It's twenty years later than Jack Charlton would have liked but Ireland now have a Keown to call upon at centre half. Martin Keown's parents are both from Ireland and as such he was top of the then Ireland manager's list in the early 90's. The Arsenal defender resisted the call, however, and instead to chose to play for England.
Fast forward over two decades and now his son, Niall, has been given a similar choice. And this time it looks like Ireland have got their man with the 19 year old Reading defender having today accepted a call-up to the Ireland u21 set-up.
Speaking to The Herald about his decision, Niall Keown said that although his father chose to play for England, he was fully focused on representing Ireland.
Dad used to get a lot of stick from his family for playing for England, I was aware of all that so it wasn't really a big decision for me to represent Ireland.
Ireland u21 take on Andorra in Waterford at the end of the month and Keown confirmed that, although he had been in contact with the England set-up, once the call came from Noel King his mind was made up.
I was named as backup for an England U18 squad but once Noel King and the FAI got in touch, my decision was made
This is the kind of thing that Ireland fans can look forward to from the 19 year old centre half.
And here's his Dad getting hit with a ball just for the fun of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ACcNOlN4rw
