Keep it in the family; take a look at our list of 5 famous footballing families with a closer inspection of famous father and son duos from the beautiful game.
Footballing Families: 5 Famous Father and Son Duos
It is rare that dads and their lads ever get to grace the same pitch together in the professional game, although there have been many occasions when fathers have managed their sons. Here are some famous examples of players carrying on famous footballing traditions and building some incredible legacies for the next generation to follow in.
Footballing Families: George Eastham Sr/George Eastham Jr
George Eastham Jr, a member of Sir Alf Ramsey’s World Cup-winning squad in 1966 and League Cup winner with Stoke City six years later, was part of a real footballing family. His uncle Harry played for Liverpool and his dad, George Sr, carved out a decent career either side of World War II.
George Sr wound down his career in Northern Ireland with Ards as a player/manager and played alongside his son, then aged 17, before the younger Eastham crossed the Irish Sea to find fame and fortune in England.
Footballing Families: Rivaldo and Rivaldinho
You never lose it, and World Cup winner Rivaldo was certainly able to turn on the style for Brazilian second division outfit Mogi Mirim a few years back. Then 43, he played only a few matches and in one of them, a 3-1 win over Macae, he laid on the first two goals, the first headed home by none other than his 20-year-old son, Rivaldinho. Not to be upstaged, the legendary ex-Barcelona forward scored the third.
Footballing Families: Ian and Gary Bowyer
Ian Bowyer, a European champion with Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest, was winding down his career at Hereford when son, Gary, now the Burton Albion boss, arrived on the scene. They made English league history in April 1990 when Ian, then 38 and answering an injury crisis, teamed up alongside his nipper Gary, 18, in the Hereford team that drew 3-3 at Scunthorpe. It was the first time since 1952 that a father and son had played alongside each other in a Football League match.
Footballing Families: The Cruyffs and the Redknapps
Dads playing alongside sons might be a rarity but plenty have coached their offspring. Perhaps the most famous family pairing were the Cruyffs, with son Jordi playing under legendary father Johan, at Barcelona in the mid-1990s. Jamie Redknapp cut his teeth professionally at Bournemouth where his dad, Harry, was the guv’nor. To prove they must have got on okay, they were reunited at Southampton a few years later.
Gheorghe Hagi, surely Romania’s greatest ever player, founded his own club Viitorul Constanta in 2009, where he handed a first professional start to his eldest son, Ianis, who is also an international star. When it comes to international familial ties, Michael Bradley earned over 50 caps for the United States under the stewardship of his father, Bob.
By Adrian Mills
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