Scotland have called up Ipswich Town star George Hirst for the first time, with the striker set to make his international debut more than 30 years after his father David made his England debut
Premier League striker George Hirst has switched allegiances from England to Scotland and the 26-year-old has now revealed his father’s reaction to the move. Hirst represented England from under-17 to under-20 level, but has accepted a senior call-up for Scotland.
Hirst qualifies for Scotland through his paternal grandfather and was a late addition to the squad for their Nations League play-off clashes against Greece after Lyndon Dykes picked up a calf injury.
Hirst’s father, David, was capped three times by England between 1991 and 1992 and has been supportive of his son’s decision. “His first words were ‘go and do it – your grandad would be very proud of you for going to play for Scotland’,” the Ipswich star revealed.
“He said the greatest honour in his career was playing international football, so give it your best shot and see where it takes you. It’s a bit of a dream come true.
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“It is a chance to play international football and my grandad was Scottish and it’s an opportunity to go and make him proud.” Hirst also said that playing for Scotland had been on his radar for some time.
He added: “It’s always been a big aim of mine. I’ve been asked about it by the media at Ipswich over the last year and I’ve tried to bat it off as I was just going to focus on Ipswich.
“But if I’m brutally honest, it’s always been on the back of my mind. Steve [Clarke] dropped me a text and asked for a phone call and we spoke for five or 10 minutes – he wanted to know if I was interested in playing for Scotland.
“I went to speak to my partner and my family about it, but straight away I said ‘yeah’. It is an opportunity I can’t turn down.”
Hirst has featured regularly for Ipswich so far this season, having scored four goals in 20 appearances across all competitions, and Scotland’s assistant coach John Carver is expecting him to bring a “different dimension” to their attack.
“We’ve been monitoring him for months,” Carver said. “We lost Lyndon Dykes to injury and he’s a little bit similar to Lyndon. What a goal he scored at the weekend and what a way to leave your club football and come to international football.
“He’s an intelligent lad, he’s bright, he loves football and he’s fitted in straight away. He brings us a different dimension.
“I had a good chat with him on Sunday night and we spoke about a number of things, but most importantly he’s a good player and he certainly brings something to the squad.”
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