A September born lad (1995), Jack
Grealish, from Solihull is making waves, as Harry Kane did earlier in
the year. Jack made his mark for me in October 2013 when I saw him
play for Notts County, on loan, at Meadow Lane, against Crewe
Alexandra. He was a delight and I phoned a scouting (footballing
sense!) friend of mine who said, “Yes he will probably go to
Villa”. And that he did, signing forms and making his debut at the
Etihad, in a 0-4 defeat by City, in May 2014, in the 87th
minute-appearance money?
Since then he has been used liberally
by Villa, but at Wembley on Saturday against Liverpool, he turned
heads. England manager watched the game and would have been
impressed. With child sized shinnies, socks rolled down to irritate
referees and an impish charm, he appears to have strong ties, through
his grandparents, with Ireland. His club manager says choose “with
your heart”; dare he risk choosing England and be outnumbered for
an international place?
He has been capped at U17-U21 levels
for Ireland but he was born in Birmingham and his mother is English.
His great, great, grandfather, known as
Billy Garraty, was born in
County Galway. He played for Aston Villa in the early 1900s and he
played in 1905 in the FA Cup final at the original Crystal Palace, on
April 15th with over 101,000 watching.Villa won 2-0
against Newcastle United, with two goals from 'Appy 'Arry Hampton,
depriving the Magpies of their Double since they had previously won
the League title.
This was Newcastle's first final and
Villa's fourth win, having won in 1887, lost in 1892, won again in
1895 and 1897.
How many Cup winners have had a father,
grandfather, great grandfather or indeed great grandfather win a
medal?
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