What's in a name? [Part 1 of 3]

Football. Very much a family sport. Today we'll look at five father and son combinations, highlighting their individual achievements which would allow you the reader to decide who had the more illustrious career.

Johann and Jordi CRUYFF
A bit of a no-brainer when it comes to who is the more memorable of the two. We cannot blame Jordi though, trying to live up to the mastery of his father is near impossible. Try bettering a 3-time Ballon d'Or winner [only three others have equalled this feat] or have a look at his contribution in getting FCB to play the way they are now. Insurmountable. For those 'Barca lovers', did you know, he is the current coach of Catalonia [is not Spain]?!


Jordi too played for FCB, but his spell[s] there and even at MUFC were hardly flattering. Most notable was his time at Deportivo Alaves. Some may remember the UEFA Cup final vs Liverpool...quite a game that was. 



Dads 1-0 Sons

 

Paolo and Cesare MALDINI

Two Milan legends. With 400+ appearances, you'd think dad Cesare would be the more spoken of. Think again. Paolo notched up 902appearances for the Rossoneri. An amazing achievement. While Cesare enjoyed quite a measure of success with Milan, his son's achievements and contribution to the club supersedes his own. I mean, seriously, 7x Serie A titles + 5x UEFA Champions League [includes European Cups].

Both are now retired from playing The Beautiful Game, however, they remain active in the sport and this surname may still continue. Paolo's sons Christian and Daniel look to carry this prestigious name and in doing so continue to write football history.

Dads 1-1 Sons

Harry and Jamie REDKNAPP

The father and son pairing with a past-to-present interest in THFC. I'd say 'Arry has been more influential as a gaffer than as a player. His most notable spells as a footballer are at West Ham United and Bournemouth. In charge, we've come to love him for his time at Pompey, which included some great escapes and of course that FA Cup triumph...and now at Spurs, where this season he looks to take them back to the heights of UEFA Champions League football.

Jamie, barring the injuries, had quite an impressive spell at Liverpool FC. Signed by Kenny Dalglish during his previous spell, JR went on to play for the Reds on more than 300 occasions before moving back to Spurs [the club where it all began for him].
In terms of on-field contributions, I'd go with Jamie...all-round I'd say Harry.

Dads 2-1 Sons

Nigel and Brian CLOUGH

There aren't many footballers as prolific in front of goal as Brian Clough. The End. Nah, but seriously, he was devastating. Imagine scoring 40+ goals in 4 consecutive seasons. Brian can. It's also worth documenting that Brian made the move across town to local rivals Sunderland [from 'Boro] and continued to score freely there. Nigel was not as clinical, but wasn't half bad, with a 1 in 3 ratio for Nottingham Forrest. He also had relatively short spells at LFC and then City before later ending it at Burton Albion.

Like his father, Nigel now too has moved on to coaching and is currently head coach at Derby County. Brian Clough passed in 2004, but will be remembered for years to come.

Dads 3-1 Sons

Shaun WRIGHT-Phillips and Ian WRIGHT

Another one dead in the water. Sadly, Shaun has failed to reach the heights of his father Ian, who is a legend at Arsenal FC and highly spoken of at Crystal Palace too. Not many footballers score a hattrick on their league debut, which pretty much sums up the goalscoring prowess of Ian. My feeling on Shaun is that he definitely has potential and quite a bit of ability, but his greed in chasing the high-paying contracts has cost him dearly. Now at Queens Park Rangers, he could end his career on a high. A career which really has been wasted...on the bench.

Dads 4-1 Sons

To conclude today's read, from these examples, it seems clear that living up to the challenge left by fathers' is often helluva impossible. Unfortunately the media doesn't do these footballers' any favours with continuous comparisons etc etc.

Next time we'll look at a few younger [current] footballers and the legacy their fathers' have left.

Thanks for joining me.