Dárdai, Conceição & Co.
When the players say goodbye to their coaches at Christmas, some could soon see their coach again – under the Christmas tree, at the festive table, to give presents to the family. Father-son relationships in football clubs and national teams have a long tradition. The Maldinis in Italy, the blinds for the Netherlands, Johan Cruyff made Jordi Cruyff a Barça star, Zinédine Zidane put Luca Zidane in goal and Enzo Zidane in midfield at Real Madrid. Nowadays, the Dárdais are setting new standards at Hertha BSC, and there is also a curiosity at FC Porto.
“Somehow fate would have it that way,” said Pál Dárdai in July after Hertha BSC lost 1-0 at Fortuna Düsseldorf. It was the game in which the Hungarian coach also called up his third son, Bence Dárdai, for the Berliners. The brothers Márton and Palkó had already played a few games under their dad, who doesn’t find it all that surprising. Dárdai Sr. said: “This is my family history. My father (Pál Dárdai, editor) played with my brother in Hungary. That’s normal for us.”
Normal for the Dárdais, extraordinary for everyone else – you won’t find so many of the coach’s offspring in a team in the football world. The Transfermarkt database makes it clear and shows some famous names who were on the pitch under their coaching father – sometimes for several teams. ÖFB youth coach Werner Gregoritsch brought Michael Gregoritsch from Freiburg back to the Austrian U21 team in 2012 and used his son 46 times at SV Karpfenberg. Ex-Man United professional Paul Ince worked as a coach with his son Tom Ince at three clubs.
Curiosities with Pamic and the Ratnikovs – Double father-son duo in Porto
The former Hansa Rostock player Igor Pamic even brought his son Zvonko into four different teams as a coach. In the TM database, the Iranian trainer Akbar Misaghian is linked to his son Behtash at no fewer than eight clubs together, including the current Shahrdari Nowshahr. The paths of the Ratnikovs are also remarkable. The former Estonian international Sergei Ratnikov, later coach of his sons Eduard and Daniil, worked at five clubs where he sent both sons onto the field. Daniil eventually followed Papa Ratnikov to a sixth.
The double duo at FC Porto is as unique as the Dárdai triumvirate in Berlin. In the first team, former Portuguese and Italian champion Sérgio Conceição looks after the youngest of his four professional sons, Francisco Conceição. One division further down, António Folha regularly features his son Bernardo Folha in Porto’s second team. The most games played by a professional under his father were recorded by Nigel Clough, who was used by Brian Clough a total of 331 times at Nottingham Forest between 1984 and 1993.
Coach father Dárdai: Sons would have “got more money” somewhere else than at Hertha
Meanwhile, in Berlin, coach Dárdai was forced to stop any thoughts of any form of nepotism. “Bence has worked for this,” he emphasized after the Dárdai quartet was complete in the “Old Lady”.
The father said after the debut of his third son, who became the fifth youngest Hertha professional in the club’s history when he played in July: “I didn’t extend Márton’s contract and I didn’t bring Palkó back either. They all wanted to be Herthaners; they would have gotten more money elsewhere. It’s not my fault, it’s not my wife’s fault.” As a coach, he is satisfied that all three sons have the quality for this league, as he stated after the 1-0 defeat in Düsseldorf. “But as a father I don’t feel anything, I only feel one thing: that a goal was missing today.”
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