Footballing relations - search and destroy!

Has there ever been a father and son playing professional football at the same time? Andy

Somewhat surprisingly it has happened more than once and in international football as well as the domestic game.

Gudjohnsen: father and son
Perhaps the most famous example is Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen and his father Arnor. In April 1996 the Icelandic international, then aged 17, came on as a substitute in the clash with Estonia. The man he was replacing was his 35-year-old father Arnor Gudjohnsen

The last example of a father and son playing together in the domestic game was on April 21 1990 when Hereford played Scunthorpe in the old Fourth Division. On that occasion eighteen year old Gary Bowyer scored the injury time equaliser in a 3-3 draw; earlier in the game his father Ian Bowyer, 39, had come on as a substitute.

Another example was the Stockport line-up against Hartlepool on May 5 1931. This time both father Alec Herd, 39, and son David Herd, 17, played from the start.

Jonathan Gould, oh, hang on....

Someone got arrested for racially abusing Ian Wright last night at Loftus road after he clebrated his adopted son scoring his first goal.

"Shaun Wright, Wright, Wright. Phillips" chants me.

wasn't it Shaun himself who was being abused (shocking from a QPR fan) and an incensed Ian accosted him for this?

Destroy: Danny Greaves, Paul Dalglish, Sergei 'my sister beat a seed at Wimbledon, you know' Baltacha.

But the GREBTEST football family of all just has to be from Scotland, as anyone who ever idly peruses the Sunday papers line-ups will know. I speak of course of the family Trialist. In my capacity as a sometime Ceefax editor putting up SL Div 3 line-ups I once had a team (East Stirling ? Albion ?) that featured A, B and C Trialist in the starting eleven ! My, my Mr and Mrs Trialist must have been so proud of, err, Alex ? Billy ? and um, Crawford ?

Oh, and to get back on track, Kevin Gallacher's grandad Patsy used to play for Celtic way back in days of yore. I believe Mr Gallacher Sr was by far the better player.

Ooh, I know. Has anyone mentioned Frank Lampard Sr and Jr yet?

In the local Aus foootball competition, one of my favorite players as a boy was Peter Hudson of Hawthorn. I remember the hoo-haa when he burst onto the scene suddenly in 1968 and broke all kinds of scoring records that had stood for many years. I instantly aged 10 years in my mind two years ago, when I heard that Hudson's son Paul (who wasn't his old man's bootlace as a footballer) had announced HIS retirement from the game.

If you read the Non-League Paper, you realise that most managers appear to have sons who play the game. Add to list:

Mark Nicholas (Son of Peter)
Andy Todd (Son of Colin)
Gregor Rioch (Son of Bruce)

Assistant to Alan Curbishley at Charlton.

God yes. It was Lampard Sr's slow-motion header that destroyed my Wembley dreams in 1980 - the Elland Road semifinal replay vs Everton, last minute of extra time.

Hey, Fred, there's a tennis thread on!

Sergei Baltacha Jr is also a footballer (I use the term loosely here, as he played for St Mirren).

Let me take you back, Fred. About 17 minutes past three on a Saturday afternoon, my parents front room in Essex. Me, all excited. My dad, drunk. My mum, shopping. My sister, dunno. We conformed to stereotypes in our house.

Break down the left (Alan Devonshire), long cross over, blocked shot on the line, fired back in my Stuart Pearson and basically, it hits Trevor on the head and he stumbles and it goes in.

Would have had another if Willie Young hadn't brought down Paul Allen late on. Before the days of instant red cards for a professional foul. Paul was only 17, bless him.