Irish fans seemingly fall into one of two schools of thought when it comes to Jack Grealish’s decision to play international football for England.
Plenty hold no grudges towards the English-born midfielder, arguing if he feels English then he should play for England.
Others have argued that the 20-year-old is some sort of football degenerate that has turned his back on the country he represented in his youth, and that his prospects with England will be limited.
Grealish released a very short statement about his decision yesterday but his father Kevin has given some additional quotes to The Irish Sun that are quite interesting.
Grealish Sr. claims Martin O’Neill pleaded with the Aston Villa midfielder to represent Ireland but the decision to play for Roy Hodgson’s side was made after months of soul-searching.
“Jack had a lot of thinking to do after meeting both Martin and Roy Hodgson during the summer,” he adds.
“It wasn’t myself, his agent or his Aston Villa manager, Tim Sherwood, who made this decision. This situation was completely different. Jack is now 20 and should be making his own decisions, especially as it impacts on the rest of his career.”
“We all gave Jack the time and space to choose for himself and we’ll support him in his decision. Twice in the past, Jack turned down the chance of switching to England at underage level. But he was only a kid then and we agreed together that staying with Ireland was the best decision in both cases”.
Grealish’s dad also gave details about how they broke the news to O’Neill regarding his son’s intentions to represent England at senior international level, ““Martin was the first person I phoned yesterday morning. We only knew for sure in the last few days so it was important Martin heard it first from us”.
“In fairness to him, while he was disappointed, Martin wished Jack all the best in his future career. So did Noel King and Mark O’Toole, two of the FAI staff whom Jack has enjoyed working with over the past five years”.
“Jack was born and raised in England. That’s where he’s lived all his life. His Irish connections on both sides of the family are well known and the country will always hold a special place to him. But he’s made up his mind and that decision should be respected.
“I know some Irish fans will be unhappy and he’s already got stick on social media but we must all move on now.”
