Grealish’s father to keep wearing ‘lucky’ waistcoat

Son’s pleas to ditch £100 Union Flag outfit ignored England squad appreciate family time after matches

The father of Jack Grealish has pledged to continue wearing his “lucky” Union Flag World Cup waistcoat to take England all the way to the final, despite the pleas of his son.

Jack’s father, Kevin, will be at the last-16 game against Senegal tomorrow evening and exclusively told Telegraph Sport he is “100 per cent” certain to be dressed up in the jacket and bow tie, which has embarrassed the Manchester City attacker.

While Grealish was sold to City by Aston Villa for a British record £100million, it can be revealed that £100 was spent on his father’s waistcoat, specially made from Bentley’s, an independent retailer based in Solihull near the family home.

The Union Flag-themed bow tie was an extra £20 and Kevin is planning to wear the distinctive attire for the match against Senegal, after attending all of England’s three Group B games in which Grealish and his team-mates remained unbeaten.

It is understood that, while Jack was mortified by his father’s style choice, Kevin believes his waistcoat and bow tie are the height of World Cup fashion.

Grealish expressed a sentiment many fans can share in when he spoke of his dismay at his father’s decision to wear the waistcoat, adding that his mother, Karen, later made him remove the bow tie.

He said: “What’s he doing with that? I said ‘what are you wearing there?’

“I don’t know where he got it from, it looks like something from the market, doesn’t it? He keeps wearing it as well. What’s he doing wearing that, man? I think he thinks it’s his lucky charm.”

Dan Mchale, the assistant manager at Bentley’s, revealed they had to order the waistcoat after a personal request from Kevin.

“We had a lot of jackets in for the Jubilee, Kevin saw them and really liked them. He said he wanted one for the World Cup so we got it from a local manufacturer in Birmingham,” he said.

“Kevin came in a few days before he flew out to Qatar and picked it up. He was absolutely delighted with it. I think it’s definitely something the cameras can pick up on.”

Grealish and the rest of the England players were able to meet up with their families after Tuesday’s victory over Wales that sealed the team’s place in the knockout stage, having welcomed them into camp after the draw with the United States.

England players have also been given time at the end of each game to speak with their loved ones in the stands at stadiums.

Putting his father’s patriotic outfit aside, Grealish said he was pleased the players get to spend time with their families.

“It’s nice because we don’t see them much whilst we’re here,” said Grealish. “I think some of the countries are with their families, staying with them. We’re not, which is good… not good, obviously we want to see them, but I think it’s good to have the team together and it’s nice we can go and see them after the games, to spend some time with them, especially when it’s a good result. It’s nice vibes.”

Along with his mum and dad, Grealish’s sister Hollie, who has

cerebral palsy, has travelled out to Qatar to watch Grealish at the World Cup.

Grealish caught the nation’s attention when he performed a special celebration for an 11-year-old Manchester City fan called Finlay after scoring his first World Cup goal against Iran in England’s opening game of the tournament.

Back at England’s Al Wakrah base, Grealish video-called Finlay to make it clear that the celebration had been for him.

“That’s natural, I don’t do that for any clout or whatever,” he said. “I do that because that’s what I feel I’m good at sometimes. Because I can relate to it with my little sister.

“That was just something that came naturally. I think it ended up being so nice and quite emotional. That’s just the way I’ve been brought up. I know I’ve been brought up well. I’ve done some stupid stuff in my life, but I think everything that I do good is from my heart.”