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All over the radio this Morning. John Rooney Plays for Macclesfield at the moment so nothing to get too excited about just yet. Very strange to consider oneself Irish when you are the brother of one of the worlds most famous English players. Anyone know what position he plays in?
He's only 16 as far as i know and was released by everton after spending five years at the club last year. On a similar note to brothers playing for different countries its like the De Guzman brothers. One plays for Canada and the other for Holland.
Think Christian Vieri's brother declared for Australia as well.
Is this the same brother who was going to be let go by Everton around the same time Wayne Rooney made his debut? I remember reading something in the paper that his mother was organising a protest to stop it happening.
I very much doubt he considers himself Irish. If he was as good as his brother he would have opted to play for England. This is a career choice, nothing more. Before anyone starts giving out I am not having a go at 2nd generation Irish players or fans here. There are obviously plenty of cases of genuine 2nd and even 3rd generation Irish players who regarded us as their first choice. I just find it odd that one brother opts to play for England and the other one opts to play for us. I don' think it's a coincidence either that the two other cases mentioned of brothers playing for different countries involve one brother playing for a country that is far superior, in a footballing sense, to the other. In this case the difference between the standards of the two teams is a bit more marginal (with us coming on on top naturally!)Quote:
Originally Posted by as_i_say
Dickson Etuhu plays for Nigeria and his brother Kelvin plays for England U21. I think the Kalou brothers are the same. One plays for Holland and the other plays for the Ivory Coast. Open to correction on that one. You're right not to get excited about Rooney's brother. Maccelsfield is about his level according to the Silkmen's fans. It kind of stinks of "I'm not good enough to play for England so I'll opt for Ireland instead".
er....does anyone have a source on this? seems very strange that some English bloke playing for Macclesfield will come out and "declare" for Ireland.
hmm, can't get the proper one so I'll take this Rooney knock off instead??
We're not that desperate anymore thanks...
Going back a bit further - John Hollins played for England and his brother played for Wales. I'm sure i remember a similar situation to this in the 1980's when Steve McMahon's brother was saying he wanted to play for us. He never made the grade and i'm sure Rooney wont either.
I'd just like to announce that like Darren Gibson, I've decided to declare for Ireland rather than the North.
Trap, you can find me in the phone book. I'll play anywhere. Sound.
The Gallen Brothers were an interesting case. Joe and Stephen(?) both played U21 for us, while Kevin declared for England. I seem to recall that Gerry Francis, his boss at QPR at the time was alledged to have forced him into it, telling him that it was in the best interests of his career, largely down to the old foreign player rule for european football I think. Kevin G was said to have been very connected to his Irish background, and, needless to say, never got any further than the U21s for England.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluebeard
Kevin Gallen wrote a letter to Brian Kerr when he took charge asking to be considered for Ireland saying he was coerced into choosing England when he was younger. I think it was around the time when there was some sort of amnesty about playing underage and then declaring for someone else. Kerr didnt pick him so he is not eligible now that the rules have changed.
Both Kalou's play for Ivory Coast. Soloman tried to declare for Holland but he didnt get a passport or something and he ended up playing for Ivory Coast. They should have told him to **** off and play for Holland.Quote:
Originally Posted by SunderlandBohs
Pretty sure Tim Cahill's brother plays for Samoa.
roooooooooooooooooooonnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyy
Yeah, at the time QPR were actually doing quite well and the limit on foreign players playing in Europe was in force. Even if QPR weren't to qualify for Europe (and at one stage it looked possible) then Gallen declaring for us would have impacted his transfer value. Big mistake on his part, he'd have undoubtedly been capped.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluebeard
Noel Whelan was another only in his case his Dad had written numerous letters to the FAI asking them to have a look at his son but he was constantly ignored so when England U 21's called him up for a match against us he declared for them. Needless to say he scored and we lost but turned into a bit of a boozehound and never fulfilled his potential and won a senior cap.
Its not brothers but hasn't Steven Gerrards cousin Anthony declared for us?
The Kalou example was very odd, Solomon was trying to fast track Dutch citizenship so he could play in the last world cup, he them flim flammed & decided to through his lot in with Ivory Coast when he was told it wouldn't be done on time & in an ironic twist of fate Ivory Coast were in the same group as Holland - it would of been odd to see 2 brothers playing against each other in a wrold cup group game
No, Andy isn't. I think he might have turned out once for the England U-21's after being told it wouldn't affect his chances of playing for Ireland. I know for a fact he's been over to Cork tracing his roots, and looking to buy land here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciaran
He was a decent player when we needed someone to partner Cunningham and I've no problem with him whatsoever.
yeah gerrard's cousin was called up but they subsequently discovered that he wasn't eligible think he might have played in a friendly
david mcwilliams wrote an intersesting piece on the liverpool irish . In it he spoke to rooney's grandmother who's background is from Derry but she describes how deep rooted the family is in ireland and how she considers herself irish... she also spoke about wayne and made the comment that he was english on the outside but very much irish on the inside
as regards his brother he's made one appearance as a sub for macclesfield but he's only 16 so it will be intersting to see how this develops
http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/2007/0...-englands-gain
I don't see it as beyond possibility that a guy would feel ties to both countries.
If Rooney Jr. wants to play for us, let him declare.
If he's on the fringes of a team in the football league at just 16, there's hope for him to become a decent player yet.
Is he a striker as well, or what?
The FAI where alerted to Rooney Sr but as usual didnt bother there arse getting him to declare.
John Rooney was realeased at the time of Rooney joining UTD i had thought he went with him. He played in midfield at everton
Good article.Quote:
Originally Posted by greendeiseboy
Anyone remember Dermot O'Leary on Fantasy Football when Rooney was doing the biz for England in Euro 2000? Baddiel and Skinner were being their usual irritating selves and asked him how he thought 'we'd' do? O'Leary asked them if they meant England before saying he was Irish, not English and hoped they'd get knocked out as soon as possible. They then started crapping on about Rooney so he started winding them up about how he was Irish and all, was great stuff!!