One that got away

Saw somewhere during the week that Mike Phelan (Man U assistant manager) also wanted to play for us (think he was referring to his Norwich days) but no approach was ever made, so he settled on his second choice, England, for whom he gained one cap. I suppose when Mike was at his best, we had Townsend, Whelan, Houghton, Sheedy, McGrath (occasional midfielder) Brady would have still been around til 88, we werent exactly short of options.

rom http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk...y__Part_three/

“I did have the opportunity to be with Ireland through parentage, but they didn’t want me. My dad was Irish and part of me wanted to be Irish. But when you put yourself forward and nobody takes it on board or picks you, what are you supposed to do? Ireland’s loss might have been England’s gain, I don’t know, but I certainly played on the international scene, which was what I wanted to do. England came along, I got the opportunity to be involved with six or seven squads leading up to the World Cup and then I got the game against Italy. When it came down to the World Cup I was outside the 22 but I was glad that I had the opportunity. When it happened there was definitely a sense of achievement. For that one or two seasons I was part of something good.”

Nice to hear these Anglo born lads say their preference was to play for Ireland over England, ala Killer rather than that knob jockey Pennant