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Monday, February 21, 2011

You don't have to be related to play here but it helps: Four fathers and six of their sons make up unique Sunday football team

A football club made history after fielding a team made up almost entirely of family members.

Ten players in Combe St Nicholas' B-team consisted of four fathers who between them had six sons in a match on Saturday - thought to be a unique scenario.

Martin Watson, the player-manager of the team from Somerset which plays in the Perry Street League, appeared with his sons Jack and Harry.

Keep it in the family: The Combe St Nicholas' football team from Somerset made history after fielding a team made up almost entirely of family members - apart from the goalie

Keep it in the family: The Combe St Nicholas' football team from Somerset made history after fielding a team made up almost entirely of family members - apart from the goalie

Lee Rodber was there with his sons Steve and Dan, while Graham Cleal was joined by his son Brad, and Shawn Chadwick was also in the line-up with his son Josh.

The only non family member of the team was goalkeeper Dean Barrett.

Mr Watson said: 'It must be unique I reckon to have four sets of fathers and sons playing in the same team.'

He added, 'If, in the extremely unlikely event Combe B ever appeared on BBC's Match of the Day or Sky Sports' Soccer Sunday - it would present the commentator with a headache scenario:

Double take: The ten players in the team consist of four fathers who between them have six sons

Double take: The ten players in the team consist of four fathers who between them have six sons

'Cleal passes to Rodber, Rodber passes to Watson, Watson passes to Cleal, Cleal passes to Rodber, Rodber passes to Watson, Watson passes to Watson, Watson passes to Rodber, Rodber passes to Chadwick, Chadwick passes to Chadwick and Chadwick scores.'

Unfortunately, on Saturday Combe B lost 1 - 0 at Waytown Hounds in the Perry Street League's Division Four Ray Eglon Cup.

There are many sets of footballing brothers, such as John and Justin Fashanu, Gary and Phil Neville and of course Bobby and Jack Charlton, with nearly 1,600 club appearances between them, and a World Cup Final for good measure.

In 1988, the three Wallace brothers Danny, Rod and Ray played for the same team - Southampton - in a league fixture against Sheffield Wednesday.

But the Combe St Nicholas team, based in Somerset 10 miles from Taunton with a population of around 1,400, is believed to be the one with the most brothers in one team.

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