Shay Given

Early career

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. 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. 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. Given revealed that Celtic offered him a one-year contract to stay at the club before moving to Blackburn Rovers.

Blackburn Rovers

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 acted as understudy during his first spell at the Wiltshire club, but helped them start their Championship-winning Second Division campaign during the 1995–96 season. He played in five games for Swindon before returning to Blackburn at the end of 1995. Given suffered an arm…

Given represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level before earning five caps for the Republic of Ireland national under-21 team. Although he did not become a regular first team player for Blackburn, Given's performances while on loan at Swindon and Sunderland led to him being called up to the Republic of Ireland squad in 1996. He made his debut for the national team on 27 March 1996, in a game against Russia. Due to his lack of playing time at Blackburn Rovers in the 1996–97 season, manager Mick McCarthy dropped him from the squad. Although Ireland failed to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup or UEFA Euro 2000, Given established himself as first-choice goalkeeper. He played in all of his nation's games at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. With draws against Cameroon and Germany and a 3–0 win against Saudi Arabia, the team reached the second round of the competition. Meeting Spain in the knockout round, Ireland forced penalties with the score at 1–1 at the end of extra time. Three missed penalties for Ireland ended their participation in the tournament, and Spain progressed to the next round. Given was part of the team for most of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign; however, a draw with Switzerland meant that Ireland failed to qualify for the finals of the competition in Germany. He equalled Packie Bonner's record of 80 caps against Slovakia on 28 March 2007. Given obtained his 100th cap against Montenegro at Croke Park, Dublin, on 14 October 2009 in a 2010 FIFA World…

Given was considered to be an athletic and courageous goalkeeper, with excellent reflexes, anticipation, shot stopping abilities, and a good command of his area, in spite of not being particularly tall. He had been accused in the media of not being particularly effective at dealing with crosses. He was also known for his consistency. He was considered to be one of the greatest goalkeepers in the Premier League in his prime, and has frequently been described as Ireland's best ever goalkeeper and one of the greatest players in Ireland's history.

In June 2018, Given was appointed goalkeeping coach at Derby County under new manager Frank Lampard. He retained his position when Phillip Cocu was appointed manager in July 2019. In November 2020, Given was part of an interim coaching quartet alongside Wayne Rooney, Liam Rosenior and Justin Walker after Cocu was sacked earlier that month. After two matches as an interim quartet, Rooney would go on to take sole charge. On 15 January 2021, Rooney was appointed as the club's permanent manager and Given moved to the position of first-team coach. Given left his role at Derby at the end of the season because the club's financial problems meant they could not afford to renew it.