# In major European football (soccer) leagues, are there any brothers/cousins/fathers & sons on the same team or in the same league? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [June 14, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895 "2024-06-14T23:44:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/1 "2024-06-14T23:44:24Z")
That’s pretty much it: will there be any brothers, first cousins, even (very unlikely) fathers and sons on the same pitch at the same time, whether on the same team or on opposing teams, in major European soccer/football next season? How common is this over there? For whatever it’s worth, brothers on different teams aren’t particularly rare over here. One cite I found suggested that, over the centuries, 400 brothers have been on MLB rosters at the same time. And it took until the late 1980s, but at least two sets of father and son (Ken Griffy Sr. and Jr. and Prince and Cecil Fielder) have been on the MLB roster at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/2 "2024-06-15T00:07:02Z")
> **[Inaki and Nico Williams: Two brothers, one club and a 40-year wait](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/68717176)** > > Inaki and Nico Williams' parents travelled to Bilbao from Ghana hoping the city would change their sons' lives. Their sons, in turn, have changed the city. Two brothers playing for Athletic Bilbao. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/3 "2024-06-15T00:33:33Z")
Indeed, for English football fans of a certain age there is only Neville Brothers despite what R&B fans may say; > **[Staying at the top the Neville brothers' way](https://thesefootballtimes.co/2021/02/16/staying-at-the-top-the-neville-brothers-way/)** > > Inseparable when growing up, both Gary and Phil Neville would go on to win a multitude of honours with their boyhood club ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/4 "2024-06-15T01:56:51Z")
Here are 46 brothers who’ve competed in the Premier League. > **[Premier League: The 46 pairs of brothers who have both played in England's...](https://www.givemesport.com/1630811-premier-league-the-46-pairs-of-brothers-who-have-both-played-in-englands-top-flight/)** > > Who knew that so many pairs of brothers had played in the Premier League? ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/5 "2024-06-15T05:11:05Z")
YMMV but baseball and football aren’t commonly viewed as equivalent sports. Fr’instance; how many father/son pairs have been on the same NFL roster? Father/son on same team hasn’t happened at senior level with AFL. The nearest was Ted Rankin who retired in 1910 and his son Bert debuted in 1912 with Geelong. From memory of threads on the Dope, there have been father/son pairs in the NHL. A closer, more valid comparison to baseball is cricket. Instances of [father/sons playing cricket together at First Class level](https://www.cricketcountry.com/articles/18-father-son-pairs-who-have-appeared-in-the-same-match-18288/). 1. William, John and James Lillywhite (1851-53) 2. William and Arthur Clarke (1855) 3. WG and WG Grace Jr (1893-1900) 4. WG and CB Grace (1900-06) 5. Richard and Harry Daft (1891) 6. AWF and APFC Somerset (1911-1913) 7. Walter and Harold Mead (1913) 8. Thomas and Daniel Reese (1918) 9. Lebrun and Learie Constantine (1922) 10. Willie and Bernard Quaife (1920-28) 11. Billy and Robert Bestwick (1922) 12. George and George Vernon Gunn (1928-32) 13. Maharaja and Yuvraj of Patiala (1932–38) 14. Dave and Dudley Nourse (1931–36) 15. Abdul Khaliq and Shaikh Nasiruddin (1941) 16. RWV and RVC Robins (1954) 17. Bhagwant and Arvind Singh (1961-62) 18. Lala & Surinder Amarnath (1963) 19. Denis and Heath Streak (1996) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/6 "2024-06-15T05:15:39Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > YMMV but baseball and football aren’t commonly viewed as equivalent sports. > Fr’instance; how many father/son pairs have been on the same NFL roster? I can hardly even think of any NFL father/son combo being in the **league** at the same time, let alone on the same team. All the more so considering that it’s unheard-of for a player to enter the NFL before reaching or exceeding college age (i.e., being at least in one’s 20s,) whereas in the NBA you can skip college and go straight to pro basketball after high school, like LeBron. What that means, then, is that any NFL father-son combo would be something like 40+ and 20+ years old. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/7 "2024-06-15T05:45:46Z")
The age differential would be equivalent in any sport. I would have thought the proportion of two brothers/sisters playing major league football/soccer together or opposed would also not be “particularly rare”, in fact be more likely than in the US on the basis of there being more teams. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/8 "2024-06-15T11:52:04Z")
There have been many brothers playing in the Bundesliga, even twins (the Kremer and the Bender twins), but don’t think there ever was a father/son pair playing at the same time. Very few people here have kids before their twenties, and the usual retirement age for a footballer is around 35 (40+ players happen, but are very rare), so the math doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/9 "2024-06-15T12:09:24Z")
Too late to edit: maybe the most successful pair of brothers were Fritz and Ottmar Walter, both playing for FC Kaiserslautern. That was before the foundation of the Bundesliga, but they both were members of the sensational German 1954 WC winning team. Fritz was the star, captain and best footballer of that team, a German legend comparable with Franz Beckenbauer. He was the mid-field strategist, the Toni Kroos of the 50s. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/10 "2024-06-15T12:44:35Z")
