Brian and Nigel Clough

Perhaps the most famous father-son relationship of them all. Brian referred to his son as "the number nine" and handed out praise to him as though there was a financial cost involved. In total, Nigel played for nine years under his father at Nottingham Forest, making 311 first-team appearances, winning the League Cup twice. The striker only left to join Liverpool in the summer of 1993 after his father had retired from management following the club's relegation from the top flight. Had his old man stuck around, it's debatable as to whether the 14-times capped England international would ever have left.

Alex and Darren Ferguson

Darren joined United's youth ranks just two years after his father took charge at Old Trafford. He must have had a hairy few years working his way up through the ranks as Ferguson snr struggled to get to grips with the job but he was offered a professional contract in 1990, the same year as Ryan Giggs graduated to the first team. Darren made his first-team debut that year and the highlight of his career under his father came at the start of the 1992-'93 season, where he played 15 games in a row in midfield while Bryan Robson was injured. United won their first title under Ferguson that year but within 12 months, Darren was shipped out by his father to Wolves, apparently surplus to requirements.

Johan and Jordi Cruyff

How difficult it must have been for Jordi to operate under the shadow of his father. Johan had long made it known that it was his "dream" for his son to play for Barcelona and he handed him his debut as a 20-year-old in September 1994. Young Cruyff went on to make 41 appearances for the Catalan club before Johan was sacked. Predictably, his father wasn't long out the door before Jordi was transferred to Manchester United for a four-year spell, where he played a small part in three successful Premier League campaigns; even though he only made enough appearances to earn one medal. He never quite lived up to the name.

Steve and Alex Bruce

Alex learned his football at Manchester United and Blackburn but it was only when his father signed him for Birmingham City on a free transfer in January 2005 that he began to see any real action. He made just six appearances for the Blues during his 18-month spell at the club, but he spent most of his time away from his father on loan at Oldham Athletic, Sheffield Wednesday and Tranmere Rovers before moving permanently to Ipswich Town in the summer of 2006. Almost uniquely among players who played under their fathers, Bruce the younger departed St Andrew's before his father actually left the club.

Cesare and Paolo Maldini

A strange father-son relationship this, as Cesare and Paolo linked up at international rather than club level. Cesare first called his son up to the under-21 side in 1986, the year Italy lost in the final of the European under-21 Championships to Spain, with the relationship lasting until 1988 when Paolo graduated to earn the first of his 126 caps with the senior team. Father and son were eventually reunited in 1996 when Cesare was appointed to succeed Arrigo Sacchi as manager of the national team. The Azzurri, with Paolo appointed captain by his father, duly qualified for the 1998 World Cup in France but a quarter-final defeat to the hosts in a penalty shoot-out put paid to the two-year reunion of father and son.

Kenny and Paul Dalglish

Paul's first football involvement with his father wasn't an auspicious one. The then 12-year-old was Liverpool's team mascot the night they lost the league title to Arsenal at Anfield in May 1989. Oops. Paul, however, completed his youth education at Celtic and Liverpool without his father watching over him but he was signed by Kenny at Newcastle in the summer of 1997. He spent his first season at the club on loan at Bury and only seemed to make any kind of impact at St James' Park after his father was sacked at the start of the 1998-'99 season. Eleven appearances later, though, he was shipped off to Norwich.