Jack Grealish has backed a campaign to save a GAA pitch where he "spent many happy years playing Gaelic football".
The Aston Villa star, who has been linked with a £100 million move to Manchester City, played GAA as a youngster at Warwickshire’s Páirc na hÉireann before becoming a professional footballer.
In a statement via Warwickshire GAA, Grealish said: “As a boy I spent many happy years playing Gaelic football in Pairc na hÉireann.
“The skills I learned and the encouragement I received helped me become the player I am today.
“Grassroots sports are so important for kids across the West Midlands. Warwickshire GAA is at the forefront of making sure everyone, from all backgrounds, has the chance to play and participate. I fully support the campaign to save Páirc na hÉireann."
Warwickshire GAA have failed to get planning permission for a new clubhouse and pitches and a crunch meeting is now scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.
Another rejection for planning permission would be catastrophic, with any appeal set to take over a year to complete.
GAA President Larry McCarthy has also backed the campaign, saying: “Pairc na hÉireann has been such an important facility for the GAA and the West Midlands community for many years.
“I am hopeful that the planning permission will be given on 11 August, and I look forward to visiting Solihull to see the new development in the near future.”
Grealish's dad previously explained how playing GAA helped his son toughen up.
His father Kevin told Birmingham Live: “He’d run the show playing Gaelic. It really helped him because he was knocked from pillar to post. It’s brutal compared to soccer.
“Jack, as you know, is good with his feet but you can pick the ball up as well and he’d flick it around everyone!
“I told Gordan Cowans (Aston Villa coach) that once. He asked why Jack was so good at expecting tackles and stuff and it was the GAA. It really built up his upper body, players would bounce off him. It’s probably why he’s so strong today.
“He had to stop playing at 16, though, they’d just be stamping on his fingers and it became all too much. We had Nike knocking at the door at this point as well who wanted to sponsor him.
“It was a summer sport, Gaelic, and he’d play that non-stop, he didn’t care about your crickets or rugbys.”
Echoing those comments, Grealish said: "I wasn't really into other sports growing up but I loved Gaelic.
"You can play football in it; you don't just have to have the ball in your hands, you can just run with the ball [kicking or soloing].
"But when I was 13, Villa told me I need to stop because it's rough. I still played now and then until I was 15. It helped me develop. When I was young I was always playing above my age but I struggled physically. But getting kicked around at Gaelic, getting shoulder-barged, it helped."
