Shay Given - Faith of the Father

The save his boy made from Kevin Philips last weekend was, to many Newcastle eyes, the best save ever made.  For Seamus Given, though, it was up there with the one he pulled off for Lifford Celtic against Castle fin Celtic in the semi-finals of the Donegal-area FAI Junior Cup.

He was 14 then.  ÒThe were leading one-nothing with five or six minutes to go and this kid-he was like the Bellamy of junior football in Donegal-he struck this shot from about 35yards and Shay got across and tipped it out from under the bar. Everyone around here still talk about that save.Ó

On the rare occasion when his encyclopaedic memory of the boys career fails him, he can at least fall back on the volumes of newspaper reports he has lovingly clipped and pasted into the backs of A3 sheets of paper, or the ledger which he has painstakingly logged every match his son has ever played. He can run his fingers up and down these pages and trace the contours of his career: from his 46 youth team appearances at Celtic to this extraordinary season in which his saves have kept Newcastle breathing the thin air at the summit of the Premiership, and stopped Iran taking Irelands place at the World Cup finals.

Every entry stirs a memory.  Like the day Shay left home. He was still a child then, when he shuts his eyes Seamus can still picture him, wee baby face and all, learning to drive the lawnmower he bought for the pitch and putt course he opened the previous year. Seamus didnÕt want the boy going to Glasgow on his own, so he decided to drive him there. They all piled into a car-Seams his wife Margaret, the boy and John Lee, his green keeper who was also chairman of Lifford Celtic-and headed for Larne and the ferry to Stranraer  ÒHadnÕt a clue where we were going. Never been outside Ireland beforeÓ

There was his debut for BlackburnÕs reserves against a Lancaster district league side. ÒPat Devlin was scouting for Kenny Dalglish at the time and he was there with me. Could t find the pitch and the match was on 10 minutes when we got there. Shay played well but he let in two soft goals, misjudged the flight of the ball for one, just nerves. We were leaving Blackburn at seven o clock the next morning and the youth development officer at the time, he said to Pat, ÒItÕs a good job you had that contract signed last night before the match.Ó And I says, Look here, hes17 years of age now; I guarantee you heÕll have a senior Ireland cap before he is 19; and he didÓ

And there was the day the scouts from Galatassary arrived at the door, wanting to take the boy off to Turkey. ÒI can see them yet, dressed all in leather; beautiful leather jackets. They were offering big money. A lot better than he was getting at Blackburn. They wanted him to sign a contract there and then. I just said no, he was too young, and sent them on there way.;

Seamus influence over his son is that of a benevolent Earl Woods. Shay is quiet,. Sometimes his dad feels the need to do the talking. ÒHas the kind of guy who would undersell himself,; he says. He wouldnÕt  think that he would be as good as other keepers. Like he thinks Barthez is a far better goalkeeper than him and theres  no way he is. I think that most people have acknowledged this season that theres no better goalkeeper in the Premiership than ShayÓ

Until a year ago, he acted as his agent, negotiating all his deals for him. And as for the talent, he didnÕt exactly pick it off the ground. Seamus was a goalkeeper himself and the Shay Given story has its genesis in an unexpected knock on the door on the August bank holiday weekend in 1967, some nine years before Shay was born. ÒI was at my tea and I looked out the window and I seen a priest coming down the steps to the door; Said he was Father Dan Doherty from Arranmore Island.  They had arrived to play in the Convoy Cup final, but there goalkeeper was at sea on a fishing trip and with the stormy weather he wasnÕt able to get back on time. So he arrived up with my neighbour Liam Mc Glinchey, who knew I played gaelic, and that I was a good fielder of a ball, and he asked me if I would play. I said certainly I would play except for the fact that the ban was in force at the time. So the agreed to smuggle me into the ground in the boot of a car so that I wouldnÕt be seen. Which is what we did. And that same night we beat Derry Celtic 2-1 and I got man of the match, my first time ever keeping goal,Ó

He saw the inside of quite a number of car as he pursued his double life over the next few years, playing gaelic football with Tyrone, where he lived briefly, and starring incognito in summer soccer compitions where the prize money was often as high as £5,000. He played for Colraine for a while but baulked at the idea of training. Soccer was for fun, and life was a breeze.

Then, in 1980, his world was turned upside down when he lost his first wife- Shays mother, Agnes- to cancer. Shay was just four years old and one of six children between the ages of four and ten, who Seamus was left to raise. ÒThe day of the funeral the were trying to split us up. Sisters and brothers very kindly offering to take a child here, a child there. I wouldnÕt hear tell of it. I said no, we stick together.

ÒI was playing for Gweedore Celtic at the time. I had to leave them. It was 60 miles from here to Gweedore and I had to be out of the house at eight o clock on a Sunday morning if we had a match. I just couldnÕt pack up six wains and put them in the car. So I transferred to White Strand, outside Rathmullen, which was only 20 miles away.Ó

The children became part of the fixtures and furnishings at the club. Watching his father keep goal made a heavy impression on Shay. Losing his mother at such a young age played a seminal in shaping his personality too. To this day he carries a photograph pf her in his glove at every match. A photograph and a wee bottle of water that she give him years and years ago when he was very young.

His faith is very strong. When he went over to Glasgow first. I think in the first 12 months the only time he ever left his digs was to go to training or go to chapel. He was afraid to go out. The city was to big for him. But he wouldnÕt miss mass on a  Sunday.Ó

And now every second weekend tens of thousands of people congregate in Newcastle to warship his son. ÒI think he must be more popular than Shearer now,Ó he says, which is tall praise indeed, given that a year ago it looked like he would be back on his travels.  He asked to be transferred Ðlisted after returning from injury and discovering another man in his place.  Steve Harper was Bobby Robsons number one and Seamus urged his son to force the issue.  At the time it seemed the first pieces of bad advice he had given him,  ÒI may have been a bit hasty, but the fact was that Bobby had agreed, when Shay signed his contract, that, as long as he was fit and playing well, he was to be in the first team.  Our word is our bond in this family.  It woke them up.  The following week he was back in.

Before he was ever loved at Newcastle though, Given was loved at Sunderland, where during a loan spell thatÕs still the subject of fond reminiscence at the Stadium of Light, he kept 12 clean sheets in 17 matches and helped the team win the first division championship.  At the end of the season,      Given joined the clubs most detested rivals.  Yet whenever he returns to the town, banners welcoming him home are strung across the streets.

It was in Sunderland that Seamus learned that he didnÕt need to keep telling how good his son was anymore.  They were in town one afternoon and walked into a shopping centre.  Seamus turned around and couldnÕt believe what he saw.  Four Sunderland fans were down on there hands and knees, kissing the ground where his son had just walked.

No one needed to be told his son was great.

It was taken as given.