Five times fathers and sons shared a football pitch: Ashley and Tyler Young set to play in FA Cup tie | OneFootball

Everton v Peterborough FA Cup clash could spark rarest of occurrences in football

The FA Cup is famous for throwing up magic but Thursday’s otherwise run-of-the-mill clash between Everton and Peterborough could present the rarest of occurrences: a father and son on the same pitch.

“WOW … Dreams Might Come True #GoosebumpsMoment #YoungVsYoung,” former England defender Young Sr tweeted after the draw was made.

He has been a first team regular this year, despite his advanced years, while Tyler has been with the Posh since last summer after leaving Arsenal’s academy.

“Tyler will be on the bench though I can’t guarantee he’s going to get on,” Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson said on Wednesday.

The occasion would be immense for the Youngs but it is not totally without precedent. Here are a few times when sons have joined their dads on the professional field.

However, with all of these examples they were – unlike the Youngs – on the same team.

Five times fathers and sons have played on the same football field

George Sr and George Jr Eastham

George Eastham Snr and Jnr

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George Eastham Jr started a career that saw him play for Arsenal by turning out for Northern Irish team Ards. From 1953 to 1956, his father – also George – made appearances as well as being a player-manager.

Arsenal’s captain from 1963-1966, Eastham Jr was also part of the 1966 World Cup-winning England squad.

Sadly, he died at the end of December.

Rivaldo and Rivaldinho

Brazil forward Rivaldo was in the absolute twilight of his career when he became player-manager for Mogi Mirim, who were in the second tier of his homeland. Aged 43, he managed to score in a league match with his son, Rivaldinho, also getting among the goals in 2015.

Henrik and Jordan Larsson

Former Celtic and Barcelona striker Larsson was known to come out of retirement on occasion to drop down the divisions in his native Sweden. In 2013, he answered an SOS call during an injury crisis to play alongside his son, Jordan, who was starting his career with Högaborgs.

Wullie and Lewis Gibson

Wullie Gibson was player manager for Queen of the South when he called on his son Lewis to take part in a Scottish league match.

“It was a weird feeling, it’s a dream come true to play with your dad,” Lewis said.

Alexei Eremenko Sr and Jr

A less famous example, but thanks to Fifa’s dedicated page on this subject matter, we can add Russian midfielder Aleksei Yeryomenko to this list.

While playing in Helsinki, his career crossed paths with that of his son, Alexei Eremenko – whose European variant surname comes thanks to him electing to represent Finland at international level.

And some near misses…

Shaun Wright-Phillips has a joke with his dad and former Arsenal hero Ian Wright during the Martin Keown Testimonial match at Highbury

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A few big-name footballer father and sons almost played together but never quite made it onto the same field. Ian Wright was still active for Burnley in the English third division when his son, Shaun Wright-Phillips, made his debut in 1999-2000, but his Manchester City were in the league above. At the other end of the age range, Shaun retired in 2017, five years before his son D'Margio made his debut for Stoke.

Arnor Gudjohnsen was already a legend for Iceland when his son, the future Chelsea and Barcelona attacker Eidur, made his debut but, despite a national team friendly being set up for the two to play together, the 17-year-old debutant broke his leg and missed the fixture.

Italy great Paolo Maldini had two sons in the Milan academy but, despite retiring aged 40 in 2009, he was not able to join Christian or Daniel on the field.