Rangers are seemingly close to Jack Elliott’s heart.
Rangers have a host of fans in the game, with some of them yet to even play for the club, such as Sheffield United’s Oliver McBurnie and Swansea City’s George Byers.
The Gers have such a rich history and standing in the game that it’s no great surprise to see players grow up supporting the club – and Jack Elliott may be another.
The Philadelphia Union defender was born in London, but started his football career by playing four years of college soccer at West Virginia University in the United States.
Now in Major League Soccer with Philadelphia, Elliott has become a regular for the Union, and he may soon earn a first international call-up – but not with England or USA.
Elliott qualifies to play for Scotland because his parents are Scottish, and his name has now been put to Scotland boss Steve Clarke for consideration.
The 24-year-old is a giant presence at 6ft 5in tall, and he has impressed not only with his physical play, but also his ability to play the ball out from the back.
Now, Union academy boss Tommy Wilson has told The Scottish Sun that Elliott’s family are ‘big Rangers fans’, and the defender would ‘absolutely love’ to play for Scotland.
The decision is now left in the hands of Malky Mackay and Steve Clarke, and if Elliott does earn a Scotland call-up, Rangers would be foolish not to take a look at him as a target of their own.
“Jack has come into our first team and done brilliantly. He’s a tall, commanding, quick centre back who can pass it out from the back,” said Wilson. “The first time I met him I was struck by his English accent, which I think he got from his time at Fulham. It was only when his parents came over and introduced themselves that I heard their Scottish voices. They are from Glasgow, big Rangers fans, so we got talking about the club. I then turned to Jack and said ‘Maybe you could get a game for Scotland’ and he immediately said in his broad English accent ‘I’d absolutely love that’. Every time I’m around the first team, or in his company, Jack talks to me about Scotland as he clearly follows our national team and club game. He’s definitely one to watch.”
“I spoke to Malky Mackay about him a while ago and that’s not normally something I would ever do. I don’t like prompting our players. But it’s not like Scotland are blessed with players of his ilk, so I thought it was worth making a call. I actually played with Stevie Clarke at St Mirren but I didn’t think it was right to go to him with it. To be fair, Malky, who I worked with at Queen’s Park, was very open-minded about it. He took Jack’s details and said he’d look into it and make him known to Stevie,” he added.
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