Former Gullane GC Junior Member !!

Driver commits to Scotland

[ on no he hasn't ! ] 

Hearts winger pledges his allegiance to Scotland after talks with new international boss Craig Levein

Andrew Driver who has represented England at under 21 level has ruled himself out of contention for Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad by committing himself to Scotland.

The 22 year-old Hearts winger qualifies to play for Scotland through the recent introduction of a rule under which players schooled in a country for more than five years can represent its national team.

National team boss Craig Levein now plans to give the player the chance to earn his first cap in the March friendly with Czech Republic at Hampden, after he showed an enthusiasm to be involved with his adopted country.

Only an error in calculating exactly how long 22-year-old Driver spent in school in Scotland stands in the way of him being in Levein’s plans and the Scotland manager quipped that office staff were doing the necessary checks to confirm him as eligible for Scotland.

"Andy Driver gave me the nod yesterday that he is dead keen,” Levein said at Hampden on Friday. "I said 'Do you want to go away and think about it?' He said 'No, my mind is made up, I want to play for Scotland'.

"We need to find out he meets the criteria exactly, that it's five years schooling and not four years, 11 months and 26 days."   [oops ! ]

Oldham-born Driver and his family moved to North Berwick ( GULLANE ACTUALLY ) when he was 11 years old. He turned out for Hutchison Vale before being picked up by Hearts, making his first team debut in 2006.

He represented Scotland at schoolboy level before Stuart Pearce called him up to the England under 21 squad for the 2009 European Championships. He made one appearance against Germany in the group stages but hasn’t been considered for a call to play in Fabio Capello’s full squad.

Driver’s 2009/10 season has been dogged by injury and he has made only 11 appearances for Hearts this season.

He missed the start of the season with a heel injury and was then dogged by a knee injury that required him to see a specialist in London.

The 22 year-old winger hadn’t featured for Hearts since the O-O derby draw against HIbs on November . He made his return to top team action in new Hearts gaffer Jim Jeffries' first game in charge of the Tynecastle club in Saturday’s 1-0 away defeat at St Johnstone.  

Celtic’s 14 year-old Somali-born Islam Feruz became the first player selected for Scotland under the new school ruling when he was called up for the Uefa Under 17s Championship qualifier against Cyprus at East End Park in October.

[ SHAME WAS THAT DESPITE HAVING GGC MEMBERSHIP HE NEVER PLAYED IN ANY COMPS OR OBTAINED A HANDICAP !! ][ Double shame that he didn't complete 5 full calendar years at NBHS.....he was there from S1 to S5 but that didn't quite do it .... ]