Luke Young had little to gain from England call-up

Matt Hughes

The only surprise regarding Luke Young’s decision to reject an England call-up yesterday is that it was regarded as a surprise at all. The Aston Villa defender had his own compelling personal reasons for retiring from international following the tragic death of his brother in August, but his decision was also down to a recurring sense of doubt that many players on the fringes of international football could empathise with. What did he have to gain?

Young won seven caps, all under Sven-Goran Eriksson, during a stop-start England career, though as the last of those was four years ago in a match also featuring Paul Konchesky he knew in his heart of hearts that his time had been and gone. The 30-year-old was called up by Fabio Capello for the friendly defeat in Spain earlier this year, but never came close making an appearance, after which he concluded that he may as well call it a day. Why, he thought to himself, should he put himself through the additional training sessions, wearying travel and needless separation from family and friends for so little tangible reward?

Playing for one’s country remains an honour and a privilege, but following them around the world with little hope of getting on to the pitch can be a curse. Watching several fringe players walk miserably through airports, hotels and stadiums in recent years has on several occasions prompted the thought of why they bother. The prospect of fulfilling a childhood dream should be enough to keep most Englishmen under the age of 35 interested for the rest of the season, but even that was not enough for Young. As Theo Walcott discovered three years ago, watching from the sidelines at a tournament is no fun at all.

Youngsters such as Walcott can tolerate such inaction safe in the knowledge that the future could belong to them, but experienced Premier League players cannot be expected to show the same levels of patience. Jamie Carragher retired for that very reason two and a half years ago – memorably telephoning a national radio station to defend his decision – and others are likely to follow his lead after next summer’s tournament. Paul Robinson would not be human if he had not given retirement serious consideration already – he has not played under Capello but is repeatedly called into squads as a late replacement for the third goalkeeper – while Wayne Bridge must sometimes wonder if there is any real point to his international existence. The Manchester City left back may actually make a rare appearance against Brazil in Doha on Saturday, but has no hope of displacing Ashley Cole in the long-term, and could even lose his place in the squad sooner rather than later due to the emergence of Kieran Gibbs.

These considerations do not make the players bottlers or traitors for turning their backs on their country, but merely ordinary human beings with a realistic sense of their own standing, as well as other priorities in life. All of which makes David Beckham’s continued commitment to England – from a long distance and having already achieved far more than most of his team-mates – all the more remarkable.

Bolton chairman shows selfish side

Most contentious issues in sport ultimately boil down to vested interests, but rarely can their have been a more nakedly opportunistic and self-serving idea than the proposal from Phil Gartside, the chairman of Bolton Wanderers, that Celtic and Rangers should be allowed to join a newly-formed Premier League Two.

The smaller Premier League clubs, such as Bolton, are terrified of being left behind so want the safety-net that a two-tier Premier League would provide, while the Old Firm clubs are desperate to escape from a domestic league they have long since outgrown and which limits their ability to compete in Europe.

Unfortunately for them the rest of the Premier League are also motivated by self-interest, which is why the proposal will fail, as for most existing members Celtic and Rangers would bring nothing but problems.

Rejecting Gartside’s motion just so happens to be the right thing to do on sporting, political and national-interest grounds, but that is just a bonus.

Comments

[Tim - Brighton]

Mr Gartside isn't the first. Anybody remember David Evans? No? He was chairman of Luton Town, who, when the Premier League was proposed though that there should be no promotion and relegation. Why would a Conference side want that I hear you ask? Well because at the time they were actually in the top division and like Gartside Evans was only intersted in his own club and thought that a sealed top division would guarantee Luton's place in the elite for ever.

Sadly for Evans Luton were relegated from the top division the season before the Premiership was formed, but for two reasons I'm almost sad that he didn't get his wish. Firstly this was back in 1992, so the experiment would have been long abandonded as a sealed Premier League would have been as exciting as the old single division County Cricket championship. Secondly, if it HAD been a success Bolton wouldn't be in it!