My pal's cousin is related to Keown by marriage and said pal, a lifelong Irish Gooner, reckons Keown always 'turned his back' on Ireland for reasons best known to himself!
Lawrenson is no surprise, but he like anyone should be able to choose at any age, even if it means England....which is far more likely to majorly affect us than any odd pedantic Unionist.
I have tried to find a link for my comments above and so far I have failed! I do remember reading about Keown's regrets possibly in the Indo, but until I can find it, it remains for everyone else just conjecture and I accept that. If I am wrong I apologise too!Originally Posted by ArdeeBhoy
Will be interested to see those articles - never heard that about Lawrenson before. I know Michael Robinson openly said (in Paul Rowan's book "The Team that Jack Built") that he didn't have much love for Ireland but that it was a good career move. My own impression is that Lawrenson was always very happy with his choice once he'd made it. However he does annoy the bejesus out of us when he gets his us and them mixed up covering England games.
"There's man all over for you, blaming on his boots the fault of his feet" - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
my impression is the same ET. All i ever remember him saying is that he considered himself both Irish and English but grew up supporting England or something along those lines.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
Keown came from a Irish family who had big connections with the GAA in London. He played GAA regularly as a kid over there.
Always look on the bright side of life
I think you have the story totally twisted. Keown was not tied to England at the age of 16
Afaia, Keown has stated on a few occasions that he and his family regarded it as an honour for him to play for England and it was their way to return something to their adopted country.
Lawro most probably would have followed England path if they had picked him, but after he got to play for Ireland he had no regrets about it even if he was obviously good enough for England.
Keown was on TV3 before as a pundit for a European game, and was asked did he ever consider playing for Ireland. He said that both his parents emigrated from Ireland and his Dad encouraged him to play for England, as a way of giving back to the country that had given them a place to live, work, etc
<EDIT>
Posted this in the Jamie O'Hara thread at the time, and mentioned it in this thread last April - http://foot.ie/threads/147164-Eligib...=1#post1476613
Here are Nigel Dodds' actual words, by the way:
“The issue of player eligibility has been around since FIFA’s ruling which allowed players to choose between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Action should now be taken to stop the haemorrhaging of talent from Northern Ireland.
The British and Irish Governments should now work to address this injustice which sees footballing talent developed in Northern Ireland, at some considerable cost, lost to compete at international level with the Republic’s team.
No one should be opposed to the idea of talks to resolve this issue, and there is a degree of irony about the demands for free eligibility. The creation of two international teams was brought about when the FAI split away from the Irish Football Association, and indeed the original restrictions of eligibility were introduced after complaints by the FAI after players had played for both teams.
The IFA put considerable resources into the development of players through the youth system, which is lost when players then declare for another association. In club football there are compensation arrangements in place in such circumstances when a player transfers to a different club, but obviously this isn’t possible in international competition.
There simply is no point in thoughtless calls for an all-Ireland team to resolve this issue as that is not going to happen. What is required are discussions at a higher levels between the British and Irish Government as well as a recognition by FIFA that the current situation isn’t sustainable and a change is required to bring an end to this ongoing problem.”
End Apartheid Now! One Team in Ireland!
As there is an All-Ireland team in many sports in Ireland then why must this option be completly ruled out in soccer. The aspiration for a United Ireland team is as legitimate an aspiration as is Nigel Dodds aspiration.
I do not believe that there will be a United Ireland team in the near future but neither do I believe that there is any chance of moving to Nigel Dodds position.
Therefore we have gridlock/impasse and we may as well continue with the Status Quo.
In the language of FIFA (French I think) C'est La Vie Nigel !.
Nigel Dodds is a cretin, who makes even IKP look like a statesman...
I believe geysir is correct on both Keown and Lawrenson. I was sure I'd read Lawrenson expressed a preference for England but after researching it I think I'd just picked it up from posts on here. Like a lot of dual-nationals, Keown and Lawrenson have genuinely split loyalties. We have to get away from the idea of defining Irishness in opposition to Englishness.
Also Nigel Dodds' comments are bizarre. If there's one thing FIFA does well, it's keeping governments from interfering in football matters. I'd be delighted if these nimrods tried to involve themselves in the work of the IFA/FAI and felt the full force of Sepp Blatter's foot stomp.
And if you can't get enough of it on here....
http://sluggerotoole.com/2012/02/09/...ge-1/#comments
While I remain convinced that I have read somewhere that Keown has shown regret, that or I am going mad ( which some of you might already think) further research has not helped me produce any substantiation of my claims, only other reasons as to why he played for England. Two reasons put forward as to why he played for England is that due to Britain providing his family with work and a living, Keown's father felt they needed to show a commitment to the country where they lived. A second reason I read was that due to the Troubles, they felt it was safer for him to represent England. Therefore, I got it wrong!
Just on Geysir's point above, my comments about Keown representing England at 16 has been misunderstood. I was referring to him picking one association over the other and his first commitment to England came when he represented England's U16s. When he subsequently represented them at U18 he could not then change countries again under the then FIFA rules. I may have not made this particularly clear.
Just thought this was worth mentioning - it seems Keown's son is playing for Reading U18s and from the very limited info I could pick up, it seems another website has highlighted him as a possible recruit -thanks OWC!
Last edited by gastric; 10/02/2012 at 8:45 PM.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sp...-16116052.html
Interesting to note here that McClean regrets representing the north at underage. It's fairly transparent at this stage that had there been a structure in place to facilitate the realization McClean's wish to represent the Republic then he would have availed of it. I think that should be the goal, but any action of the FAI's part to facilitate this will most likely get branded as poaching.
There was a structure in place.
It begs the question why did he not avail of it?
I urge players minded like James in future to avoid regretting playing for Northern Ireland - by not playing for Northern Ireland, and allowing their place to be taken by players who will cherish the opportunity.
The Englishmen came over in the year 2005
But little did they know that we'd planned a wee surprise
Sir David scored the winner, and Windsor Park went wild
And this is what we sang...
Most Northern Ireland fans will share James's regret.
The Englishmen came over in the year 2005
But little did they know that we'd planned a wee surprise
Sir David scored the winner, and Windsor Park went wild
And this is what we sang...
What was the structure and to what extent would it accommodate someone with McClean's circumstances?
I think the issue is because the framework leans in the FAI's favour (and rightly so both arguably and to an extent) then any proactive approach that would be taken would be seen as poaching. With people in FAI circles most likely aware of McClean's background, had any action been taken on their behalf and the option presented to him of representing the association he preferred and thus removing him from the IFA's underage selections then the outcome would have been more favourable, in retrospect. But now that he's declared for the Republic, it's a case of "good riddance" but had he been approached by the FAI and stayed on with the IFA it would have been a case of "hands off".
Has there been any official response regarding the acceptance of this apology? I'm all for it. Sure which one of us hasn't done something utterly daft in our youth.
All he had to do was contact the FAI...that "structure" has been in place for well over a decade.
Last edited by Not Brazil; 10/02/2012 at 10:26 PM.
The Englishmen came over in the year 2005
But little did they know that we'd planned a wee surprise
Sir David scored the winner, and Windsor Park went wild
And this is what we sang...
Because it would deny choice - there is an "All-Ireland" team, so please respect the choice of those, born on the Island, who don't wish to play for it, and whose choice it is to represent Northern Ireland.
"Other Sports" are irrelevant.
The Englishmen came over in the year 2005
But little did they know that we'd planned a wee surprise
Sir David scored the winner, and Windsor Park went wild
And this is what we sang...
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