WHEN HARVEY VALE first arrived at QPR on a permanent deal with Chelsea, captain Jimmy Dunne did the national due diligence.
“Have you got any Irish in ya?”
The answer was yes – Vale’s grandfather Michael is from Kerry – but Dunne wasn’t the first to ask. The renowned London-based scout Mark O’Toole had been in touch with Vale’s family years earlier, and Vale was close to declaring for Ireland at U16 level. He ultimately stuck with England, whom he captained to the U19 Euros, but then got his Irish citizenship in order during Covid, handed his passport in 2021.
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With that in order, a switch of eligibility to Ireland could happen reasonably quickly. Heimir Hallgrimsson met Vale at QPR as part of a trip to meet Dunne, and now, just over a year later, Vale has been pitched into the Irish squad for a World Cup play-off and the squad’s biggest game in more than eight years.
“I am so, so proud”, says Vale, who phoned his grandfather right after he got his call-up from the FAI.
Vale’s story begins in Sneem, county Kerry, from where his grandfather moved to London at the age of 15. He then moved to Australia for work, where he lived for long enough for a young Harvey to cross timezones to visit him. It was on one of these trips that someone dropped a football at Harvey’s feet and had him hooked.
“My parents used to tell me I wasn’t fussed about football or anything like that”, he says, “and then there was one day on the beach we just started playing football and then when I came back to England it was football, football, football after that.”
Vale first went to Fulham’s academy and then to Chelsea’s from where he strode through England’s underage ranks, culminating in his captaining them to the U19 Euros in 2022, assisting a goal in the final against Israel before being named in the team of the tournament.
But even when lifting that trophy, Vale had already secured his Irish citizenship, paving the way for the switch to Ireland. He had already made his senior Chelsea debut at this stage, but his career was to eventually stall somewhat. After the Euros a loan move to Hull City was cut short, and so he dropped down another division to Bristol Rovers, where Glenn Whelan was on the coaching staff and did his best to chivvy him into a green jersey.
Having occasionally played at left-back in League One, Vale returned to Chelsea and made his final appearance for the club in December 2024, against Shamrock Rovers in the Conference League. After that he was one of the unheralded names among Chelsea’s “bomb squad”, the 13 players told to train away from the first-team squad due to its bloating under Todd Boehly and Blueco’s wildly active human resources department.
Harvey Vale in action against Neil Farrugia of Shamrock Rovers in the 2024/25 Conference League. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
Vale had a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia but wanted to persist in England, and so in February 2025 took a permanent move to QPR, at which points his path intersected with Hallgrimsson. Though injured for the rest of that season, Vale has been a regular in the QPR team this term, making 24 Championship appearances, scoring three times and assisting another six.
“It wasn’t about being good enough [for England] or anything like that”, says Vale when asked about his motivations in switching to Ireland. “I was in the set-up, I was sort of playing every game, it was during Covid and there was a year during COVID when international football fully stopped. I got the citizenship and everything and then when we come out of that and I get the Championship, it just felt like it was the right time. I’m super connected to Ireland and I feel like it is a privilege to play for them.”
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Vale gives the standard ‘I’ll play anywhere’ answer to a question about his best position, but he is a creative attacker whom Ireland see in the mould of Finn Azaz, and is best-suited to cutting in on his left foot from the right side. If Ireland stick with their 5-4-1, then Vale, while perhaps not a starter, will be a bench option for the right-sided role currently owned by Chiedozie Ogbene.
“I have been in good form recently”, he says, “I have got a few goals and assists in the last few games. I will also work my nuts off, but it is [offering] that little bit of quality, whether it is a shot or a pass when we need it.”
In this improbable Irish campaign of twists and turns, it would be fitting if Vale played a significant role.
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The ex-Chelsea talent ready to make an improbable impact for Ireland
WHEN HARVEY VALE first arrived at QPR on a permanent deal with Chelsea, captain Jimmy Dunne did the national due diligence.
“Have you got any Irish in ya?”
The answer was yes – Vale’s grandfather Michael is from Kerry – but Dunne wasn’t the first to ask. The renowned London-based scout Mark O’Toole had been in touch with Vale’s family years earlier, and Vale was close to declaring for Ireland at U16 level. He ultimately stuck with England, whom he captained to the U19 Euros, but then got his Irish citizenship in order during Covid, handed his passport in 2021.
With that in order, a switch of eligibility to Ireland could happen reasonably quickly. Heimir Hallgrimsson met Vale at QPR as part of a trip to meet Dunne, and now, just over a year later, Vale has been pitched into the Irish squad for a World Cup play-off and the squad’s biggest game in more than eight years.
“I am so, so proud”, says Vale, who phoned his grandfather right after he got his call-up from the FAI.
Vale’s story begins in Sneem, county Kerry, from where his grandfather moved to London at the age of 15. He then moved to Australia for work, where he lived for long enough for a young Harvey to cross timezones to visit him. It was on one of these trips that someone dropped a football at Harvey’s feet and had him hooked.
“My parents used to tell me I wasn’t fussed about football or anything like that”, he says, “and then there was one day on the beach we just started playing football and then when I came back to England it was football, football, football after that.”
Vale first went to Fulham’s academy and then to Chelsea’s from where he strode through England’s underage ranks, culminating in his captaining them to the U19 Euros in 2022, assisting a goal in the final against Israel before being named in the team of the tournament.
But even when lifting that trophy, Vale had already secured his Irish citizenship, paving the way for the switch to Ireland. He had already made his senior Chelsea debut at this stage, but his career was to eventually stall somewhat. After the Euros a loan move to Hull City was cut short, and so he dropped down another division to Bristol Rovers, where Glenn Whelan was on the coaching staff and did his best to chivvy him into a green jersey.
Having occasionally played at left-back in League One, Vale returned to Chelsea and made his final appearance for the club in December 2024, against Shamrock Rovers in the Conference League. After that he was one of the unheralded names among Chelsea’s “bomb squad”, the 13 players told to train away from the first-team squad due to its bloating under Todd Boehly and Blueco’s wildly active human resources department.
Vale had a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia but wanted to persist in England, and so in February 2025 took a permanent move to QPR, at which points his path intersected with Hallgrimsson. Though injured for the rest of that season, Vale has been a regular in the QPR team this term, making 24 Championship appearances, scoring three times and assisting another six.
“It wasn’t about being good enough [for England] or anything like that”, says Vale when asked about his motivations in switching to Ireland. “I was in the set-up, I was sort of playing every game, it was during Covid and there was a year during COVID when international football fully stopped. I got the citizenship and everything and then when we come out of that and I get the Championship, it just felt like it was the right time. I’m super connected to Ireland and I feel like it is a privilege to play for them.”
Vale gives the standard ‘I’ll play anywhere’ answer to a question about his best position, but he is a creative attacker whom Ireland see in the mould of Finn Azaz, and is best-suited to cutting in on his left foot from the right side. If Ireland stick with their 5-4-1, then Vale, while perhaps not a starter, will be a bench option for the right-sided role currently owned by Chiedozie Ogbene.
“I have been in good form recently”, he says, “I have got a few goals and assists in the last few games. I will also work my nuts off, but it is [offering] that little bit of quality, whether it is a shot or a pass when we need it.”
In this improbable Irish campaign of twists and turns, it would be fitting if Vale played a significant role.
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