Blades Brothers

10 Blades and 5 brothers who have played at least one game together

Phil Whitaker

I wanted to reflect on the passing of former Blade, Barry Wagstaff. He was one of two brothers who played for Sheffield United in the same team at the same time. In fact, there have been only five pairs of brothers who have played at least one game together for United’s first team since the Second World War, and here I list them all. Not only that, there’s also a list of every brotherly pair to ever play for the Blades full stop.

Blades Brothers: playing together

1. Tony & Barry Wagstaff (1961-1969): 71 appearances together 

Tony Wagstaff became a full time professional in March 1961 and was only 17 when he made his debut for the Blades in the final league game at home to Middlesbrough on 29April 1961. United celebrated promotion to the top-flight that day after a 4-1 win.

In his early years, he felt conscious of his slight stature, wishing he could put on another stone but eating and resting seemed to have no effect. He worried about his performances and preferred to play away from home. He might have felt tentative and perhaps he never lived up to his potential, but nevertheless, Tony Wagstaff played 167 times for the Blades scoring 23 goals. Plus, he also holds an unbeatable Blades record. Tony was United’s first ever substitute, replacing Alan Birchenall at Fulham in September 1965.

In the same month, his younger brother Barry began to play regularly, and they were part of the same XI for this first time in a 2-0 victory over Everton 13 November 1965.

Barry was born in Wombwell, a year younger than Tony. He also played for Don and Dearne boys and joined the Blades as an apprentice just before Tony made his league debut. He turned professional in March 1963 and made his debut at Anfield on 7 October 1964. During the 1965/66 season, Barry became a regular as United finished ninth in Division One, and he was again a mainstay in 1966/67 as John Harris's side finished tenth. 

When Arthur Rowley became United boss in 1968, Barry lost his place. He made 138 appearances and scored five goals for the Blades. 

Remarkably both Tony and Barry left on the same day in July 1969 to join the same team, Reading. It was only in 1974 that the brothers parted with Tony moving into non-league football with Hillingdon Borough. Tony remained in London after he retired from playing, working for over 20 years in baggage handling and security at Heathrow Airport. 

Tony and Barry played together on 71 occasions, more than any other United brothers. Following his stint at Reading, Barry returned to South Yorkshire playing for Rotherham between 1975 and 1977 before ending his career in non-league. He later moved into coaching with Barnsley. Barry sadly passed away aged 78 in August 2023.

2. Andy & Rob Scott (1993-1997): 9 appearances together  

Andy and Rob Scott were two of three Sutton United players to be plucked from non-league by Dave Bassett in the early 1990s (the other was Paul Rogers). 

Forward Andy signed for £50,000 in November 1992 and made his first team debut as an injury-time substitute for Brian Deane at Hillsborough in the 1-1 draw on 21 April 1993. He became a regular in the 1994-95 season playing at left wing back or attacking midfielder. He made a total of 87 appearances including 38 as a sub, scoring 11 goals before being transferred to Brentford in December 1997. Heart problems prompted his retirement from playing in April 2005.  

His younger brother Rob was a utility player who signed for £25,000 in August 1993. They played together for the first time in a league game at Swindon on 17 December 1994 when Rob came on as a second half substitute to join Andy who was playing at full back.

Rob didn’t make his full league debut until the first game of the season on a boiling hot day at Watford on 12th August 1995. Both Scotts started the game in the new diamond kit with Andy at left back and Rob at centre forward. Andy went off after 15 mins with a knee injury, as the Blades lost 2-1 with Rob assisting Nathan Blake’s goal before also being subbed.

Rob could play anywhere including right-back or centre-forward and had a great long throw. He only made 10 appearances for the Blades including 9 on the same team as his brother, scoring 1 goal before joining Fulham in 1996. He has the record of being on the losing side in all his 6 league appearances for the Blades. 

The Scott brothers also have strong Rotherham connections. Rob made 178 appearances for the Millers, winning two promotions and is currently their Chief Scout. After managing Brentford, Andy managed Rotherham for an unsuccessful spell from April 2011 – March 2012. He later moved into scouting roles at Brentford, Watford, Swansea and Forest and is currently the Technical Director at Charlton Athletic.      

