The beauty of football is unrivalled and there are moments for players and coaches that just incredible and when those moments involve family, it just makes that moment that more special.
We’ve seen siblings signed to the same club together lifting major trophies with one another, some are fortunate enough to have shared or currently do share the opportunity to play for the national team together. It is becoming more of a frequent occurrence in football.
Father-son relationships have also existed. Where the father s fortunate enough to coach their son at the highest level helping them develop as a player on the pitch and the bond can only strengthen as they share the same passion which they get to do together.
FC Porto boss
Sergio Conceicao had the pleasure of experiencing an amazing moment when his son
Francisco Conceicao grabbed the important winning goal against Estoril in the dying embers of the game. A wholesome moment to watch and an amazing feeling no doubt for everyone involved.
It got me thinking how many fathers have had the pleasure of coaching their sons and which are some of the most notable stand out names that jump out from this list.
Sir Alex Ferguson managed his son Darren Ferguson for a time where they were able to life the 1992-93 Premier League title along with a charity shield together.
There are so many narratives that could play out in this scenario. Each relationship will bear different results for the development of the son as a player and person as well as impacting what type of managerial career the father has. The argument of nepotism will always rear its head in some capacity we see it even in grassroots football.
You could argue there is more of a demand on the player to protect his father from those accusations by giving them their absolute best out on the pitch.
Marcelo Gallardo may be a name who is starting to be familiar across football management. The River Plate boss has bought success to the Argentine club with his distinct brand of fluid vibrant attacking football. With his sides looking to dominate possession and swarm the opposition with constant overloads.
Whilst he has developed himself as a tactician. He is also tasked with the development of his son 23-year-old Nahuel Gallardo. A young Left-Back who is a product of the River Plate academy system.
In October 2017, Marcelo was able to give Nahuel his professional debut in an Argentine Primera Division match where they lost 4-0. Following the debut Marcelo gave his son 411 more minutes across 3 different competitions.
Marcelo has since felt the need to give his son loan spells elsewhere. Nahuel had a spell at another top division side Defensa y Justicia but his most current loan spell is at Club Atletico Colon.
With his father Marcelo gaining more and more admirers in Europe especially there may be fewer chances for Nahuel to gain opportunities to fight for trophies in a side managed by his father.
Paul Ince & Tom Ince
Paul Ince achieved some great feats as a player picking up multiple trophies during his playing days and whilst he has picked up some silverware as a manager, there isn’t just the same glamour as that he achieved as a player.
One thing Paul Ince may take pride in during his managerial career was the fact he was able to coach his son
Tom Ince more than once. The first time was when Paul brought Tom in on a two-month loan from Liverpool to Notts County.
The spell may have been short but Tom was able to play 8 matches at Notts County for his father and score twice and get an assist. At Notts County he was able to gather 479 minutes of football playing for his father.
The second spell together came together when Ince was playing for Blackpool and Paul Ince had taken over as manager in February 2013. Tom became a star player for Blackpool even under his father’s tenure ending the 12/13 championship season with 30 goals and assists at only 21 years of age.
This was arguably when Tom’s stock was at its highest with his father at the time insisting that his son’s value in the transfer market at that time being as much as £25m.
Danny Blind & Daley Blind
The football heritage of the Blind family for Ajax Amsterdam and the Dutch National team is something unique and not many people in football can hold. Sons of great players find it very difficult to match their father’s achievements let alone surpass them.
When Danny Blind into coaching for Ajax and the National team I think he thought it would be inevitable he would cross over with his son at some point. Their first point of working together actually came when Danny was assistant coach for Holland and whilst Daley received call-ups he wouldn’t make his debut until February 2013.
The only time where Danny got to manage his son was when he took charge of the national side between 2015-2017.
Daley Blind played a total of 1,154 minutes for his father in the national team and was captain once against England. 13 matches and only once did he not complete 90 minutes.
Despite some of the failures like not reaching Euro 2016, they can be proud of the fact that they managed to represent their nation together as father and son in the sport they love. This can fall in one of the higher category examples given the fact this was the national team.
Danny Blind still coaches his son Daley for the national team but in the role as assistant to head coach Louis Van Gaal. Another landmark for this relationship could be working together at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Steve Bruce & Alex Bruce
Steve Bruce has carved out an impressive career as both a player and manager perhaps more so as a player but the longevity as a manager at the top level is something to be commended.
This one has a little controversy attached to it.
Alex Bruce had two spells under his father the first at Birmingham City where he made a total of 12 appearances for his father racking up a total of 644 minutes in the Premier League and FA cup. However, Alex left in 2006 part of the reason being was the accusation of nepotism being levelled at Steve Bruce.
The second spell and lengthier spell would come when Alex was bought by his father for Hull City in July 2012. Where he would play an important role in a Promotion campaign in his first season, be managed by his father playing over 20 league matches in back to back Premier League campaigns and make 2 appearances in Europe.
The 4 seasons they spent together Alex played 7,454 minutes in 104 appearances at Hull City for his father. Steve Bruce will be proud of many things in his career as player and coach but to be able to manage your son during his prime years in the top league and reaching an FA cup final together has to be right up there.
Gary Johnson & Lee Johnson
The time spent between these two has to be the longest on this list. Like others on this list there are two spells father and sons. Lee Johnson was fortunate enough to be at the heart of the midfield for his father’s side.
Their first spell together came at Yeovil Town where in 3 seasons where he gathered 62 appearances in all competitions under his father’s management scoring 11 goals and assisting a further 12 in that time a good return for a central midfielder. To top it off they managed to lift the Football League Two title in 2004-05.
The next spell together came together when Gary Johnson signed Lee in August 2006. Together the worked to get Bristol City promoted to the Championship in the 2006-07 where Lee played 42 league games.
In the championship campaign that followed Lee played 40 times in the 2007-08 season, a season where they looked to push for promotion but fell short in the play-off final to Hull City. Two more campaigns would follow together in the Championship.
Lee Johnson played 232 matches for his father scoring 21and assisting 32 in total and over 19,000 minutes of football for his father. The joys of promotion, title win and heartbreak of losing a final together.
Gheroghe Hagi & Ianis Hagi
The Hagi story could be the most similar to the recent Conceicao story. Gheroghe was manager of Romanian side Viltorul Constanta. A side Ianis would join after playing for his father’s youth academy.
Gheroghe would give his son his professional debut at just age 16 in December 2014 and scored his first senior goal for the club in May 2015. Ianis would then move to Fiorentina for a brief spell returning two years later to his father’s side in the January window 2018.
The second spell is where he really looked to be the creative spark and one of the main attacking outlets where he managed to score 20 goals in 53 matches in all competitions. Together they lifted the 2018-19 edition of the Romanian cup and the Romanian Super cup in 2019.
In total
Ianis played 92 matches for his father scoring 24 and assisting 16
Gheroghe can be proud of his own contribution to his son’s development. Under his management his son won 2 domestic trophies with him, was nominated for European Golden Boy and earned a senior debut for the Romanian national team and has been a mainstay ever since.
