In the west of Switzerland, close to the French border lies the town of Neuchâtel, which translates to English as Newcastle. There is indeed a castle at the centre of this town of about 30,000 and it gives its name to the wider canton and the nearby lake on whose shores the town sits. Of Neuchâtel’s footballing offspring the most famous is probably Max Abegglen, a star striker in the 1920s and 30s who held the Swiss national team goalscoring record for over 60 years. Max, or “Xam” as he was nicknamed (Max backwards!) began his career at local side FC Cantonal and years later, after various mergers a new club was formed. Taking inspiration from their local icon they named the amalgamated club Neuchâtel Xamax.

It was in this unlikely destination that Ireland’s record goalscorer would enjoy something of an Indian Summer. Don Givens, who had signed off his last league season in England as part of the first team in Sheffield United’s history to be relegated to the fourth division was given a free transfer in the summer of 1981. After recommendation from a scout at United he ended up on the shores of a Swiss lake, the marquee capture of ambitious businessman and club President Gilbert Facchinetti. The club had just qualified for Europe for the first time and Gilbert Gress, the former French international who had managed Strasbourg to the Ligue 1 title a couple of years earlier was in the hot seat as coach.

While Givens would not be the first Irishman to play in the Swiss League – that honour to the author’s knowledge, belongs to former Bohemians & Fulham midfielder John Conway – Givens would be by far the most successful. In that debut season Neuchâtel would finish fourth and Givens would strike up a good partnership with Walter Pellegrini, both forwards scoring 12 apiece in the League, however it was in Europe where they made their biggest mark.

Despite it being their debut season in European competition and many of the squad being part-timers, little Neuchâtel Xamax would make it to the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup, knocking out Sparta Prague, Malmö and Sporting Clube de Portugal on their way to a clash with the soon to be champions of West Germany. Hamburg, complete with a veteran Franz Beckenbauer in their line-up were en route to back to-back German titles and would even win the European Cup a year later. However, in the UEFA Cup they were run close by Xamax and only got through 3-2 on aggregate scoreline with Givens scoring a fine goal in Hamburg after an uncharacteristic poor header by Beckenbauer. With the game finely poised, a 1-0 home win would have sent the Swiss to the semis but it wasn’t to be. Hamburg progressed as far as the final which they lost to IFK Göteborg.

There were plenty of European highlights during Givens time in Switzerland, Xamax continued to add quality and experience to their ranks, Swiss star Heinz Hermann joined as did German international Uli Stielike after a trophy laden spell with Real Madrid. Givens began to use his age and experience to greater benefit moving into the sweeper role on occasion.

There was another run to the UEFA Cup quarter finals in the 1985-86 season with Sportul Studențesc and Lokomotiv Sofia being dispatched, before Givens used his connections back in Dublin to get the lowdown on their next opponents Dundee United who had just knocked Bohemians out of the competition. Perhaps Billy Young’s words of wisdom worked as Xamax overturned a 1st leg deficit to reach a quarter final against Real Madrid. As with Hamburg a few seasons before Xamax found themselves on the wrong side of a 3-2 result as Real went on to lift the trophy.

The following season however would be Givens crowning glory, having narrowly missed out on a league title with a stylish and exciting QPR side a decade earlier, Givens captained Neuchâtel to the first title in their history. It was to be the final season of his career, arthritis issues with his hip meant that Givens was often playing through the pain barrier and at 37 he decided to hang up his boots, but only after a star- studded testimonial featuring the likes of Liam Brady and Pat Jennings with Bobby Charlton taking on coaching duties. Givens would later return as a coach with Neuchâtel Xamax in the 1990s, through their heyday had passed and they were struggling financially.

We’ll leave the final words to Xamax club president Gilbert Faccinhetti – “There will never be another like him. He was a real gentleman and a professional in the truest sense of the word.”

A version of this article appeared in the Ireland v Switzerland match programme of March 2024