Updated at 18.55
THE FAI ARE looking into the eligibility of Preston’s Joe Garner with a view towards potentially persuading him to play for Ireland, The42.ie understands.
A story in The Irish Post previously claimed that the association were keen on convincing Garner to declare for Ireland, after learning that the 26-year-old attacker has relations living in Galway City.
Martin O’Neill has already had success in persuading other English-born players, Cyrus Christie and David McGoldrick, to declare for Ireland, while it is still hoped Jack Grealish will follow.
With that in mind, here’s what you need to know about the potential future Ireland international.
- Garner was born in Blackburn has played for England at U16, U17 and U19 level.
- He was the subject of an early profile in FourFourTwo. Asked about his weaknesses, he said: “Maybe my defending needs a bit of touching up. To be honest it’s pretty shite at the best of times, but what do you expect — I’m there to score goals, not stop them!”
- He started off his career at Blackburn in 2005, but failed to break into the first team despite being a prolific scorer at youth level, with Craig Bellamy, Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz among those ahead of him in the pecking order at the time.
- He left Ewood Park and joined Carlisle United permanently on a club record fee of £140,000 following a successful loan spell there. An impressive 19 goals in 31 games saw Garner move to Nottingham Forest for £1.1million.
- The striker failed to live up to expectations at the City Ground and eventually moved to Watford, following nine goals in 48 appearances and loan spells at Huddersfield and Scunthorpe.
- His time at Watford was similarly disappointing, as he managed just one goal in 24 appearances, joining Preston following a return on loan to Carlisle, where he managed nine goals in 16 appearances.
- He appears to have finally found a good home at Preston — the club he supported as a boy — scoring 21 goals in 35 appearances this season. “As a lad, growing up, I dreamed of emulating people like Ricardo Fuller and Jon Macken,” he told The Guardian in an interview last October.
- He has a penchant for scoring spectacular goals…
- He initially joined Preston on an 18-month contract, but extended his stay at Deepdale back in August.
- Garner was Preston’s Official Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year last season, after finishing as top scorer for the League One club.
- He is expected to be playing in the Championship next season, with Preston currently second in League One, five points ahead of nearest rivals MK Dons.
- He writes a column in the Lancashire Evening Press. The next one should be an interesting read if he chooses to address recent rumours linking him with Ireland.
- Should he eventually turn out to be eligible for Ireland and agree to represent them at international level, he could come up against teammate Scott Wiseman on the international stage. The Preston defender has been part of Gibraltar’s Euro 2016 qualification campaign.
