Lee Carsley refuses to sing anthem ahead of Republic of Ireland vs England

Interim England manager stands by vow to stay silent during God Save the King, which was booed by the crowd at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin

Lee Carsley stood by his vow to remain silent during the national anthem as England’s Irish connection secured his first win as interim manager against the Republic of Ireland, a day he described as one of the proudest of his career.
Declan Rice, who played for Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in 2018, and Jack Grealish, the former Irish Under-21 Player of the Year, scored the goals to secure a 2-0 win for England and Carsley, who made 40 appearances for the Republic as a player.
Grealish celebrated his goal in front of the England fans, while he and Rice were booed by the home supporters for the entire game.
Carsley also received some jeers from Ireland fans, but did not deviate from his decision not to sing the English national anthem, which he did not as Under-21 manager, having not sung the Irish anthem as a player.
On the debate around his decision, Carsley said: “It’s definitely not affected my day of preparations, I found out about it this morning. I fully respect people’s opinions. It’s something I’ve never done but I fully respect both national anthems.
“Today would be one of the proudest days of my career to lead an England team out in Dublin. You definitely couldn’t have written it. I don’t feel hard done by or aggrieved.
“I played in teams when players are belting the anthem out next to me but also I’ve played in teams where players or coaches don’t sing. I don’t think it makes me or anyone else who doesn’t sing any less committed.
“I was looking forward so much to today. I saw the draw a while back and I thought that is going to be a really good game. Fast forward and two weeks ago it sunk in that I was going to take the team in Dublin, I knew it was going to be a good experience.”
Despite Carsley receiving some criticism, his decision not to sing the anthem will not harm his chances of landing the full-time England job. It is understood the FA were aware of the situation before his comments and accepting of it.
Carsley, or any other England manager in the future, will not be asked to sing the anthem and Sarina Wiegman, the England women’s manager who is Dutch, does not sing it.
Asked if the debate around the anthem had dampened his enthusiasm for the senior job, Carsley replied: “I fully respect people’s opinions. I would never judge anyone for singing or not. I had a great experience when I played for the Republic of Ireland and I’m having a really great experience now in terms of the responsibility I’ve got of being head coach of the senior team. You’ve probably got to accept that with that comes a bit of judgement. I don’t feel hard done by, I respect everyone’s opinion and we move forward.”
Carsley accidentally sat in the home dug-out when he first walked out at the Aviva Stadium and he said: “I did come down the tunnel and turn right. As you know, I’ve spent a lot of time on the bench, so I know exactly where that is. I didn’t realise and it was quickly resolved.”
While he did not sing the anthem, Carsley did celebrate the England goals and clapped in front of the visiting supporters at the Aviva Stadium after the final whistle.
Other than scoring, Rice also set up the goal for Grealish, who said the pair were braced for the hot reception they received.
“It was what me and Declan expected,” said Grealish. “We have nothing bad to say, we both enjoyed our time [playing for Ireland] – I certainly did and I have a lot of Irish in my family, so there’s no bad blood whatsoever from my side.
“Going to the fans at the end and hearing them sing my name, listen there’s no better feeling than playing for England, everyone will say the same thing, especially in games like this when you know the whole nation is going to be watching.”
Grealish’s performance and goal was also the perfect response to being left out of the England squad for the European Championship and the Manchester City star added: “Over the summer, it was one of the worst summers of my life because you can’t not see everything that is happening in front of you. It was difficult but it’s given me something to bounce back.
“I need to start playing regularly, scoring goals, and that’s what I did today. I’m still not 100 per cent fit, but I’m getting there so from a personal point of view I’m happy.”
Asked how he felt about the victory and his goal, Rice said: “Really good. It was the manager’s first game and we got a win. To score alongside Jack, it was a really nice feeling as well.
“It has been really refreshing this week – Lee has been amazing to work with, his meetings have been top and training has been really good. It’s been a fresh start, a change and to win for him today and for ourselves to get off to a winning start was the main thing.”
Jason Burt