Given hoping to bring the sport of padel to Kildare
Former Irish international goalkeeper is hoping to bring the sport of padel to Kildare
The Former Irish International Talks About His Proposed Padel Tennis Venture At Goffs And Looks At Ireland’s World Cup Qualifiers By I remember it well. It was my final involvement with the Republic of Ireland senior team. A game against Wales in the ill-fated Carling Cup in the Aviva in February 2011. Robbie Keane was out injured so Shay Given captained Ireland to a 3-0 win. After the game the 134 times capped keeper presented me with the captain’s armband, his gloves and his jersey. A mark of the man. I still have them. When the Sports Editor asked me to chat to Shay about his new proposed Padel Tennis venture for which he and his partners at Arena Padel have applied for Planning Permission at Goffs I decided to expand the chat a little and talk about club and international football as well.
Firstly, Shay can you tell us a little bit about the proposed new Padel Tennis by Arena Padel at Goffs?
Well Pat, my partners, Declan and Stuart Fagan and I, through Arena Padel, have submitted a Planning Application to Kildare County Council for a new €4m state-of-the-art, 45,000 sq. ft indoor padel facility in Goffs in Kildare. The proposed facility will include nine championship-standard indoor padel courts, along with complementary fitness and wellness offerings such as a state of the art “bio-circuit” gym in partnership with Technogym, along with a variety of recovery rooms. We’ve founded Arena Padel to bring padel tennis to the masses by investing in purpose built, modern sports arenas. We have found an ideal location in Goffs and can’t wait to start welcoming players early next year, hopefully.
How did you become involved in Padel Tennis?
I’ve always loved it, to be fair. It has grown a lot faster and quicker here in England that it has in Ireland. It's absolutely mental here at the minute. I've invested a little bit in the UK and I've seen the rise of it. It’s just something that I have been looking at for quite a few years now and I felt that Ireland is a bit of an untouched market. Don’t get me wrong I'm not knocking anybody but what I’m saying is it's the fastest growing sport in the world and I feel that Ireland is behind on that front. I think it's only a matter of time before it becomes an Olympic sport maybe a sport you'll see on TV. I know we have a lot of sports in Ireland, which is fine, but I do believe when people start playing Padel Tennis they’ll play today and they’ll want to play again tomorrow. It's one of those sports that you don't have to be super fit or agile for. You do get a bit of sweat on but it's all different kind of levels, young and old. It's great for kids and it’s great for older people. I thought my movement days were over. My right knee is a little bit shot and I’ve had about 40 operations on it but I can play paddle. It's not like tennis where you have to cover the whole court. There's a 2v2 and a smaller court which has less movement but it's still hand eye coordination, all that kind of stuff. I'm 50 next year, but it's amazing for someone like me to start feeling that buzz of moving around again like I’ve done all my life. I think that people are really loving it, they really enjoy it.
Subject to Planning Permission when would you expect to have the venture open?
We're hoping for the planning to come through by the end of September. There's a date towards the last couple of days in September that we’ll hopefully get a decision from Kildare County Council. Goffs have been a big supporter and are very excited about the plans and they’re really a great company to be involved. They were really open to the idea when we approached them. The site is just off the motorway, right next to the hotel and it will be very visual in a good way. It’s our first one in Ireland so we want to do a real top end one and we call it Arena Padel. A lot of businesses are starting to use paddle, especially here in the UK. They have corporate days.
All going well we would hope to for early next year if we get the planning. It will be good for the local area, creating employment and even for the schools to get involved. Different things and mental health and all the benefits are there. We hope the planning goes smoothly as I think it will the only benefit the area for employment as well as for health and a social sort of activity. For me it's a no brainer, but I would say that as I'm involved in it, but I hope that the Council can see that as well and hopefully pass the plans.
You had a great career in football, Shay, what's your involvement in football nowadays?
Just purely media stuff now, Pat. I'm not involved in a club; I’m not doing any coaching at all. I was at Derby for three years and I left about maybe three/four years ago and I’m focused heavily on the media side of things now. I freelance for different TV channels like RTÉ and Premier Sports. In England I do BBC Sports, Sky Sports and Premier League TV. It’s a bit more balanced, you know, for family and things. When I was a coach of Derby for three years, I hardly saw my family at all. It was like seven days a week with so many games. There's a lot more sort of balance and I'm enjoying that side a bit more.
