The teenage sons of some of the Socceroos’ ‘Golden Generation’ – Tim Cahill, Lucas Neil, Scott Chipperfield, Paul Okon to name just a few – are taking their first steps as professional footballers.
Time will tell if they can reach the lofty heights of their illustrious fathers.
Signed from the academy of Dad’s former team Everton, Tim Cahill’s 18-year-old youngest son Shae recently made his debut off the bench for Brisbane Roar and within minutes almost scored.
Though currently without a club, Tim’s older son Kyah Cahill was at La Liga club Rayo Vallecano academy in 2022/23 and captained Samoa’s U-23 national team in their Olympic qualifiers last year.
Lucas Neil’s son Marcus is on the books of Liverpool’s U-16 academy, and Australia’s U-17 coach Brad Maloney is keen to cap him. He is highly rated as a “sharp finisher with both feet” by the Reds’ junior coaches.
Scott Chipperfield’s 18-year-old son Liam, played 5 games for Swiss Champions League stalwarts FC Basel before switching to FC Sion in July last year and has represented Switzerland’s youth teams.
His dad Scott won seven titles with Basel and his son Liam had been with the club since he was six years old.
Paul Okon has four sons and the eldest son Paul Junior was at FC Brugge’s academy before switching to Portuguese giant Benfica’s U-17 side in 2022.
He captained Australia’s U-18 side at the recent Maurice Revello tournament where they surprised many by defeating France and Mexico and finishing third. His younger brother Gianluca is at FC Brugge, as are Paul’s two youngest sons.
Mark Schwartzer’s son Julian was with Fulham’s U-23 side until 2022 and now plays between the sticks for Arena in Indonesia. He has represented the Philippines national team, eligible through his mother.
Josip Skoko’s sons Noa and Luka both play in Croatia. Noa signed for Hadjuk Split’s U-19 team and has represented Croatia at the U-17 level. Luka is in the Croatian second division with NK Solin.
Tony Popovic’s sons Kristian and Gabriel started their careers at Perth Glory, with stints in Croatia and Greece. Kristian currently plays for Macarthur Bulls and younger son Gabriel is with Catania in Serie C.
Mehmet Durakovic’s 18-year-old son Emin recently signed a three-year contract with Melbourne City.
Tony Vidmar’s 19-year-old son Kane was with Adelaide United but last year in June signed a scholarship contract at Western United and has already made several first-team starts.
Former Socceroo and AC Milan keeper Zeljko Kalac’s son Oliver was a former Western Sydney Wanders youth player and now plays in the Croatian third division with NK Jadran.
Current Macarthur Bulls coach Mile Sterjovski’s youngest son Sonny, at just 16 years of age is playing for Blacktown Spartans NPL youth and his older brother Luka is with Macarthur’s academy.
Former Socceroo, Luton town stalwart, and former Perth Glory assistant coach, Chris Coyne’s son Aiden plays as a defender for Watford’s U-21 team.
Alexander Robertson – whose father Mark and Grandfather Alex were both Socceroos – is currently getting rave reviews and man of the match awards at Portsmouth while on loan from Manchester City.
Eligible to represent Scotland, Peru, and England, he has played friendlies for Australia and seems committed though he has not yet played a “competitive” fixture.
Though we may lose some of the Golden Generation’s sons to other nations, with that kind of pedigree, genes, and talent, some of these young guns should break through making the future even brighter for the Australian national team.
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