Rule change thwarts Wales bid for Celtic's Osmand

Craig Bellamy has been thwarted in his bid to ensure Celtic forward Callum Osmand could play for Wales.

The 19-year-old was born in Jersey, which allowed him to represent Wales at both under-16s and 17s level.

But a change in rules surrounding footballers born in the Channel Islands means he is now only available for England.

Osmand's Wales age-grade appearances were allowed because previously players born in the Crown Dependencies that include the Channel Islands could do so.

However players from British Crown Dependencies which are not full Fifa or Uefa members can now only represent England as unlike fellow Jersey-born Wales U21s player Luke Harris, Osmand has no Welsh heritage.

Similarly Australia-born Lyndon Dykes is eligible for Scotland through his Scottish parents.

"I like him, but unfortunately he's not on the radar to be able to play for us," said Bellamy.

"If he was it would have been a completely different conversation I would love to have had. I would liked to have talked about it all."

Since Martin O'Neill and Shaun Maloney succeeded former Swansea City boss Brendan Rodgers at Celtic last month, Osmand has turned heads.

His first senior goal came at Hampden in their 3-1 Premier Sports Cup semi-final win over Rangers and Osmand has been rewarded with a spot in Celtic's Europa League squad.

The Crown Dependencies have a unique place in the structure of the British Isles – the King is head of state, but they have their own governments and are not part of the United Kingdom.

Jersey's attempts to join Uefa were thwarted in 2018 and the islands are seen as county football associations within the structure of the English Football Association.

For many years a Channel Island-born player could be eligible for any of the four home nations as they were British, but not specifically English, Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish.

In practise the rule was used very rarely – Guernsey's Ryan-Zico Black and Chris Tardif won youth caps for Northern Ireland around the turn of the millennium.

Osmond is the first in recent times to have used the rules to qualify at youth level for Wales.

All the Channel Islands' full internationals – Jersey's Graeme Le Saux and Maya and Matt Le Tissier from Guernsey – have gone on to play for England, which is seen as the natural place to play in islands that look directly north across the Channel for their football.

Currently Guernsey's Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott is looking closest to being the next islander to get a cap – he was part of England's victorious side at this summer's European Under 21 championships.