Sorry to post so much in a row, but I had one more thought. Though there are no cases known to me of father/son playing in the same team, what has happened are fathers _coaching_ their own sons, the latest example being [Pal Dardai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A1l_D%C3%A1rdai) and his sons at Hertha BSC Berlin. I think this is a tough situation for everyone involved, like a teacher having their own kids in class. Everybody, the team mates and the public/fans, will suspect nepotism, and that’ll make it twice as hard for the sons getting into the team. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/11 "2024-06-15T12:55:22Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > what has happened are fathers _coaching_ their own sons, How about where the player’s father coaches a different team? Have there been brothers on different sides of the pitch as coaches? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/12 "2024-06-15T13:45:30Z")
There is also the Boateng brothers (they are half brothers, though FWIW everyone I know doesn’t use the term) who ended up on different National sides Ghana and Germany: > **[Jérôme Boateng](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A9r%C3%B4me_Boateng)** > > Jérôme Agyenim Boateng (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}German pronunciation: \[ʒeˈʁoːm bo.aˈtɛŋ\]; born 3 September 1988) is a German professional footballer who plays for Austrian Bundesliga club LASK. > Boateng started his career at Hertha BSC where he developed from the youth ranks to the first team. After his debut season at Hert... > **[Kevin-Prince Boateng](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin-Prince_Boateng)** > > Kevin-Prince Boateng (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}German: \[ˈkɛvɪn ˈpʁɪns boaˈtɛŋ\]; born 6 March 1987) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or forward. Born in Germany, he played for the Ghana national team. > Coming through the youth system, Boateng began his career at Hertha BSC, before joining Tottenh... IIRC they played against each other in at least one world cup ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/13 "2024-06-15T13:46:29Z")
Tax dodger and Bayern Munich capo Uli Hoeneß had a brother who played for the German national team, but not at the same time. He also has a son who is a (very successful) Bundesliga coach. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/14 "2024-06-15T14:12:04Z")
This doesn’t quite match the OP criteria but it’s a nice story nonetheless… [The Gudjohnsen dynasty](https://talksport.com/football/961964/eidur-gudjohnsen-dad-chelsea-stats-sons-iceland/) ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/15 "2024-06-16T20:51:52Z")
In the AFL down here in Oz, there are a couple of coaches coaches - Chris Scott and Brad Scott - who are not only brothers, but identical twins. You could easily picture an absurdist comedy movie there. There is another pair of identical twins, current players, who play on different teams. For the last few seasons, things have conspired (injuries, team selections etc) that meant one or the other would have to pull out of every game where the brothers were meant to be playing against each other - to the extent that theree was a fun ‘conspiracy theory’ that there was actually only one person pretending to be two different footballers. (Unfortunately, theye did both play in the same game a couple of weeks ago. Damnit 🤣). ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/16 "2024-06-17T12:21:37Z")
England’s most famous footballing family are brothers Bobby and Jack Charlton, who played together in the World Cup winning final for England in 1966. [Apparently off the pitch they didn’t get on.](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/oct/22/bobby-and-jack-charlton-the-brothers-who-won-together-but-lived-apart#:~:text=Bobby%20and%20Jack%20Charlton%3A%20the%20brothers%20who%20won%20together%20but%20lived%20apart,-This%20article%20is&text=A%20month%20after%20the%201966,%E2%80%9CCharltonville%E2%80%9D%20for%20the%20day.) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/17 "2024-06-17T15:17:17Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > at least two sets of father and son (Ken Griffy Sr. and Jr. and Prince and Cecil Fielder) have been on the MLB roster at the same time The Griffeys, yes, but not the Fielders. The father, [Cecil](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fieldce01.shtml), last played in the majors in 1998, when his son, Prince, was only 14 years old. [Prince](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fieldpr01.shtml) did not make his major-league debut until 2005. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/18 "2024-06-17T15:44:43Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > IIRC they played against each other in at least one world cup Must have been in 2014 in Brazil (when Jerome Boateng won the WC with Germany), when Germany and Ghana met in the group stage. (1-1 IIRC) ---
**Author:** ![Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hook)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/19 "2024-06-19T17:15:08Z")
I am sure I posted this recently, but Canterbury-Bankstown first grade Rugby Leage team in the New South Wales competition in the mid 70s had 3 Mortimer brothers (Chris, Peter and Steve) on the field during four Grand Finals. No soccer but still remarkable. ---
**Author:** ![Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hook)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895/20 "2024-06-19T17:16:13Z")
[The Mortimer Brothers -               Canterbury Banksto  wn Bulldogs](https://markakis.weebly.com/the-mortimer-brothers.html#:~:text=Chris%20Mortimer%2C%20Peter%20Mortimer%20and,day%20as%20players%20and%20administrators). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-major-european-football-soccer-leagues-are-there-any-brothers-cousins-fathers-sons-on-the-same-team-or-in-the-same-league/1002895.md?page=2)