JACK GREALISH held back his tears in an emotional tribute to his brother Keelan, who passed away 25 years ago.
Grealish, 29, scored his first Premier League goal since December 16th 2023 as Man City beat Leicester 2-0 on Wednesday night – scoring on a memorable date for the winger and his family.
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Grealish and his family lost his brother Keelan on April 2, 2000 – so it was fitting that the 39-time England international would end his goal drought on the 25th anniversary of his death.
Birmingham-born Grealish couldn’t help but get emotional when talking to the media about his performance and what it meant to score it on such an important evening.
Choking up, he said: “I felt like I deserved to play tonight and I was just happy. It was a nice day because my little brother passed away 25 years ago today.
“So this day is always hard in the family. My mum and dad were here and I think this day is always difficult in the family so to score and to win is brilliant.”
Grealish also took to social media to pay tribute to Keelan too, posting a picture of his celebration and one of his baby brother’s grave.
He wrote alongside the upload: “With me always, especially this day. That was for you Keelan”.
While his comments were flooded with messages of support from teammates and fellow pros such as Morgan Rogers, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jacob Ramsey and John Terry.
Keelan was just nine months old when he passed away from cot death when Jack was four.
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It’s not the first time that Grealish has paid tribute to his brother, doing so when he scored his first senior goal while on loan at Notts County in the 2013/14 season.
As well as in November 2018 while playing for Aston Villa, that time dedicating his goal in a 4-2 victory over Birmingham City to his sibling.
After that game, the three-time Premier League champion was targeted by a sick troll who taunted him about Keelan’s death.
The troll – Alfie Perkins – was later fined after being convicted of sending offensive communications.
Jack’s dad Kevin has previously spoken about the trauma of Keelan’s death too.
He said: “He was only nine months old, he was a little angel and I was devastated. We all were.
“Jack was only a kid himself back then, but he still remembers Keelan and he still thinks about him with everything he achieves.
“We still miss Keelan and still think about him – you never ever get over losing a child – but we are so grateful and lucky that we are blessed with Jack, his brother Kevan and his little sisters Holly and Kiera.”
Grealish welcomed his own child for the first time in October, becoming a dad after partner Sasha Attwood gave birth to their baby girl Mila.
The £100m-man said that 2024 was the “the most difficult year of his life” back in February after his struggles on the pitch with Man City.
But his goal against Leicester has brought an end to a 473-day stint without a league goal.
His guided finish opened up the scoring for Man City’s side before Omar Marmoush doubled the lead for Pep Guardiola‘s side before half-time.
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