Looking back on your club career what would be the outstanding moment for you?
Probably playing in the FA Cup Finals and I’ve been involved in a couple of them. Obviously, they didn't finish well. While I got my hands on the trophy when I was a City I didn't play so it didn't feel right. The semi-finals were probably more exciting than anything. I suppose the big Champions League nights playing for Newcastle too. The first game they're going to play in a couple of weeks is Barcelona at home and maybe it’s even nearly 30 years ago when we played them. But that game especially stood out my memory. Barcelona were one of the best teams in Europe and they were just going to turn up in Newcastle and beat us but we managed to get a 3-2 victory. People fondly speak away like even to this day, people who are at the stadium. They can't believe it, that game was incredible. So, Champions League football was pretty special as well.
And then, from an international point of view, a standout moment for you would be?
Probably two. Probably in the playoffs and getting to the World Cup Finals. We played Iran and had two decent games to get us there. Then just to walk out onto that pitch in the first game in Japan was the stuff of dreams, because growing up in Donegal, watching the Jack Chapman era we were celebrating in the cars and in Lifford, blowing horns and stuff when we got a good result. Then to go full circle to be actually walking onto that pitch with the No 1 of my back and knowing the whole country back home was at a standstill. No one's working, everyone's around the TVs in the bars. Just to have that feeling that you're the best goalkeeper in the country and you're out representing the country at the very top table, that for me, is the best memory, and not just international but for football in general, that was so special.
Obviously, all eyes were on Caoimhin Kelleher during the summer. Would you have supported his move to Brentford?
I would have supported his move anywhere, really. I was surprised there weren’t others and no disrespect to Brentford, but I was surprised there were no other clubs that were trying to get him, being honest. I think Man United were looking for a goalkeeper and I think West Ham and even higher up the League, perhaps. I saw Caoimhin in the summer internationals and he said that Brentford were the first to go, right, we want you, get the deal done, let's do it on the first day type of thing. I think that meant a lot, because I think in the last windows it was like there was a lot of maybes, was he going to go or stay I think they really put their money where their mouth was and he felt, well, I want to go and I want to go and be No 1. I want to go and play games. I don't blame him at all but I'm just surprised more clubs maybe didn't try and get him as well.
Obviously, our old pal Keith Andrews is there as manager of Brentford, a big challenge for him?
It is a big challenge but even if it wasn't Keith for any sort of manager going into Brentford, I think it was going to be a big challenge. You lose your manager after eight years, you lose your captain, you lose your two forward players and you lose a lot of your what Brentford are all about. I know they've replaced them and obviously Keith has replaced Thomas Frank. It's a big opportunity for him and we wish him well. You hope he does really well because it would be great for Ireland and for young Ireland managers and coaches going forward. But it is a big ask, because it's not going to be easy because of the people they’ve lost and the players they’ve lost.
Looking at Ireland, it wasn't the start to the Qualifiers that we had hoped for on Saturday night and the early goals conceded wasn’t what we wanted.
There was so much belief, even for me, personally and from the crowd and from the media and from the players. All the messages coming out of the camp were so positive, so exciting. We’re ready to go. We really bought into it because I think there was a real belief that that was the case. Then within 15 minutes you’re 2-0 down against one of your big rivals, realistically, for second place. Then you're thinking this could be over before it even gets started. But then the second half was, in my opinion, a throwback and actually I quite enjoyed it in the sense that it was a bit more direct. Get balls in the box, crosses into the box, why not play to your strength. We’ve got some big guys on our team and let’s use that sort of physicality and directness a little bit. They were sort of defending really deep and in a low block, it was hard to play through them. So, if you can't play through them, you can go around them or play over them. There are more ways to skin a cat. I hate this sometimes, people like Pep Guardiola and the perfect goal. Football is not always like that, is it? You need a break of the ball; you need a bit of luck. Even Idah’s goal in the 92nd minute, it was another cross and I think their centre half was distracted by another Irish player and a big gap opened for Idah. Again, the lads committed so many bodies into the box. I think eventually, if you get that many crosses and chances then you're going to score. It's a huge point in the end after being 2 -0 down and hopefully now on Tuesday night, they have to win, basically, that's the bottom line. You have to go and win now in Armenia and roll on the next games.
