‘I turned down Utd to join Celtic – I had to go home after it didn’t work out’

Shay Given is a Premier League icon these days, but before he had even kicked a proffesional football he had already got on the wrong side of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Given, when he was 15-years-old, was handed a trial with Manchester United. Speaking to talkSPORT, he revealed: "I had a trial at Man Utd and they actually offered me a contract, but I turned them down in favour of a move to Celtic!

"I was a big Celtic fan growing up and United had Peter Schmeichel just coming into his prime, whereas Celtic had Packie Bonner who was 34, so my dad and I felt that was a quicker route to playing first-team football."

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However, after betting on himself, Given never made his debut for the Hoops, and instead had to go home to Ireland when his deal ran out.

“I left Celtic at 18 and had to go back to Ireland and stay at home for a month or two because I did not have a club before Blackburn offered me a contract."

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Given moved to Blackburn Rovers in 1994, before he moved to Newcastle United three years later – after making just two Premier League appearances for Rovers.

Given added: “If you had have said then when I was back in Donegal that three years later I’d be rocking out at St James' Park in the Champions League with the number one jersey on my back, people would have looked at me and gone, ‘Yeah, good one, mate,’ because that was just a dream.”

The Irishman went on to become a hero at St James' Park, and he spend over a decade in the north east, making 354 appearances, but only lifting one minor trophy, the Intertoto Cup in 2006.

More than 30 years after he turned down Sir Alex, the pair met at the 2023 League Cup final. Given added: "I met Sir Alex Ferguson at the 2023 League Cup final, some 30 years later, but he is like an elephant who never forgets.

"He said to me, ‘I still cannot believe you turned me down to go to Celtic.’"

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