FAI tried to lure Jobe Bellingham to Ireland

Jobe and Jude's dad Mark, a former footballer himself, was born to Irish parents

Fri, 07 Nov, 2025 - 09:02

John Fallon

The FAI tried to entice Jobe Bellingham from England but he will instead line up for the Three Lions in Friday week’s Euro U21 qualifier against Ireland.

Jobe and his talented older brother Jude both play outside of the UK for Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid respectively.

Their dad Mark, a former footballer himself, was born to Irish parents and a picture of Jude sporting an Ireland jersey as a kid raised questions about his allegiance.

While Jude was tipped as a senior international from the time he emerged into the Birmingham City first team at 16, progress for the younger Jobe hasn’t been so swift.

When he was on the periphery of England’s underage squads, the FAI sent out feelers but didn’t receive a favourable reply.

“We explored it,” admitted Ireland U21 manager Jim Crawford “He was flagged up to us as eligible, we did a little bit of probing when he was out of the England squad and he asked to think about it.

“Word came back fairly quickly, within a couple of days in fact, to say he was happy to stick with England.”

Bellingham, now with promoted Sunderland, captained England in September and will be to the fore at the St Andrew’s home of his former club, Birmingham City.

It will also a homecoming for Lee Carsley, reuniting the pair of managers who were once teammates for Ireland U21s in Portugal.

Carsley’s talks about becoming the Ireland senior manager fell asunder last year but he leaned on the FAI for a scouting report on Israel when they met at the Euros final.

“I'm looking forward to meeting him again because Lee’s a good guy,” said Crawford.

“He was actually in Croatia when they played England’s U20s last year and we had a little catch up with him then.

“Because we’d missed out on Euro qualification to Israel on penalties, he got in contact to ask about their key players. I’d no qualms about helping him.”