Photograph: Ronny Hartmann/Getty Images
Move along, nothing to see here. The decision of a promising 20-year-old footballer to choose to represent the country of his birth at international football should neither make headline news nor generate ill feeling, but that is unlikely to be the case with Jack Grealish.
After no shortage of very public dithering, the Aston Villa midfielder, with the sprinkling of fairy dust in his boots, has finally let it be known that he will represent England. Born and reared in Solihull to English parents, he has every right to do so, but supporters of the Republic of Ireland will be understandably disappointed.
Qualified through the grandparent rule, Grealish has represented the Republic of Ireland on almost 20 occasions from under-17 to under-21 level but has nailed his senior colours to the England mast, courtesy of a tweet issued by Aston Villa, followed by a statement from the player himself in which he said, “It was not an easy decision to make as Ireland has a special place to me through my family. However, I have decided to represent the country of my birth.”
Unlike some of those who replied to Grealish’s tweet in the strongest possible terms, we can only wish him all the very best in his international career … up to a point, but writing as a Republic of Ireland fan who always felt this was the fork in the road Grealish would eventually take, the conspicuous absence of any explanation for it does rather stick in the craw.
The unedifying public wrangling over the international future of a good young player who has just 1,159 minutes of Premier League football under his belt is as well documented as it was tedious and does not bear repeating here. Suffice to say that despite being born in England, like Kevin Kilbane before him, young Jack has always conveyed the impression that, as the song goes, his heart is in Ireland.
A keen gaelic footballer as a child, his Twitter account is littered with shamrock emojis and “Come On You Boys In Green” hashtags. The boy – and let’s not forget, he is still a boy – has been very publicly courted by two national set-ups, neither of whom look likely to win silverware any time soon. His ongoing development permitting, he has finally plumped for the one most likely to guarantee him major tournament minutes over a less successful but more globally popular rabble in which he would almost certainly have been a star.
Not too long after Grealish’s decision to declare for England was announced, the Telegraph’s northern football correspondent Luke Edwards let it be known on Twitter that he had heard on “good authority” that Grealish had declared for England for “commercial reasons”, the financial benefits of England far outweighing those of playing for their neighbours across the Irish sea. A well respected journalist, there is no reason to disbelieve Edwards but in the absence of any explanation to the contrary from Grealish, we can only hope his source was ill-informed. No shrinking violet, Grealish’s father Kevin has long been a proud mouthpiece for his talented son, but has yet to comment on the reasons behind this carefully considered decision.
Grealish’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, has also said nothing, but is on record at having told the Soccerex convention in Manchester earlier this month that he unsuccessfully attempted to persuade Gareth Bale to pledge his allegiance to England.
“He could have qualified through his grandmother and I tell you that it has cost him millions and millions of pounds,” said Barnett. “You can imagine what it would have been like if he were playing for England next summer in the Euros … but he does love playing for Wales.”
In a sport where it seems that everything, including national allegiance, now comes attached with a pound sign, it is not difficult to imagine what counsel Barnett has been providing Grealish with in recent months. A player who is unlikely to end up short of a bob or two even if he never, ever plays senior international football, we can only hope he has made his decision to play for England for the right reasons, rather than the more sensible financial ones.
