James Severn called up for England

[derbydan]

Derby County youngster James Severn has been called up to the England U19 squad for their forthcoming U19 Finals tournament taking place in France.

Severn was the first-choice goalkeeper for Derby's under 18s last season and was an unused substitute for the first-team during the second half of last season when Stephen Bywater and Saul Deeney were both unavailable.

Manager Nigel Clough commented: "This is great news for James; who I am sure will benefit greatly from the experience."

Severn will be with the 18-man England squad between Monday 12th and Saturday 31st July, and will battle it out for the first-choice jersey with Norwich City's Declan Rudd.

Other notable names in the England squad includeJohn Bostock of Tottenham Hotspur, Nathaniel Clyne of Crystal Palace, Nathan Delfouneso of Aston Villa, Ryan Donaldson of Newcastle United and Frank Nouble of West Ham United.

England are Group A, along with Austria, France and Holland while Group B is made up of Spain, Portugal, Italy and Croatia.

The top two nations from each group will progress to the semi-finals, and ultimately the final.

[vicky-27]

Except that it now turns out he hasn't been called up ! it was a mistake - he is on the standby list. - poor lad must be devestated.

THE Football Association has apologised to Derby County's young goalkeeper James Severn following a mix-up over an international call-up.

The 18-year-old, who has signed a one-year professional contract with the Rams, was named in the England Under-19 squad for this month's European championships in France.

His name appeared in the list of players on the FA's official website under the headline "Lions announce squad for finals". Derby received the paperwork for Severn's call-up and news of his involvement in the squad appeared on the club's website and in the Press.

I interviewed Severn at the Rams' Moor Farm training ground on Wednesday afternoon and he was looking forward to joining up with England on Monday as they prepared for the Euro finals which start on July 18.

But hours later his delight turned to bitter disappointment as his dreams were shattered by what appears to have been an embarrassing administrative error by the FA.

Severn was informed that he was not actually in the squad but was on standby.

The two goalkeepers who will travel with England to the finals are Declan Rudd of Norwich City and Wigan Athletic's Lee Nicholls.

Nicholls' name was not on the initial squad list on the FA's website although the list has now been amended.

A spokesman for the FA said: "James Severn was a late call up to the England Under 19 training squad which meant he had to be named on UEFA's standby list.

"Competition rules for the UEFA European championship in France state that you can only take two goalkeepers which means that Severn cannot be upgraded to the full squad for the tournament unless there's an injury to either Declan Rudd or Lee Nicholls.

"We thought he could move into the 18-man squad but his standby status meant he couldn't.

"Unfortunately, we didn't find this out until naming the original squad.

"We're also hampered by the UEFA competition rules which state you can only have two keepers, hence the standby status.

"We've spoken to the player and apologised of course."

[derbydan]

must be gutted what a bunch of w4nkers

[Boycie]

Kin ell, must be like Elvis inviting you to join his ForestFatherland Forum, and then not accepting your registration.:frown: