“If that decision comes his way, I’d just say, look, you’re English or Irish.”
Former Republic of Ireland striker Shane Long has revealed that he wants to protect his son from repeating a ‘Declan Rice situation’ in future if he grows up to be a professional footballer.
The Tipperary native has two kids with wife Kayleah Adams – who hails from Reading – and both of his children were born and raised in the UK.
The 37-year-old has been living in England for the best part of 20 years, and has made 88 competitive appearances for his home country scoring 17 goals.
After the huge attention placed on Jack Grealish and Declan Rice during their recent return to Dublin, Long opened up about his concerns that his children could face similar issues in the future.
Speaking on Fozcast, a podcast hosted by former Manchester United and England goalkeeper Ben Foster, the recently retired Reading striker revealed: “It is tough. Playing for your country in Ireland is such a great honour.
“When you see players not sure if they want to do it, I think it’s hard for the Irish people to accept that,” he added.
“But then I put myself on the other side. My son was born in England, he likes football, he might have that decision.
“I’m not saying he will be a professional footballer or anything but, if that decision comes his way, I’d just say, look, you’re English or Irish and just stick with that. I wouldn’t put pressure on that.”
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Long continued: “Obviously, he’s born in England, all his friends are English. I obviously still instil into him to be proud of the Irish connection he has.
“I can’t see myself following England down the line or anything like that – But I’d make sure that he wouldn’t jump from England to Ireland or back to England or anything like that.”
The man who holds the record for the fastest goal ever scored in the Premier League also dished the dirt on some of the antics his Ireland teammates got up to while on international duty.
