performances on loan impressed Kenny Dalglish, who had recently been appointed manager of Newcastle United, and prompted him to sign Given again.

Given had earlier made his Premier League debut for Blackburn in a game against Wimbledon on 14 December 1996.

Given was one of the first signings of then-newly appointed manager Dalglish.

He was signed by Newcastle United in 1997 for a fee of £2.5 million, and it was there that he began competing to be a first-choice Premier League goalkeeper.

Given signed for the North-East club in the summer of 1997 for a fee of £1.5 million.

Given made his debut in Newcastle's 2–1 home victory over Sheffield Wednesday on 9 August 1997 and immediately established himself in the first team, beating fellow goalkeepers Pavel Srníček, Shaka Hislop and Steve Harper to the position.

Newcastle advanced to the final of the FA Cup, and Given played the whole match as the team were defeated 2–0 by league champions Arsenal.

The club also progressed to the final the following year, but Given was replaced by Steve Harper as Newcastle lost 2–0 in the final, this time to Manchester United.

In November 1997, Given conceded a strange goal against Coventry City when, after collecting a cross, he rolled the ball out in preparation to make a long clearance.

However, he had forgotten that Coventry striker Dion Dublin was still behind him, and Dublin quickly took advantage of the situation by rolling the ball into the empty net.

Given was part of the teams who were runners-up in the 1998 and 1999 FA Cup campaigns, and was named in the Premier League Team of the Season for 2001–02 and 2005–06.

Although he submitted a transfer request during the 2000–01 campaign after losing his position in the starting line-up, it was denied, and Given went on to regain his place.

He played in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup with Newcastle, and was involved in the club's title challenge in 2001–02.

On 1 February 2009, Given transferred to Manchester City for £6 million on a four-and-a-half-year contract.

While Given was at Manchester City, the club qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in its history after finishing third in the Premier League, as well as winning the FA Cup, though he did not appear in the league in the campaign that City reached the Champions League, nor did he play in the FA Cup.

He was later on the pitch in Paris when the Republic of Ireland were knocked out of the play-offs for a spot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup by France before helping his team qualify for UEFA Euro 2012.

On 18 July 2011, he joined Aston Villa for a fee believed to be around £3.5 million, signing a five-year contract.

Given played at UEFA Euro 2012 and was selected in Martin O'Neill's 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016 but didn't appear in any of Ireland's four matches at the tournament.

Given is the second-highest capped Republic of Ireland player (after Robbie Keane).

Given joined Stoke City in July 2015, remaining with the club for two seasons.

Having surpassed the total of 100 caps required for membership, he is part of the FIFA Century Club.

He announced his international retirement in July 2016, having amassed 134 caps for his country and kept 52 clean sheets.

Born in Lifford, County Donegal, Given's footballing career began at local amateur side Lifford Celtic where he shot to notoriety for conceding seven goals on his debut.

He was propelled into the limelight when he played in an FAI Junior Cup semi-final for Lifford Celtic.