Shay Given - the legend of the goalkeeper's shop

Shay Given - one of the most vivid and legendary goalkeepers in the history of the English Premier League and the national team of Ireland. Very few in the world there are goalkeepers, who for 12 years remained the main in their club. Navpsidku you can remember only the legendary forty-year-old goalkeeper of Kiev "Dynamo" Alexander Shovkovsky.

Childhood and the youth of the legend

The real name of Givena is Shimus. By the way, this is a traditional ancient Irish name. The legendary goalkeeper was born in 1976 in a small village Lifford in a small but friendly family. In this region did not like classical football. More popular sports used such as rugby and Gaelic football, but our hero from childhood fell in love with English football.

Father reconciled with the desire of his son to play with the ball more seriously and gave it to the section with the team "Lifford Celtic". By the way, in the name of the local FC for Neck Given had his own karma - the first professional club for him was exactly Celtic from Glasgow.

Initial career period

Became the main goalkeeper in a serious club Did not immediately able. Two seasons he had to spend on the bench in the "Celtic" and "Blackburn". The goalkeeper did not despair and constantly sharpened his skills in matches for youth teams.

The 1995/1996 season was very important for the Irishman. It was in 1995 that Given Shay got his first gaming practice. Of course, it was about renting. In the clubs "Swindon Town" (champion of League-2) and "Sunderland" (victory in the Championship), he proved to be an excellent master. In general, for the season, he spent 22 games, in which he missed 12 goals. Individual stats goalkeeper says about 4 dry fight for "Swindon" and 12 matches for zero for "Sunderland". For a 20-year-old guy this was a very serious result.

Shay Given - the legend of "forty" from "Newcastle"

The team from the north of England, although it won the English Premier League in the mid-1990s and participated in the group stage of the Champions League in 1997/1998 in the quartet with the legendary Lobanovsky's Dynamo, was never truly a grandiose of English football.

Reliable game Giiven in many matches literally saved "Newcastle" from defeat or gave the opportunity to win matches with a minimum score. The goalkeeper often made incredible saves when it seemed that the ball was about to fly into the gates of his team.

Footballer Given Shay - this is a whole era in the history of "Newcastle". From 1997 to 2009, the goalkeeper held 463 matches in the team. On average, he missed 1.33 goals for the game. Such statistics indicate that he has enough dry matches in his assets.

Due to what Shay could achieve such success? First, hard work in training. Secondly, an important place in the successful game of the goalkeeper always takes psychological stability. Of course, it is impossible to hold every match at a high level, but Shay Given, when playing for the "forty", was so confident in his own abilities that even the players of the team were confident in the reliability of their goalkeeper. Of course, the game qualities that were laid by nature, too, helped: jumping, high growth, excellent reaction (often took a penalty).

The personal life of the legend

In the first place at the neck until a certain time was a successful career, so he married only at 25 years old. A happy wife was Jane Cunningham. The couple brings up two children. Son Shay was born in 2004, and three years later the daughter of Sienna was born. For 15 years, the couple has been living in a happy marriage and raising children. About the wife of Given, very little information is known, because she is a non-public person.

The family is very respected by the old Irish traditions. Catholic religion requires, as much as possible, to attend church and adhere to maximum asceticism in everyday life. In this spirit, Shay Given and Jane Cunningham raise their children.

Irish people are people who respect their traditions!