The Football Association of Wales is calling for the other British FAs to change the eligibility rules for its national teams to call up non-Welsh players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rule change is being suggested so Wales can call up former Swansea City captain Matt Grimes, who is currently not eligible. The Exeter-born midfielder has previously represented England at under-21 level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FAW’s proposal will allow FAs to select any player who has lived in their country for a minimum of five years. Other English players who could be selected for Wales on this basis include Swansea full-back Kyle Naughton and Cardiff City captain Joe Ralls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is unclear if the other FAs will approve of the move. Last week, the English FA rejected a proposal by the FAW to allow the Welsh teams competing in the English league system to compete in the Welsh League Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s understood the English FA are also concerned about the knock-on effect on the eligibility of young English players abroad, if residency became a factor. Young Welsh players that move to England could also become eligible for England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the separate countries of the UK have their own football teams, separate agreements outline how a player’s eligibility for one or more country is determined. Currently, players can be chosen for the country of their birth, school education or family up to their grandparents. Once they have played in a senior, competitive international, they may not play for another country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the latest Welsh squad called up, only 13 of the 26 player squad was born in Wales with the rest having Welsh parentage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grimes joined Swansea from Exeter City in 2015 and made more than 300 appearances for the club. He signed for Championship rivals Coventry City last month for an estimated \u00a34 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Football Association of Wales is calling for the other British FAs to change the eligibility rules for its national teams to call up non-Welsh players. The rule change is being suggested so Wales can call up former Swansea City captain Matt Grimes, who is currently not eligible. The Exeter-born midfielder has previously represented England at under-21 level. The FAW’s proposal will allow FAs to select any player who has lived in their country for a minimum of five years. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1244,"featured_media":36246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[184,1279,196,880],"coauthors":[1204],"class_list":["post-36217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-faw","tag-matt-grimes","tag-swansea","tag-wales-football"],"yoast_head":"\n