Newcastle United Icon Shay Given Reveals Reasons Behind Heartbreaking Departure in 2009

Shay Given has opened up about the reasons why he decided to end his 12-year long association with Newcastle United back in 2009. The free agent goalkeeper has
Newcastle United Icon Shay Given Reveals Reasons Behind Heartbreaking Departure in 2009
Newcastle United Icon Shay Given Reveals Reasons Behind Heartbreaking Departure in 2009 /

Shay Given has opened up about the reasons why he decided to end his 12-year long association with Newcastle United back in 2009.

The free agent goalkeeper has made the revelation in his recently released autobiography 'Shay: Any Given Saturday', and excerpts from his memoirs were posted by the Chronicle newspaper.

Given called time on his Magpies career as he completed an £8m switch to Manchester City, and he explained how the changing nature of the club led him to grow tired at the growing circus on Tyneside.

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He admitted: “Every transfer window we were selling our best players and replacing them with free transfers and mediocre players.

“That wasn’t the club I joined. It was an ambitious club I joined and challenging at the top of the league and not in a relegation dogfight.

“I’m not saying I was too good for that - I just felt the opportunity with Manchester City and the club going places was there and too good to turn down. Had Newcastle been investing in the team like Manchester City, I would never had left the football club.

“It was a footballing decision and it did pull on the heartstrings with family here, so it was a big decision to move.”

Given, who amassed 436 appearances between July 1997 and his transfer to City, also hit out at not being handed a decent send off by the men in the corridors of power at St. James' Park - something that still irks him to this day.

The ex-Republic of Ireland international added: “I just felt I was unfairly treated when I left.

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“I think I had the third most appearances for the football club and I just felt the least they could have said was thanks for your services. They bought me for £1.5m and sold me for four, five times that.

“I was not asking for a boat down the Tyne but it would have just been nice to say ‘thanks for your services’.

“I got paid for it and I’m not saying I did it for free - I just felt such a strong affiliation with the fans and the way the board dealt with it was very poor.

“But I was moving to a new club, I didn’t want to be mouthing off about Newcastle. You speak about Newcastle and how it’s badly treated and people separate it from the football club itself and the fans - it’s the ownership I felt badly treated by.

“I think people should never say a bad word about the football club and the fans but at the time I didn’t want to say too much. 

"Hopefully the fans will read it and some might still be disappointed I left but hopefully understand why I did.”


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