Goalkeeper Profiles: Shay Given, Manchester City

Manchester City keeper Shay Given has been at the top of his game for over a decade now and personally I would say he is one of the most consistent goalkeepers I have ever seen. Given rarely makes mistakes and if he does, it’s usually a safe football bet that he will make amends with a wonder save and the City shot-stopper is a hard man to beat.

Given only moved to Manchester City in January and is more well-known for the years he spent at Newcastle United.  After starting his career with Scottish giants Celtic, Given was forced to move on after being deemed surplus to requirements. Undeterred he sealed a move to Blackburn Rovers, again Given couldn’t force his way into the team and only made two appearances for the Lancashire side.

He spent time on loan at Swindon Town and Sunderland before being signed by Kenny Dalglish, the then manager of Newcastle United, for a fee of £1.5million.

This was when Given’s career really took off. Back then, in the 1997/98 season, Newcastle had a wealth of goalkeeping talent with Pavel Srnicek, Shaka Hislop and Steve Harper all vying for the number one spot. Despite the formidable competition, Given firmly established himself as Newcastle’s number one.

Given made over 350 appearances for the Magpies and featured in the Champions League and two FA Cup finals (though they lost both) for the North East side. He was also named in the Premier League Team of the
Season for 2001/02 and 2005/06. With Newcastle’s days of challenging for silverware, at least in the near future, seemingly behind them Given decided to move to Manchester City.

City are obviously now the richest club in the world and as Given is 32-years-old he admitted he felt he needed to move on for the chance to win silverware. He explained: “You have a short career, and I didn’t want to finish my career and later think that I regret it not taking this opportunity in joining Manchester City.” At the time of leaving Given was just 34 games away from breaking Newcastle United’s appearance record. In his first game for City Given kept a clean sheet and was named man of the match.

Given is also a well respected name on the international stage and has appeared in the World Cup with the Republic of Ireland. He is his country’s third most capped player and most capped goalkeeper of all time with 94 (and counting) appearances for the ROI.

Given has drawn praise from some true goalkeeping greats such as Peter Schmeichel and Gianluigi Buffon over the years and is one of the best keepers in the world at the moment. His shot stopping ability alone is impressive but his overall game is equally as good and he is an all round master of his craft.

Gareth Freeman writes for Betfair, the world’s best betting exchange. Get the latest insider scoop on all your favorite leagues at Betfair today!