West Ham United Academy starlet George Earthy, currently on loan at EFL Championship side Bristol City, has been moved up to England’s U21s squad having initially been assigned to the Elite Development Squad, formerly known as U20s, for the November internationals.
With the withdrawals of Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, Borussia Dortmund’s Jamie Gittens and Brighton & Hove Albion’s Jack Hinshelwood through injury, interim head coach Ben Futcher has handed maiden call-ups to the England U21s squad to Earthy, Norwich City’s Kellen Fisher and Newcastle United’s Lewis Miley. Initially part of the U21s’ 24-man squad announcement on Tuesday, Jarrad Branthwaite, Tino Livramento, Morgan Rogers and James Trafford have also withdrawn, moving across to the senior squad.
After making a handful of appearances from the bench for City in the early part of 2024/25, Earthy suffered an untimely ankle injury in September as he was beginning to break into the squad. This month however, Earthy has started the Robins’ last two Championship fixtures against Sheffield United and Norwich City. In their latest game, they handed the Canaries their first home defeat in over a year, with the 20-year-old midfielder performing well despite being deployed as a right wing-back in place of the injured Mark Sykes.
Following last night’s announcement, Earthy has linked up with his England teammates in Cádiz, where they will face Spain on Friday 15 November before heading to the Netherlands on Monday 18 November. This month’s friendly fixtures will be the U21s' first games since securing qualification to the 2025 UEFA Euro finals in Slovakia next summer with wins over Ukraine and Azerbaijan in October.
Fixtures in full
Friday 15 November
George Earthy | Spain U21s v England U21s - International Friendly - La Línea de la Concepción, Cádiz - 5.30pm GMT
Monday 18 November
George Earthy | Netherlands U21s v England U21s - International Friendly - Yanmar Stadium, Almere - 5.45pm GMT