Is the manager under pressure now because of that result?
I don't think he's under pressure now, but if he doesn't win on Tuesday night he’ll probably be under pressure. Like all managers, you’re judged on results. He was brought for the first game against England and I thought that he should have been brought in sooner. They were fluffing on so much about getting a new manager and then it took so long. He didn't really have chance to vet on his players but he had that Nation's League campaign to get his message across. I think he'll be judged now, definitely on this campaign and I think he knows that himself. He looked a bit of a worried man at 2-0 down at home on Saturday night but in his Press Conference after he's very positive. I know their manager was upset with one of the goals but he was like, this is part of football, physicality. I agree, because it's part and parcel of the game, strong challenges. The guy couldn't argue it wasn't a sending off, it was a straight red card any day of the week. So, there was no argument there at all, I think, from Hungary's point of view. We got a bit of luck with the 10 men as well, perhaps but at the same time, I felt we deserved to get the draw.
The 5-0 to Portugal on the same night could well dent Armenia’s confidence but you were there in Yerevan the last time it’s not an easy place to go to.
The smaller nations have improved a lot. I don't really believe there are any easy games especially with this team now that we haven't qualified for so long. I think every game is a tough game. Every game is a “banana skin”. I really believe that. Yes, it was a heavy defeat for them at the weekend but they might look at the Ireland game and think we've got an opportunity here to do something. We've been there ourselves. It's not an easy place to go to. The journey out there on Sunday after a tough enough game on Saturday night, physically as well as mentally. Recovery is key now before Tuesday and if you look at the campaign you have to win this and that brings its own pressure, doesn't it?
Are you expecting any changes in personnel or indeed approach for Tuesday night?
We probably have to focus on what we're good at. It will be interesting to see, Idah came on and he scored and it gave him a huge lift. Would you ever see it even go back at 4 4 2. It may be a wee bit old school and a bit more direct. You've got Ferguson playing well in Italy and he looked sharp the other night as well. So, would he ever go back to perhaps, that kind of role at 4 4 2, and maybe 4 5 1, when we don't have it, but at the same time you've got two big strikers up there.
Is a victory a must or will a result do?
I think a victory is a must, I really do. I think we’re at that stage especially as we dropped two points at home already. You could say that was a must win game but when you’re 2-0 down it was then a must not lose game. We got a point and I think that’s a positive but we’re showing a little bit of frailty with the goals conceded, early goals, which is not a good trait to have. We have to get that out of our system and we have to try and score early goals ourselves.
Here in Kildare, there is obviously a lot of interest on Kildare players in the squad like Nathan Collins and Mark Travers. Collins is captain of Ireland and captain of Brentford SG: Yeah, he's the stand out one. Obviously, Keith, the manager you mentioned has given the captaincy as well. I think that’s great for Ireland. He does strike me as a leader. He speaks really well. I don't know him personally very well, but every time he speaks to the cameras or even on the pitch, you can see, he's always organising and leading from the back. There was talk over here that the clubs were looking during the summer and hopefully there are no Brentford fans reading the Kildare Nationalist. He is that kind of centre half who is very good on the ball, very relaxed. He's still very young as well and people shouldn’t forget that and he's still going to keep improving as well.
The move to Everton over the summer, is that a good move for Mark Travers?
A bit like Caoimhin I’d like to see him play more regularly because I felt he was maybe a bit hard done by last year when they brought Kepa to Bournemouth when he might have got a run. He was parked up again on the bench. It's not going to be easy to get in at Everton with Pickford the England No 1 in front of him. Everton is a brilliant club, a big club with a new stadium and it feels like a club back on track again with Moyes. He's at a really good club and I hope that he gets a run in the Cup games and different things. Of course, if Pickford gets a knock or suspension that he's ready and raring round to go. It’s a good move but again, it's just that lack of game time that will be frustrating for him.
Finally, if this Padel Tennis venture is approved can we expect to see more of Shay Given in Kildare?
Yeah, I hope so, Pat, and we hope it’s the first of many. We hope we can broaden it out, not just in Kildare but maybe in Dublin, Donegal, Galway, Cork. I think the exciting thing for us is we want to make a really special one in Kildare because it's our first one and maybe make a statement saying this is our brand, this is the place to be and I have every confidence that it will be the place to be.
