‘Gaelic football toughened me up, I never wanted to stop playing’ – Jack Grealish on his secret GAA days

England’s Jack Grealish in action against Ireland’s Will Smallbone at the Aviva Stadium last September. Photo: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Very few people have scored a point in Croke Park and won a Champions League medal, but Jack Grealish is one of them.

The former Aston Villa and current Man City winger scored a point representing Warwickshire GAA at Croke Park during half-time of the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final between Dublin and Kerry in 2009.

Speaking on the Sports Direct TikTok page, Grealish said he loved playing the sport and that it helped toughen him up for a career at the highest level.

Grealish said he used to dribble with the ball on the ground, something which would anger the Gaelic football purists on the pitch.

“I know it helped me so much”, he said.

“You used to get hit, whacked and stomped while you were dribbling. So, I feel like it toughened me up, and that was the reason why, obviously, Aston Villa wanted me to stop playing, but I don’t regret it.”

The 29-year-old admits he used to play without Aston Villa knowing.

“I never wanted to stop playing, I wanted to carry on. I did privately, but Villa wouldn’t find out, and there was big tournaments going on and I wanted to play in them, so I carried on playing.

“I got caught a few times, yeah. But it wasn’t like, if you don’t stop playing, we’re going to release you. But they were just wanting me to stop, you know, for my own good, which I understood, but I just loved it.”

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