Lee Camp Set for Northern Ireland

[Macmoish]

England's loss

Guardian

Lee Camp cleared to play for Northern Ireland

• Nottingham Forest goalkeeper ruled eligible by Fifa
• Camp cleared to represent country of grandfather's birth

The Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Lee Camp has been cleared to play for Northern Ireland.

Derby-born Camp, 26, qualifies through his grandfather and could now come into contention for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Serbia and Slovenia next month.

Northern Ireland's manager, Nigel Worthington, is pleased to have Camp on board after Fifa gave the player the go-ahead. He said: "This is a big plus and it is testament to the quality we have in the squad that players of Lee's calibre want to come and play for Northern Ireland. I have spoken to Lee and he is absolutely delighted that he has been cleared to represent the birthplace of his grandfather."

Camp said: "It seems like I have been waiting forever for the relevant paperwork to be sorted out with Fifa, but now that I have been given the green light I am looking forward to the opportunity to join up with the squad. I would like to thank Nigel Worthington for his patience and for giving me the chance to become involved in the Northern Ireland team.

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[Macmoish]

Belfast Telegraph

Joy and relief as goalkeeper Lee Camp switches to Northern Ireland
By Graham Luney
Thursday, 17 February 2011

Nigel Worthington cut a relieved figure yesterday after finally getting his man.

Patience is certainly a virtue when you are trying to build an international team and Worthington needed it in spades while he attempted to pull Lee Camp on board his Northern Ireland ship.

With the paperwork completed, bureaucratic red tape tossed in the bin and a nod of approval of Fifa, Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Lee Camp can now play for Northern Ireland.

Despite making five appearances for the England Under-21 side, Camp — who qualifies to play for Northern Ireland through his grandfather — issued a ‘come and get me’ plea to Worthington last summer and the call was acted on.

Worthington knows the 26-year-old well — the former Norwich City chief worked with him at Carrow Road when he was on loan from Queen’s Park Rangers in 2006.

Now he hopes to resume that working relationship on the international stage.

The race is now on to succeed Maik Taylor as Northern Ireland’s new number one and the runners and riders are clear.

Camp could well jump to the head of that queue in front of Jonny Tuffey (Inverness), Alan Blayney (Linfield) and Trevor Carson (Sunderland, on loan at Lincoln).

Taylor has struggled for fitness in recent months as he aims to regain the goalkeeping jersey at Birmingham City and Camp will now be dreaming of playing a part in the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, starting with the Serbia and Slovenia showdowns next month.

A delighted Camp, who played in Forest’s 1-0 defeat to Sc**thorpe in the Championship last night, said: “I am thrilled that I am now able to play international football for Northern Ireland.

“It seems like I have been waiting forever for the relevant paperwork to be sorted out with Fifa but, now that I have been given the green light, I am looking forward to the opportunity to join up with the squad.

“I would like to thank Nigel Worthington for his patience and for giving me the chance to become involved in the Northern Ireland team.”

The waiting game is also over for Worthington who knows the 39-year-old Taylor will be a tough act to follow.

“We have had to be patient but thankfully we have got the decision we all wanted, I have spoken to Lee and he’s looking forward to joining us,” said Worthington.

“For about six months we have known that Lee could play for us and we have been pro-active in terms of getting to this point.

“The relevant papers had to be put together but I always knew how strong a keeper he was. I had him at Norwich when he was on loan from QPR, I know his qualities and he’s a great addition to the squad.

“He’s played a lot of games for such a young age (26) and, touch wood, if he can avoid injury he can play on for another 12 to 14 years.

“Maik Taylor has shown how long a career you can have if you look after yourself and he now has the opportunity to play senior international football.

“Things didn’t work out for him with England but he will be a tremendous asset for us.”

Tuffey, Blayney and Carson now have a fight on their hands be the first name on Worthington’s teamsheet when Taylor retires but the Birmingham City stopper is expected to retain his starting role in the qualifiers — provided he is

fit. You always hope that Maik is available because he is a fantastic goalkeeper and you always get a seven or eight out of 10 performance from him,” added Worthington.

“Lee has a wealth of Championship experience but it is always good to give the young keepers a taste of international football. What you get from Maik is consistency but Lee is chasing promotion with Forest and he has all that experience in his locker.”

Worthington, like all Northern Ireland supporters, is struggling to shake off the hangover of the 3-0 defeat to Scotland in a one-sided Carling Nations Cup tie.

The Ballymena man’s preparations were torn apart by nine withdrawals through injury and one retirement.

But Worthington maintains “you learn more from defeats” and he would have left the Aviva Stadium that painful night with his eyes wide open.

“It was a disappointing result and performance but it needs to be viewed in the context of the 10 players missing for whatever reason,” added the international manager.

“Unlike other countries we aren’t blessed with large numbers to select from and, when that happens, you are always up against it.

“In the end we didn’t do our job as well as we could but sometimes a victory can mask over things whereas in defeat mistakes are a lot clearer to see and the younger players will have got a taste of the international set-up. But having 10 players missing was a major blow.”

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