The star of Ireland U17 defender James Finnerty has been on the rise for some time now and this week it reached new heights.

The Meath man, who moved to Birmingham after signing a contract with Aston Villa FC this past summer, was listed in The Guardian newspaper's '20 of the best talents at Premier League clubs' on Tuesday after making an impressive first start for Villa's Under 18s against Norwich in September.

Finnerty played with Gaelic football at underage level with his native Skyrne and like so many of the past Irish soccer stars, which he inspires to be, his family are steeped in GAA tradition.

His father Padraig played with both Meath and Skryne, helping the Royals to an All-Ireland minor football championship final appearance in 1977.

His mother Sheila (nee McCormack) is a niece of one of Cavan's greatest footballing heroes, Phil 'The Gunner' Brady, who played a pivotal part in the Breffni County's finest hour when they defeated Kerry in the All-Ireland SFC final of 1947 at the Polo Grounds in New York.

In their assessment of Finnerty, The Guardian wrote the following:

"Aston Villa have a history of working with young Irish talent and the hope is that Finnerty, a centre-back who came through at the well-known Dublin club Belvedere FC, where he was Under-16 captain, will be the next off the conveyor belt. Finnerty, who also played Gaelic football for Skryne, made an impressive first start for Villa's Under-18s against Norwich early in September and has featured regularly since then. This season he has also become a fixture in a Republic of Ireland Under-17 side who began their Uefa Under-17 Championship qualifying campaign promisingly with two clean sheets."

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