Pre-Season Friendlies

[Hillbilly]

The three Stein brothers all played for Luton but I don’t think all at one time.

[Diablo]

Looking up the Stein Brothers I hit the brother, mother load and came across this list from the London Evening Standard from 2002 (there's more than I thought and I had no idea there was so many Clarkes!!)

If Anton Ferdinand breaks into West Ham's first team, he will add the family name to a long list of brothers to have played League football.

And if he goes on to gain international honours, the pair will join an elite set of siblings who have played for England.

However, several sets of brothers, notably the Hoddles and the Bradys, have had their footballing genes less evenly distributed.

Liam Brady: Arsenal, Juventus and Rep of Ireland
Pat Brady: Millwall and QPR
Ray Brady: Millwall and QPR

Bobby Charlton: Man Utd and England
Jack Charlton: Leeds and England

Allan Clarke: Leeds and England
Derek Clarke: Leyton Orient and Oxford
Frank Clarke: Ipswich and QPR
Kelvin Clarke: Walsall
Wayne Clarke: Wolves and Everton

Eddie Gray: Leeds and Scotland
Frank Gray: Leeds and Scotland

Brian Greenhoff: Man Utd, Leeds and England
Jimmy Greenhoff: Leeds, Stoke, Man Utd

John Fashanu: Norwich, Millwall, W'don, Villa, England
Justin Fashanu: Norwich and Nottingham Forest

Carl Hoddle: Leyton Orient and Barnet
Glenn Hoddle: Tottenham, Monaco, Chelsea, England

David Holdsworth: Watford, Sheffield Utd, Birmingham
Dean Holdsworth: Watford, Brentford, W'don, Bolton

Andy Linighan: Leeds, Norwich, Arsenal and C Palace
Brian Linighan: Sheffield Wednesday
David Linighan: Hartlepool, Ipswich and Blackpool

Gary Neville: Man Utd and England
Phil Neville: Man Utd and England

David O'Leary: Arsenal, Leeds and Rep of Ireland
Pierce O'Leary: Celtic and Rep of Ireland

Brian Stein: Luton
Eddie Stein: Barnet
Mark Stein: Luton, QPR, Chelsea, Stoke, Bournemouth

Danny Wallace: Southampton, Man Utd and England
Ray Wallace: Southampton, Leeds and Stoke
Rod Wallace: Southampton, Leeds and Rangers

Graham Wilkins: Brentford and Chelsea
Ray Wilkins: Chelsea, Man Utd, AC Milan and England
Dean Wilkins: QPR, Brighton, L Orient, Zwolle (Neth)

[ROBBO]

How long was Grealish on loan for and what age did he first play with the seniors? It just seems that we get players aroung eighteen-nineteen who look promising but never get a run out, just wondered what jacks time-scale was.

[Mister E]

Agreed. Would also like to see Archer and Vassilev given a couple of opportunities.

Yep, Agreed on both. My team for the EFL cup next week would have all of them involved, probably Kesler, Barry and Chukwuemeka as well, with a handful of senior players starting and on the bench to add experience.

What about Bridge? - thought he was a rising young star?

[paul_e]

How long was Grealish on loan for and what age did he first play with the seniors? It just seems that we get players aroung eighteen-nineteen who look promising but never get a run out, just wondered what jacks time-scale was.

He had just turned 18 when he went to Notts County in 13/14 his league debut for us was a couple of minutes against Man City at the end of that season. Jacob Ramsey is on a similar schedule so far but his loan spell was cut short. He's just turned 19 and that was the age Jack made his breakthrough with us.

[paul_e]

Agreed. Would also like to see Archer and Vassilev given a couple of opportunities.

Yep, Agreed on both. My team for the EFL cup next week would have all of them involved, probably Kesler, Barry and Chukwuemeka as well, with a handful of senior players starting and on the bench to add experience.

What about Bridge? - thought he was a rising young star?

It's harder to throw a centre half into a game like that, I'd probably try to get him out on loan instead.

[OCD]

It's a shame for his development that his loan was cut short by lockdown. Interesting to see whether he's involved in the first team squad this year or whether he goes out on loan to get the experience that he missed out on.

[paul_e]

It's a shame for his development that his loan was cut short by lockdown. Interesting to see whether he's involved in the first team squad this year or whether he goes out on loan to get the experience that he missed out on.

If it were me making the decision I'd start him in the cup (and in the 3rd round if we get through) and have him training around the squad for the next month. If he's clearly not ready the loan window will still be open then so we can get him to a top half of the championship side. If he's done ok then keep him around a look again in January.

[OCD]

He must be training with the squad to have been involved against Arsenal. He'll be involved against Burton I'm sure, it's just whether he starts or comes off the bench. He's likely to be in the 18 when the season starts, it's just going to depend on whether he's getting minutes.

The Premier League are expecting teams to fulfill their fixtures, which could make it harder for teams with smaller squads to loan out their younger players this year. If we're wary of losing players for this reason, it would be better to actively involve them.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

The three Stein brothers all played for Luton but I don’t think all at one time.

Brothers Jack, George, and Jimmy Milburn all played for Dirty Leeds in the 1930s and 40s. Between them they made over 750 appearances, but as far as I can see all three never played in the dirty Leeds team together.

[Brazilian Villain]

Didn't Bruce and Neil Rioch and Brian and Alan Little play for us in the early 70s.

[olaftab]

Didn't Bruce and Neil Rioch and Brian and Alan Little play for us in the early 70s.

Yes they did but Neil and Alan were not fit to be on the same pitch as their bros. Don't think they played many first team games.

[Brazilian Villain]

Didn't Bruce and Neil Rioch and Brian and Alan Little play for us in the early 70s.

Yes they did but Neil and Alan were not fit to be on the same pitch as their bros. Don't think they played many first team games.

Just a year or two before my time but remembered the names. Dad mentioned Neil Rioch yesterday and said pretty much the same thing (insinuating he was signed to get Bruce) but still brothers that played for us.

[dave.woodhall]

Didn't Bruce and Neil Rioch and Brian and Alan Little play for us in the early 70s.

Yes they did but Neil and Alan were not fit to be on the same pitch as their bros. Don't think they played many first team games.

That's a bit unfair. Neither would say they were anywhere near their brother's standard, but Neil in particular was a decent squad player and one of only about three or four who played for both Tommy Docherty and Ron Saunders.

[olaftab]

Yes I accept "not fit to be" is a bit unnecessary it's just that Bruce and Brian were exceptional players and made ordinary players look...well rather ordinary.