Rangers star details reason behind turning down shock international approach after title-winning campaign

Rangers defender Connor Goldson has revealed the main reason behind his decision to turn down a shock international approach after the Ibrox club’s 2020/21 league title-winning season.

The 31-year-old knocked back an offer to play international football after being approached by the Jamaican FA to represent the country, whom he qualifies for through his grandparents.

However, the centre-back rejected the possible recognition due to intense club commitments with Rangers at the time and his distant affiliation with Jamaica.

Appearing as a guest on the Talking Transitions podcast, Goldson revealed: “I had the message a few years ago after we won the league. It was too hard, we play so many games here. Like, I was playing 60 games a season.

“Then, obviously I have got kids now to then go and leave my kids on international breaks and go and play for Jamaica. To be fair, my nan and grandad on my dad’s side both died before I was born so I don’t have that much of an affiliation. I feel like I should leave it to people that do.”

Goldson also admitted his Europa League runners-up medal will be the “highest” one he achieves in his career, despite winning the Premiership title at Ibrox and clinching promotion to the English Premier League with Brighton. He was an integral part of the Light Blues squad that made it all the way to the final in Seville two years ago.

Reflecting on that epic journey which saw them dispatch the likes of Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig on route, he added: “It was tough (losing the final). Looking back now, I would probably say that medal is the highest medal I’ll ever get - and it’s silver. Imagine saying when I signed for Rangers six years ago ‘you’ll play in a Europa League final.’ That team when I first joined was nowhere near, they lost the year before to Progres (Niederkorn) in the first qualifying round.

“We scraped through qualification the first year to get into the Europa League and then, what, three or four years later we’re in the final. The whole experience was just mental. You couldn’t switch off from it, that was probably the hardest thing to do. The night before the game I’m quite chilled, the only person I really speak to is my wife but I don’t really speak about the game the next day. I just try and switch off.

“Whereas every five minutes there was a text about anyone you knew or ever knew, ‘good luck tomorrow mate.’ Rangers fans that I’ve met all text, so then you’re like (pressure). We got to the game, the game was rubbish from both teams. I think it was a final where Frankfurt realised it was their one chance to do it and we realised it was our one chance. No one wanted to make a mistake.

“I still always see the goal as my fault, I didn’t drop to the front post, I couldn’t touch it or it was an own goal. I felt like I got blamed for that but realistically the run that we went on, the season that we had, to get to a final, in years to come we’ll all look back and that’ll be the main memory in my time at Rangers.”