IRELAND U21 INTERNATIONAL Jack Grealish has chosen to represent England over the Republic of Ireland.
The Aston Villa midfielder took a year out of international football to make the decision and met with respective managers Martin O’Neill and Roy Hodgson during that time.
And the long-running saga appears to be finally over as Grealish confirmed this afternoon that he intends to line out for his country of birth, having featured at underage level for the Boys in Green.
He tweeted a short statement, which reads:
I have decided to give my allegiance to England. It was not an easy decision as Ireland has a special place with me through my family. However, I have decided to represent my country of birth.”
Grealish is undoubtedly a major loss to the Ireland set-up and he could be now in line for his first England call-up when Hodgson names his latest squad for upcoming qualifiers against Estonia and Lithuania on Thursday.
I can’t see any reason why not too.
Why is it controversial? It’s within the rules isn’t it?
Yes Dave, clearly it’s within the rules, or they couldn’t do it. But if you missed the controversy that surrounded it then you must’ve been VERY distracted!!! So basically, it’s controversial because it isn’t normally done and is considered by some to be against the spirit of the game. That answer your rhetorical question?
I think they should call their no ruck ploy “the Eddie Jones”