Ex-England star demands international appearances are deleted in unreal request
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Former England midfielder Alan Hudson has ordered the FA to delete his records of playing for the national team due to how he believes he was badly mistreated.
Hudson played in the First Division, now the Premier League, for most of his career, enjoying spells at Chelsea, Stoke City (twice) and Arsenal.
However, despite making 319 top-flight appearances in his career, he only appeared on the international stage twice.
Not being included in the England setup still affects Hudson to this day, who believes his anxiety, panic and long-term depression is a result of not being allowed to enjoy an international career.
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Hudson has now demanded that his record with the FA is wiped as he wants no association with the national side.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: “I don’t want anything to remain in the FA statistics to remind me of the demoralising and very depressing way I was passed over for all but two England matches.”
It was the performances, or lack of, that Jack Grealish made at Euro 2020 that has pushed Hudson to this decision. It is the first time that a player has filed a request of this sort to the FA.
Hudson continued: “I had been considering doing this for some time. Seeing how Grealish was humiliated by so little playing time when he was the one player who might have won the tournament for our country has pushed me over the edge.
“No wonder we haven’t won so much as tinpot let alone another major championship since 1966.”
Grealish, who has signed for Manchester City for £100m since the tournament, made five appearances at Euro 2020. However, the 25-year-old came off the bench for four of those caps and overall he disappointingly only spent 173 minutes on the pitch.
Contrary to Gareth Southgate not playing Grealish regularly, Hudson believes that his absences from the England team were not actually tactical decisions. Instead, he claims that then-manager Sir Alf Ramsey refused to play him for three years due to an incident in the lower ranks.
He claims that he was given a three-year ban by Ramsey because he did not answer to an under-23 call-up, but at that time the player was sidelined with an ankle injury.
It was pressure from journalists and fans that led to his two appearances in 1975, under manager Don Revie.
“He (Revie) only did that under pressure from the media and then discarded me, even though we won both those games and I was Man of the Match against West Germany in one of them," he added.
Hudson has said that he is willing to take legal action against the FA if his request is not adhered to; he also cites the lack of support his family received from the Association when he suffered a life-threatening injury as another reason for why he wants no link with them.
After a hit-and-run car accident, Hudson was in a coma for a significant period of time, yet he claims the FA did not attempt to contact his family for updates on his wellbeing or even just to pass on their thoughts.
In a letter he sent requesting to have his records wiped, the 70-year-old wrote: “Your organisation never raised a finger while my family waited in grief and trauma-stricken during my 59 days in a coma.
“When I woke I was surrounded by hundreds of cards wishing me well but not one from the FA.”
It is unknown whether the FA are willing to cut Hudson from their system, it has never happened or even been requested before but could set a precedent for future players who may not want their international career recorded.
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