The First Round of the 2024/25 Emirates FA Cup delivered plenty of surprises and stories over the weekend. Tamworth beat Huddersfield Town on Friday. On Saturday Brackley Town, Dagenham & Redbridge, Wealdstone, Kettering Town and seventh-tier Harborough Town were among the teams who knocked out higher level opposition
Mansfield Town faced no such problem, travelling to Greater Manchester on Sunday to beat ten-man Curzon Ashton 4-0 and book a Second Round meeting with League One rivals Stevenage.
But the Stags’ routine win over non-league hosts was noteworthy for a family connection among the goal scorers. Veteran midfielder Stephen Quinn scored their second goal and briefly shared the field with his nephew, Ben Quinn, who added the fourth with five minutes remaining.
Mansfield Town into the hat for the Second Round thanks to Ben Quinn and his uncle Stephen
19-year-old Ben left Celtic in the summer and joined Stephen at Field Mill, where the older Quinn has been plying his trade since leaving Burton Albion in 2021. Manager Nigel Clough has mostly used him in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy and Carabao Cup this season.
Ben set up Mansfield’s third before scoring his first senior goal with a calm left-footed shot into the bottom corner 56 minutes after Stephen’s simple first-half finish delivered goal number 43 of his rather longer career.
It wasn’t the first time English football has been blessed by an Irish uncle-and-nephew connection. Gary Kelly played for Leeds United with his nephew, Ian Harte, between 1996 and 2004.
The two full-backs also played together for the Republic of Ireland. The Quinns won’t manage that feat – Stephen is twice his nephew’s age and Ben is yet to represent his country at any level – but two goals and an assist between them might encourage Clough, no stranger to family ties in football, to combine them more often before Stephen hangs up his boots.
In Scotland, the late Phil O’Donnell joined Motherwell for the second time in 2004. His nephew, David Clarkson, was already at Fir Park and the two were team-mates until O’Donnell tragically passed away after collapsing on the pitch in December 2007.
Clarkson missed out on playing with his cousin and another of Phil’s nephews, Stephen O’Donnell, who was released by Dundee before Clarkson’s arrival in 2014.
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Sibling duos aren’t uncommon but only two father-and-son pairs have played together in England. Alex and David Herd were team-mates for Manchester City in the lower reaches of the Football League in 1951.
Gary Bowyer scored in the first game he featured alongside father and player-manager Ian for Hereford United in the Fourth Division in 1989-90.
