Family is the bedrock of the society and in football there are families who have been the bedrock of the English FA Cup.
Throughout the ages of football, there have been notable families who have produced footballers who achieved greatness in the world stage.
This write-up focuses on families who have manufactured talents who have played in the old cup competition in the world, The English FA Cup.
First up, we would be jetting to Nigeria with one family from the West African Nation represented in our list. The first family has an African great and world-famous dribbler, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha (the man who was so good that he was named twice).
This family produced Jay Jay Okocha who is the uncle of Everton man Alex Iwobi, both players have featured in the FA Cup and they have definitely dropped jaw-dropping performances in the competition.
Alex Iwobi’s uncle, Jay-Jay Okocha, played for Bolton Wanderers and Hull City in England scoring a total of 14 goals during his time in the country.
His Nephew, Alex Iwobi was previously at Arsenal before switching to the Merseyside to put pen-to-paper on a deal with Everton.
He scored 15 goals in 149 appearances for Arsenal and won the FA Cup in 2017 but so far with Everton he has scored 8 goals in 126 games for the club.
Next up in our list is, Ian Wright!
Ian Wright is the father of Shaun Wright Phillips and both have featured in the FA Cup, Ian Wright played for Crystal Palace, Arsenal, West Ham United, Nottingham Forest and Burnley in England.
He scored 239 goals in 501 appearances and he his a Member of the British Empire.
Shaun Wright Phillips represented Manchester City, Chelsea and Queens Rangers in England scoring 44 goals in 413 appearances.
Another name that appears in our list is Arsenal and Premier League legends Kolo Toure, whose brother is former Manchester City midfielder, Yaya Toure.
Kolo Toure played for several clubs in England namely; Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.
He was in the Arsenal invincibles side that did the unprecedented in Premier League history and what hasn’t been repeated afterward.
His brother, Yaya, played as a midfielder for only Manchester City in England scoring 59 goals in 230 appearances for the side.
Both players featured for their respective clubs in the English FA Cup while in their active days in English Football.
Yaya Toure won the FA Cup in 2010/11 league season while Kolo Toure won the competition in 2002/03 and 2004/05.
The fourth family we would be detailing in this list compiled by Futballnews is the Neville family.
Gary Neville and Phil Neville are brothers and they played for few teams in English Football.
Gary made 400 appearances for Manchester United between 1992 till 2011, the only club he played for in his illustrious active career.
Phil Neville also played in England for two clubs namely, Manchester United between 1994 till 2005 making 263 appearances and Everton racking up 242 appearances.
Phil Neville won the FA Cup in the 1995/96, 1998/99 and 2003/04 club football season alongside his brother.
The last name we would extensively turn our attention towards is the Schmichel family.
Peter Schmichel spent majority of his time at Manchester United winning several trophies with the side, he also played for Aston Villa and Manchester City in England.
He is the father of former Leicester City shot-stopper, Kasper Schmichel.
Peter Schmichel won the FA Cup in 1993/94, 1995/96 and in 1998/99. The Dane was arguably the best goalkeeper in England during his time in the country.
Kasper Schmichel started his senior career at Manchester City and Leicester City in the top-flight of English Football after gaining promotion with the side to the Premier League in the 2014/15 League season.
He won the English FA Cup in 2020/21 when Leicester City defeated Chelsea to win the trophy.
Other Honorable mentions for football families that have electrified the footballing game and have participated in the FA Cup include:
- Anton Ferdinand and Rio Ferdinand (Brothers)
- Paul Ince (Father) and Tom Ince (Son)
- Frank Lampard Senior (Father) and Frank Lampard Junior (Son)
- Rory Delap (Father) and Liam Delap (Son)
- Mario Balotelli and Obafemi Martins (Brothers In law).
