Ancelotti to Zidane - Best parent-child relationships in sport

Sport360 staff 10:15 26/08/2016
Carlo Ancelotti hired his son at Bayern.

Carlo Ancelotti has a tough act to follow at Bayern Munich. Following Jupp Hynckes’ treble-winning season, Pep Guardiola delivered three Bundesliga titles on the trot.

To help him on his first venture in German football, the former Real Madrid and AC Milan boss has brought his 27 year-old son, Davide Ancelotti, on board as an assistant coach.

It’s the latest in several family relationships to surface in the circuit of professional sport. Here, we look at ten such family ties across different sports.

ZINEDINE AND ENZO ZIDANE

Zinedine Zidane is one of the finest footballers ever to play the game. He began working with his son, Enzo, when he took charge of Real Madrid Castilla in 2014.

Enzo has made several appearances at youth level for Real Madrid and regularly trains with the first team. With Zinedine now head coach, it’s only a matter of time until he hands his 21-year-old son his senior debut.

CHRIS EUBANK SR. AND JR.

Chris Eubank Sr. competed from 1985 to 1998 and held the WBO middleweight and super-middleweight titles. He was world champion for over five years.

He guided his son into the ring as well and continues to mentor Eubank Jr, who is the current British middleweight champion and ranked No4 in the world.

VINCE, LINDA, SHANE AND STEPHANIE MCMAHON

The McMahon family are the owners of the WWE. Vince McMahon inherited the business which was passed down from his grandfather Roderick McMahon to his father Vincent J McMahon.

Vince is chairman and chief executive officer of the company. His wife Linda was previously CEO. Their son, Shane had a number of roles within the company, even that of a professional wrestler at one point.

His sister Stephanie is currently the Chief Brand Officer of the WWE.

DOC AND AUSTIN RIVERS

Last year, Austin Rivers became the first player in NBA history to play for his father, coach Doc Rivers of the Los Angeles Clippers.

CESARE AND PAOLO MALDINI

The late Cesare Maldini won four Serie A titles and one European Cup with AC Milan. While his son Paolo spent 25 seasons at Milan, winning 26 trophies in total, including the Champions League five times. The club retired the No3 jersey in his honour but it could see some action again soon with his son Christian Maldini who this year, was made captain of the Under-19 team.

MIKE AND GEORGE FORD

For two years, Mike Ford coached his son George at Bath Rugby. George is an England fly-half and played under his father domestically until the senior Ford parted ways with the team in May this year.

HARRY AND JAMIE REDKNAPP

The father-son duo worked together as manager and player twice. First, Jamie was handed his senior debut at Bournemouth by his dad in 1989 before the two worked together again at Southampton in 2005.

DANNY AND DALEY BLIND

Another father and son relationship that also worked as manager and player. Danny Blind was Louis van Gaal’s assistant manager for the Dutch national team during the 2014 World Cup while Daley was a regular starter at left wing-back.

Danny took charge of the national team briefly with Daley still featuring prominently but Blind senior was sacked after failing to qualify for the 2016 European Championship.

Recommended