Arsenal Invincible Martin Keown has claimed that fans of the Irish national team should be proud of both Jack Grealish and Declan Rice because they have Irish heritage.
Both Rice and Grealish played for Ireland at one point but ultimately chose to represent England after being convinced by former England manager Gareth Southgate—a story well-known in football.
The two players faced Ireland in Dublin last September and ironically both scored in England's 2-0 win. They were met with boos from the home crowd during the game.
Keown sat down with The Sunday Times this week to discuss his career, his near-decision to declare for Ireland, and various other topics. The subject of Grealish and Rice came up after he spoke about his heritage, and the former Arsenal player suggested it was time for Irish fans to cut the pair some slack.
“Let’s cut them some slack because when you have dual nationality, you don’t quite know where you belong,” Keown said via The Sunday Times. “Both have probably seen it from a career point of view and then gone back to England, but I don’t think we should destroy them. The Irish should be proud that they are carrying their DNA.”
Jack Grealish and Declan Rice of England (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)Drawing from his own experience as a dual national, Keown explained how he had to choose between representing Ireland and England.
The former Arsenal defender revealed that he had caught the attention of former Ireland manager, the late Jack Charlton, as well as Northern Ireland’s then-manager, Terry Neill. However, due to FIFA eligibility rules—and having already played underage football for England—his dream of representing either Ireland or Northern Ireland at the 1990 World Cup in Italy quickly ended.
“I just told Pat I could play for southern Ireland as well, so I paused because I wasn’t sure. In the mid-Eighties, Northern Ireland was dominant; they had qualified for two World Cups. I ended up being picked for England Under-17s, and that put an end to it,” Keown added.
“In those days, you heard everything through the press. I see myself as equally Irish as I do English, so I thought it could be a great opportunity. Ironically, Ireland’s centre-backs were arguably better than England’s at the time. Jack was encouraging me to join the squad, but I couldn’t break into the England squad. I would have met the Pope—that would have been something.”
Keown's old club Arsenal will play their next game against Inter Milan on Wednesday.
