I guess if they are not thinking of Ireland at that stage, they might not have the paperwork done? Like, for a lot of players playing for Ireland is the second prize when the England dream doesn't work out. They'd need to have a canny agent/parent... or a canny FAI scout?
Are we entirely sure that the 21st birthday rule applies for competitive U21 games and not just senior matches?Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
Lots of rumblings of Eddie Nketiah declaring for Ghana having got his passport. He was England captain at the last U21 Euros and was 21 during the tournament
Nketiah's parents are Ghanian so he would likely have been a Ghanaian citizen from birth. So the Under 21 appearances wouldn't be a problem in that case (see my previous post yesterday).
The under 21 after 21 rule and the senior caps rule are two completely different rules in the regulations by the way. A competitive senior cap after your 21st birthday ties you to that country full stop.
Hudson Odoi possibly switching to Ghana also. He has three senior caps for England a few years ago, but before he turned 21, so they didn't quite manage to tie him down. Amazing how qualifying for a major finals changes these players' views on their nationality...
EDIT: Also, just to make things even more complicated, different countries have different rules regarding citizenship from birth to people born overseas. From a quick Google I see that Ghanaians born abroad are automatically Ghanaian citizens from birth if they have a grandparent born in Ghana (This is not the case for Ireland, you have to apply for citizenship sought through your grandparent). So the Under 21 rule wouldn't apply to a second gen Ghanaian wanting to play for Ghana anyway, as they would be Ghanaian since birth.
It's headwrecking stuff.
Last edited by Eirambler; 10/05/2022 at 3:21 PM.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
But Ghana have a good track record on qualification, don't they? If qualification for a tournament was their sole motivation then they would surely have made the decision before the opportunity to go to Qatar.
Hudson Odoi has rejected numerous England call ups at under 21 level and the speculation was that he was going with Ghana also. His father is a Ghanaian and was a pro footballer there. There's a story about the adulation he received on a trip back there last summer: https://www.modernghana.com/sports/1...xperience.html
I think both players have very good chances of (further) England caps. Nketiah has looked very good these past couple of weeks. Hudson Odoi is still only 21 as well.
No doubt that the English media will spin this as the lads not being good enough like they did with Zaha. I think it is admirable by both players.
Well they missed the last one and only scraped into this one on away goals, so it seems to me as though Nketiah was possibly biding his time, as he could have declared for them at any point and actually helped them to qualify.
Hudson Odoi, to be fair to him, has been ineligible since he took the England caps and only becomes eligible just in time for the World Cup - four days before the tournament starts. So probably harsh to suggest that about him alright.
Last edited by Eirambler; 10/05/2022 at 4:17 PM.
So, is the solution to convince the government to change the laws regarding citizenship? Basically if you or your parents register on the foreign birth's register, you're a citizen - so would it be that big a deal to grant everyone citizenship in the way? I know it won't happen cause it's crazy to base laws on football players eligibility, but is there any real difference to the country whether they're citizens or people who can be citizens at the drop of a hat
Yes, pretty much. If Ireland dropped the Foreign Birth Register system and declared all granny rule qualifiers as Irish from birth they'd all be Irish citizens before playing for anyone else, so the Under 21 thing would never be an issue. But realistically that's not going to happen.
This is all on the Luxembourg FA by the way, it was them that brought up the issue. Before that we brought in Callum Robinson, who should have been deemed ineligible at that point (he's become eligible since under the new rules), but neither the English FA or FIFA raised it as an issue.
Last edited by Eirambler; 10/05/2022 at 7:10 PM.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
Any idea regarding the eligibility of Connor O'Riordan, who has just signed his first professional contract with his local team, Crewe Alexandra, having come through their academy system. Aged 18, 6' 4" -- yes, he's a centre back.
He has played for us at under 20 this year
Here's a local interview with Connor - comes over very well. Good luck to him - he'll need it playing for dire Crewe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUZgDQ0IuVs
Last edited by Snapshot; 24/05/2022 at 8:41 AM.
The rise and fall of the quality of my memory means its kinda hit and miss on these things.
The End.
Sorry if already discussed. But Nathan byrne of Derby. Is he eligible? He is 29 and was their player of the season
I'm going on his name and nothing else
I don't think so. And he's not good enough anyway, I'd have Christie and McNamara ahead of him at RB, as well as the two obvious ones. Similarly at centre back we have better players than Byrne even if he was eligible.
Jake Clarke-Salter declares interest in switching allegiances to us - he’s a former England underage international and captain and Chelsea academy player, highly rated, who recently joined QPR. One of the embarrassment of riches thread but maybe a bit too soon
Ah great, a centre back. Just what we need...
To be fair to him he is at least a left sided centre back, where most if not all of our centre backs are right footed. So he may be of interest to Kenny in that respect. I don't suppose he can play left wing back?
It sounds like he was very good at Coventry last year and will be a regular at QPR this season when fit, though he does seem to have a questionable injury record.
But ultimately being a good championship player would only be enough to get him to the fringes of our squad - and the likes of Omobamidele, O'Shea, McGuinness, Dunne and McNally are all younger than him and play at that level, so may be more worthy of selection. And that's before you consider Egan, Duffy and Collins who would also be ahead of him, possibly Lenihan too. So a lot of players for him to get past if he wants to play.
For what it's worth I always think players should just go and get the paperwork sorted if they want to play for us, rather than "declaring an interest" like this.
Last edited by Eirambler; 29/06/2022 at 1:00 PM.
I would say less then zero percent chance he had an Irish passport while playing for England U21s
Unless that rule has changed?
It has, thats why Ryan Johanson was able to play for us
Excellent it was a ridiculous rule
There are plenty of others on here who know the eligibility rules a lot better than me so I dont know where exactly the breakoff is these days
He did play at the 2019 U21 European Championship - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_U...squads#England - and this was after he turned 21, so does he still qualify if he did not have his Irish passport at the time?
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