International calls for Clarets
When Brian Flynn played for Wales in a friendly international against Israel in June 1984 little did we know that it would be over sixteen years before a Burnley player who represent his country at full international level again.
That long period came to an end on 2nd September 2000 when Phil Gray came on as a substitute for Northern Ireland to score the winning goal in a World Cup qualifier against Malta at Windsor Park, Belfast.
Things have changed and more than thirty Burnley players have since been able to add their name to that particular honours board and next week there could be as many as ten Clarets on full international duty with a couple more involved at levels below.
We reported a while ago that all of Robbie Brady, Jeff Hendrick, Kevin Long, Jon Walters and Stephen Ward had been named in Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland squad and yesterday Tom Heaton, alongside four former Clarets, was included when Gareth Southgate named his squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovakia.
Sam Vokes is again in the Wales squad for their games against Austria and Moldova while Steven Defour, who missed Belgium’s last games through injury, is back for games against Gibraltar and Greece.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson will travel with Iceland for a game against Finland before they return home to face Ukraine while latest signing Chris Wood (pictured) is likely to be on the honours board very soon. He’s expected to captain New Zealand in World Cup qualifiers in two games against the Solomon Islands.
It doesn’t end there. Goalkeeper Conor Mitchell, who is currently on loan at Chester, has been named in the Northern Ireland under-21 squad for a European qualifier against Albania while Harry Limb will train with that squad as well as having received a call up for Northern Ireland’s under-19 squad for two friendlies against Cyprus.
Our best wishes to all our players on international duty.
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