Liverpool has long seen itself as a family club, and that is shown this season as four young players with famous footballing fathers break through in the academy.
There have been a number of familiar names to represent the Reds over the years, while some have even followed in their father’s footsteps in playing for the club.
Think Paul Ince and Tom Ince, Roy Saunders and Dean Saunders, and the likes of Jamie Redknapp, Nigel Clough and, skipping a generation, Rob Jones, grandson of long-serving centre-half Bill Jones.
It is not uncommon for current and ex-players to have their children in the academy ranks, with Jamie Carragher and Robbie Fowler among those whose sons have played at Kirkby, while academy director Alex Inglethorpe oversees the progress of his son in the under-13s.
This season has already seen two youngsters with famous fathers feature for the Liverpool under-18s, while two others have been registered ahead of their expected debuts.
Most notable, of course, is summer signing Bobby Clark, who joined the Reds from Newcastle in August in a deal worth up to £1.5 million.
Clark, an attacking midfielder who scored on his debut for the U18s, is the son of former Newcastle, Sunderland and Fulham midfielder Lee Clark, who is now working as a manager, most famously with Birmingham City.
The 16-year-old spent time in the Birmingham academy while his dad was in charge, before the family returned to the northeast which paved the way for him to join Newcastle.
He has been joined in the U18s squad by midfielder Jayden Danns, son of ex-Liverpool schoolboy and Football League journeyman Neil Danns.
Danns Sr. initially made his breakthrough with Blackburn during their time in the Premier League, but predominantly spent his career in the Championship with the likes of Birmingham, Crystal Palace, Leicester and Bolton.
After his professional career wound down, Neil Danns returned to Liverpool as an academy coach, working with the U13s and U14s, while his son Jayden steps up to the U18s.
Two who are yet to play for the U18s but should do in due time are midfielder Lewis Koumas and striker Keyrol Figueroa.
Koumas’ father Jason played in the Premier League for West Brom and Wigan after coming through the pre-academy ranks at Kirkby with the likes of Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard, as well as earning 33 caps for Wales.
Meanwhile, Figueroa moved to England with his father Maynor Figueroa, the Honduran former Wigan and Hull defender, as a one-year-old in 2008.
Eventually joining the Reds’ youth ranks, Figueroa is now part of Liverpool’s UEFA Youth League squad along with Clark, Danns and Koumas.
All four of them will be hoping to equal or even surpass the success of their fathers.
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