Showing posts with label english premier league. Show all posts
Showing posts with label english premier league. Show all posts

Monday, March 23, 2015

Following in their father's footsteps.....

It's a well known fact that most young boys idolise their fathers and have a burning desire to please and make them proud. 

This desire is no different for the offspring of some of the biggest names to star in the English Premier League who long to follow in their footballer father's footsteps and make a name for themselves at one of England's top Premier League clubs.

Some are led to believe that a boy whose father was a former professional footballer would benefit from certain doors opening for them over the course of their burgeoning career. 

This is certainly not the case because every professional player within the modern game at some point would have been subjected to numerous tests and trials as a youth in order to prove their worth. If a club feels that the player won't go on to make it they are released, it's as simple as that. 

Just because you have a famous father and surname it doesn't give you a right to expect to be signed up by a professional club. Brooklyn Beckham for example has just been released by Arsenal's academy which shows that this practice clearly doesn't happen in the game.

Here we have a list of fifteen current professional players who have followed their father's career path into the game:

Kasper Schmeichel - son of the "Great Dane" Peter Schmeichel currently plays as goalkeeper for Leicester City and the Danish national side. Growing up in Manchester, Kasper often played football in the streets with Alex Bruce, son of Steve Bruce. They ended up playing in the same side at Leeds United in 2010.



Alex Bruce - son of former Manchester United defender Steve Bruce is a defender with a playing style much like his father who currently plays for Hull City under his father's management. He has also previously played under his father at Birmingham City.

Niall Keown - son of former Arsenal defender Martin Keown is also a defender and has just made his first team debut for Championship side Reading. He has also recently been called up to the Republic of Ireland under 21 squad.

Dan Potts - son of former West Ham United defender Steve Potts also plays as a defender at West Ham United. He has represented England at under 18's, under 19's and under 20's.

Jack Barmby - son of former Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Everton, Middlesbrough and Hull City player Nick Barmby currently plays as a midfielder for Leicester City after spending much of his youth career at Manchester United. He has represented England at under 16's, under 18's and under 19's.

Devante Cole - son of former Manchester United striker Andy Cole currently plays as a striker and is part of the Manchester City academy but is currently out on loan at League One side Milton Keynes Dons. Devante Cole has represented England at every level since under 16's.

Elliot Lee - youngest son of former Newcastle United midfielder Rob Lee, is currently on loan at League Two side Luton Town from West Ham United.

Oliver Lee - Rob Lee's eldest son currently plays as a midfielder for Plymouth Argyle on loan from Birmingham City.

Darnell Furlong - son of former Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea striker Paul Furlong plays as a defender and has recently made his debut for QPR in the Premier League.


Thomas Ince - son of former Manchester United and Liverpool midfielder Paul Ince plays as a winger under his father's former team mate Steve Bruce at Hull City although he is currently on loan at Derby County. Still only 23 years old, Ince has made 157 professional club appearances and scoring 43 goals.

Tyler Walker - son of former Nottingham Forest defender Des Walker currently plays as a striker for Nottingham Forest. Although yet to make it to the first team he has caught the eye of a host of Premier League sides after some eye-catching displays for the Forest youth side.

Angus Gunn - son of former Norwich City keeper Bryan Gunn is goalkeeper for the Manchester City Elite Development Squad and is widely tipped to become Joe Hart's successor. He has also represented England at under 20's level.

Diego Poyet - son of former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Gus Poyet currently plays as a midfielder for West Ham United. He has represented England at under 16 and under 17 level but is also eligible to play for Uruguay through his father.

Ellis Bellamy - son of former striker Craig Bellamy currently plays as a winger / striker for Cardiff City under 18's and the Welsh under 17's. 

Josh Windass - son of former Hull City and Middlesbrough striker Dean Windass is currently playing for League Two side Accrington Stanley as a midfielder.

Visit our site Premier League Heroes for information and statistics on all of your favourite ex Premier League players.

Monday, June 27, 2011

World Cup Winners Who Have Played in the Premiership

It was announced this month that French World Cup winner Patrick Viera had been released by Manchester City after 18 months at the age of 35. With Robert Pires also being released by Aston Villa and Spain's World Cup winner Cesc Fabregas almost certainly set to leave Arsenal for Barcelona this summer it led me to do some research on World Cup winning players who have played in the English Premier League.

1990 - Winners Germany
Jurgen Klinnsmann (Tottenham 1994-95, Tottenham 1997-98)
Karl-Heinz Riedle (Liverpool 1997-99, Fulham 1999-2001)

1994 - Winners Brazil
Branco (Middlesbrough 1996)

1998 - Winners France
Patrick Viera (Arsenal 1996-2005, Manchester City 2010-11)
Bernard Lama (West Ham 1997-98)
Laurent Blanc (Manchester United 2001-03)
Stephane Guivarch (Newcastle 1998)
Youri Djorkaeff (Bolton Wanderers 2002-04, Blackburn Rovers 2004)
Didier Deschamps (Chelsea 1999-2000)
Marcel Desailly (Chelsea 1998-2004)
Robert Pires (Arsenal 2000-06, Aston Villa 2010-11)
Thierry Henry (Arsenal 1999-2007)
Fabian Barthez (Manchester United 2000-04)
Emmanuel Petit (Arsenal 1997-2000, Chelsea 2001-04)
Bernard Diomede (Liverpool 2000-2003)
Frank Leboeuf (Chelsea 1996-2001)
Christian Karembeu (Middlesbrough 2000-2001)
Christophe Dugarry (Birmingham City 2003-04)

2002 - Winners Brazil
Gilberto Silva (Arsenal 2002-08)
Juliano Beletti (Chelsea 2007-10)
Kleberson (Manchester United 2003-05)
Juninho (Middlesbrough 1995-97, 1999-2000, 2002-04)
Roque Junior (Leeds United 2003-04)

2006 - Winners Italy
Marco Materazzi (Everton 1998-99)

2010 - Winners Spain
Gerard Pique (Manchester United 2004-08)
Fernando Torres (Liverpool 2007-11, Chelsea 2011 - )
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal 2003 - ) 
Xabi Alonso (Liverpool 2004-09)
Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool 2007-09)
Pepe Reina (Liverpool 2005 - )

As you would expect there are only a handful of World Cup winning players who played for English Premier League clubs during the early to mid-nineties as the league itself was in its infancy. The "Foreign Invasion" on the Premier League pretty much started in 1995 and 1996 with a huge amount of continental players joining Premier League clubs which helped increase its worldwide profile. By the time France won The World Cup in 1998 the Premier League was in full flow and regarded as the best league in the world - this is reflected by the amount of players from the successful French national squad who were either playing in the league at the time or joined Premier League clubs soon after.

The 2002 winners Brazil and the 2006 winners Italy only had 6 players between them that had experienced Premier League football but this is due to the fact that both country's domestic leagues are very strong and players from both countries rarely move abroad. This is also reflected by the number of Spanish players who were in the successful World Cup winning squad who had either played or were still playing in the English Premier League. Spain's domestic league "La Liga", is arguably as strong as the English Premier League and the majority of their World Cup winning team played in their home country - only 3 of the entire Spanish squad played outside of Spain (Torres, Fabregas and Reina).

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For information and statistics on legends of the Premier League take a look at Premier League Heroes