The city skyline in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Image: Getty Images)
Typically, when a footballer mentions dodging missiles, they’re talking about a stray coin, a half-empty plastic pint or a volley of colourful abuse, while deliberately dawdling towards the corner flag as a match ticks into added time. In this case, Jonjo Shelvey is referring to the literal, frightening variety of missiles, which have prompted Britons and other foreign nationals to evacuate Dubai in their thousands, following retaliatory strikes launched from Iran amid the conflict with the USA and Israel.
As Express Sport’s interview with the former Liverpool and Newcastle United midfielder began, when asked how he is doing, while the scramble to locate the record button on Zoom unfolded, Shelvey smiled wryly and said “all good mate, just dodging the missiles”. As Shahed drones and missiles pierced Dubai’s pristine blue skies, Britons found themselves stranded at the airport, awaiting the reopening of airspace while the United Arab Emirates’ air defences attempted to intercept the strikes heading towards their prestigious city.
For Shelvey, leaving Dubai was never a consideration. If there was any uncertainty about his affection for the city, adored by influencers, businessmen and, increasingly, retired athletes, it was dispelled by his unveiling as the new manager of Arabian Falcons, who count former Manchester United prodigy Ravel Morrison and FA Cup finalist Jason Puncheon as head of football operations.
When questioned about why he accepted this new role with the second division UAE club rather than catching the next flight back to the UK, he explained: “To be fair, it’s not actually that bad out here, it’s been blown out of proportion a lot. You’re still living your normal life. I think social media has blown it a little bit out of proportion, but in terms of day-to-day stuff, we’re still going to the malls and the beaches.
Jonjo Shelvey is now managing in Dubai (Image: Arabian Falcons)
“The only thing that’s changed is the kids are obviously off school, because if anything did major happen, they can’t be opening schools. But I think they’re going back next week, so everything seems to be getting back to normal.”
More than 4,000 miles lie between Dubai and Shelvey’s birthplace of Romford. He acknowledges the adjustment has been challenging for his wife and daughters, though the occasional taste of home has sometimes eased matters. “We went for a roast dinner down on Blue Waters Island by the marina the other day,” the former England international chuckled.
“And we just sat there and thought like, ‘You don’t get this in the UK.’ Do you know what I mean? So yeah, there’s definitely a lot more perks to being out here and they’re starting to find their way.” At the time of writing, the UAE features among the numerous countries the foreign office “advises against all but essential travel to” owing to the ongoing conflict. Not that this has deterred Shelvey in the slightest. The midfielder remains convinced that a leisurely walk along the Dubai corniche amid the volatile Middle Eastern conditions poses far less risk than venturing through east London or parts of Essex.
“You get the fighter jets flying over the house and intercepting the stuff,” he added: “But I think you have to give credit to the UAE in terms of how they’ve handled this situation. They’ve been spot on and if I’m being honest, I’ve not felt unsafe once.
“There was a time where you’d get two, three alerts a day about taking shelter, but you’d spend 10 minutes in the house taking shelter and then you’d get another alert saying everything’s fine, go back to your normal life.
Jonjo Shelvey has retired from football to enter management (Image: Arabian Falcons)
“I would feel safer being out here than I would back in London, for instance, in terms of you hear about all the crime that goes on in London and kind of what I watch these days in London. So yeah, I’m glad we stayed and I’m glad that we’re residents of the UAE.”
Shelvey has consistently maintained that he keeps himself in the dark regarding UK politics. He has previously spoken of how his wife’s sister had her mobile snatched while out walking in the capital, and how the relentless algorithms of doom routinely portray a bleak picture of London and Britain as a whole.
What is plain to see is Shelvey’s fondness for Dubai. He is by no means the only former Premier League midfielder to be taken with the city and the project Arabian Falcons are piecing together. Morrison is the most high-profile player he will be managing to date.
Sir Alex Ferguson described the former United academy graduate as the finest player he’d seen in the younger age groups, while Rio Ferdinand has regaled football fans with tales of Morrison leaving United stars bamboozled with his trickery.
For whatever reason, Morrison’s career never scaled the lofty heights of Premier League football, taking him instead to Italy, Mexico, Sweden, the Netherlands, the USA and now Dubai.
“Everyone hears the stories with Ravel,” Shelvey replied, when asked about the ex-West Ham star. “To be honest with you, I’ve not come across him too much in football in my career. I think I only ever played against him once. But you see it day in, day out on the training pitch how good he is.
“Obviously, he’s getting older a bit now and sort of having to change his role in terms of, if you like, in our team. But he’s a great character to have around the lads and especially the lads that we’ve got at the club in terms of we’ve got a lot of young, African, exciting players. They’re very raw. And I think for someone like Ravel to be around them and show good leadership and character, that’s very important.”
Shelvey’s enthusiasm for his new role is tempered by the stark realisation that his football career has come to an end. The former England international, who earned six caps, admitted this was a difficult reality to accept, saying: “But I sort of knew that when I was coming out here, I knew that I was never ever going to play at the top level again, my career was on a downward spiral, if you like, in terms of being at the highest level.
“And I’m not getting any younger, so it takes me a lot longer to recover after a game. I could feel my body and my left knee starting to hurt constantly. So, yeah, it was a hard one in terms of… Until today, when it’s officially coming out that I’ve retired, I had a moment there where I just sat on the bed and sort of reflected on my career and to not get that feeling again in terms of playing, it’s obviously not nice.
“But listen, I’ve had a great career and now I’ve obviously got this opportunity to try and make my name in the management game. And I’m lucky that I found the club in Arabian Falcons and the owners that are involved to give me that opportunity.”