WINNING FOOTBALL DYNASTY
Second ever father-son pair winning a title!
A family duo from the Faroe Islands, Atli Gregersen (father) and Árni Atlason (son), became the second such pair in the history of football to win a significant trophy at the highest level (meaning a national or international trophy) while playing together.
As part of Víkingur Gøta, Atli and Arni became national champions in 2024. They played together in 24 league matches of the season.
The first who achieved the similar feat were two Alexey Eremenkos, father and son: they have won even two champion titles in Finland, in 2002 and 2003 with HJK Helsinki.
To remind, Atli Gregersen and Árni Atlason have also established this year a new world record of XXI century for most common father-son games in all competitions (48 at the moment).
In the photo, they celebrate the victory of their club accompanied by another member of their football dynasty, Árni Gregersen (their resp. father and grandfather), who, however, did not play himself, but only refereed the top flight matches.
Сuriously, Atli Gregersen, who has not yet finished his playing career, being even elected as Player of the Year (at the age of 42!), was immediately after the end of club season appointed as the assistant coach of the Faroese national team for the November Nations League matches. He last played himself for the national team in 2019.
By the way, the man whom Gregersen is called up to assist, interim head coach Eyðun Klakstein, also has played during few years at the end of his career together with his son Heðin – but only at the 2nd and 3rd tiers of national football.
Moreover, Klakstein’s wife Bára Skaale and their daughter Eydvør have played 4 games together for Faroe Islands in 2012-2013 to make the first and only such parent-offspring combination in the history of European football so far, regardless a gender. (In men’s game, Guðjohnsen pair, father Arnór and son Eiður, have appeared for Iceland once in 1996 but they didn’t play at same time as one of them substituted another).
And, to make the story even more extradionary, the third member from the new Faroe Islands technical staff, a goalkeepers’ coach Géza Túri is another person from the record books: past year, he appeared for KÍ Klaksvík at 49 to become all-time oldest player in the national football and one of oldest ever at top level in Europe.
In the table, the numbers of games in which father and son played both (GB) and separately games in which they were together (GT) on pitch are indicated.
FATHER & SON | TOGETHER | WINNING | A | TROPHY |
Father/Son | Nation/Club | Competition | GB | GT |
Aleksey Eremenko Sr. | Finland | League 2002 | 21 | 17 |
Aleksey Eremenko Jr. | HJK Helsinki | League 2003 | 6 | 3 |
Atli Gregersen | Faroe Islands | League 2024 | 24 | 24 |
Árni Atlason | Víkingur |