Ex-Premier League star Jonjo Shelvey announced his retirement from football this week after being named as the new manager of Dubai second division side Arabian Falcons
Jonjo Shelvey has retired and will manage UAE third-tier club Arabian Falcons(Image: Arabian Falcons)
Usually, when a football player says they are dodging missiles, they’re referring to a pound coin, a half-full plastic cup of beer or a cascade of colourful language, while deliberately strolling to the corner flag as a match enters into injury time.
In this instance, Jonjo Shelvey is referring to the literal, terrifying kind of missiles, which have seen Brits and other foreign national flee Dubai in the thousands, in the wake of retaliatory strikes fired from Iran during the conflict with the USA and Israel.
As Mirror Football‘s exclusive interview with the ex-Liverpool and Newcastle United midfielder began, when asked how he is doing, as the scramble to find the record button on Zoom transpired, Shelvey grinned ironically and said “all good mate, just dodging the missiles”.
As Shahed drones and missiles filled Dubai’s clear blue skies, Brits found themselves stuck in the airport, waiting for the airspaces to open while the United Arab Emirates’ air defences tried to swat away the strikes heading towards their esteemed city.
For Shelvey, leaving Dubai was never an option. If there was any doubt about his fondness for the city, beloved by influencers, businessman and, increasingly, retired athletes, it was blown away by his unveiling as the new manager of Arabian Falcons, who boast ex-Manchester United prodigy Ravel Morrison and FA Cup finalist Jason Puncheon as head of football operations.
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When asked why he accepted this new position with the second division UAE side instead of heading back to the UK on the next flight home, he said: “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.
“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 separate Dubai from Shelvey’s birthplace of Romford. He admits the transition has been difficult for his wife and daughters, but the occasional taste from home has occasionally made things easier. “We went for a roast dinner down on Blue Waters Island by the marina the other day,” the ex-England international laughed.
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“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 is listed as one of six countries the foreign office “advises against all but essential travel to” as a result of the ongoing conflict. Not that it has put Shelvey off. The midfielder still believes a stroll down the Dubai corniche during the unstable Middle East conditions is not as perilous as a walk in east London or 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.
“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 regularly said he is not clued up on UK politics. He has previously spoken about how his wife’s sister had her phone stolen while she was walking in the capital and the constant algorithms of doom regularly paint a negative picture of London and the UK as a whole.
What is evident is Shelvey’s affection for Dubai. He is not the only ex-Premier League midfielder to take a shine to the city and the project Arabian Falcons are putting together. Morrison is the most famous player, to date, he will be managing.
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 the football fans about stories of Morrison tying United stars in knots with his trickery.
For whatever reason, Morrison’s career did not take him to dizzying heights of Premier League football, but 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 excitement for the new role is also countered by the realisation his football career was over. The six-cap former England international admitted this was a tough pill to swallow, 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.”
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