3. Paul & Brian Smith (1983-1989): 9 appearances together 

Paul was a former Sheffield Wednesday ball boy who had just turned 15 when he was signed as an apprentice by Martin Peters. The promising youngster made his debut at right back in a 3-1 defeat at Southend United on 26 March 1983.

His preferred position was a striker, but he never cemented a place in the team and was in and out of the side during his United career, often filling in at right back. He was sold by Billy McEwan to Port Vale in July 1986 after making 40 appearances, scoring 1 goal. Lincoln City, then in the Conference paid a club record fee of £48k to sign Paul where he spent eight seasons. 

After he retired Paul joined the Police where he has been spotted on duty back at The Lane.

The Smiths

His younger brother Brian also played in a variety of positions, starting at left back and moving to midfield and right back. He made his debut on 2 May 1984 at Hull City in the Associate Members Cup and developed in the Dad’s Army team of 1985-86 under the guidance of Phil Thompson. 

He helped United to a stunning 3-0 win at Portsmouth on 23 November 1985 when the 19-year-old left back marked Vince Hilaire out of the game. He received many plaudits that day including from Phil Thompson who asked him “If he still had Hilaire in his pocket”, as he got onto the coach for the journey home.   

Brian played in the Division Three promotion-winning team under Ian Porterfield in 1988/89 but suffered a triple leg break on 8 April 1989 in a tackle with Preston’s Steve Harper. He never recovered from this injury, forcing his retirement at the age of just 23.

Brian made 109 appearances for the Blades, scoring 0 goals (his only career goal came while on loan at Scunthorpe United).

The brothers made nine appearances together – the first in a miserable 1-0 home defeat to Shrewsbury Town on 27 April 1985 in front of a sparse crowd of just 7,809. The game was best remembered for an unseasonable snowstorm in the first half. 

At Charlton on 7 December 1985, Paul came on as sub to replace Brian for the final four mins, but Phil Thompson conceded an own goal shortly after as United lost 2-0.

4. Graham & Bernard Shaw (1952-1969); 5 appearances together  

Graham and Bernard were unique in that they both played the same position at left back. 

Graham was 11 years older than Bernard. He signed as a professional on his 17th birthday in July 1951. He had only made 6 reserve team appearances when he was thrown in at the deep end to make his first team debut on 5 January 1952 at Hillsborough in a 3-1 victory in front of a crowd of 65,327. He became the regular left back the following season as United were crowned Champions of Division Two. 

Joe Mercer tried to sell Graham to Stoke City in September 1956, but Graham refused to go and after being played in different positions he returned to the left back position in United’s famous defence of the 1960s with namesake Joe Shaw (not related to Graham and Bernard).        

The Shaws

Graham won five England U23 caps and five full England caps. He made 497 appearances scoring 15 goals including 10 penalties. He was awarded a testimonial v Sheffield Wednesday in April 1967 before leaving in September 1967 to join Doncaster Rovers.

After he retired, he used his testimonial money to purchase a cafe in Castle Market. He added another which his other brother (Brian) ran. After 15 years he sold the cafes and became the Landlord of the Sportsman Inn on Denby Street. He was Chair of United’s Future Players Fund for five years in the early 1980s. He passed away after a short illness in May 1998 aged 63.                              

Bernard played for his school but unlike his brother was told he was too small to play for Sheffield Boys. Graham took Bernard to Bramall Lane when he was 14 to “build him up” but he started work learning bricklaying. He joined United as an amateur in August 1961 and soon gained England youth caps playing in the England team with Len Badger and won the 1963 European Championship.

Both Bernard and Len Badger made their first team debuts on 26 April 1963 v Leyton Orient at the Lane. Bernard replaced his injured brother at left back. After missing much of the next two seasons with a heart problem he became a regular from 1966 replacing his brother at left back. 

He only played five times with Graham, twice in 1963-64 playing at left back with Graham moved up front, and three times in 1964-65 filling in at right back with his brother playing in his usual left back spot. He won England U23 caps and was transferred to Wolves in July 1969 (where he helped them reach the 1972 UEFA Cup Final) after making 162 appearances and scoring one goal for United.

He returned to Sheffield, playing for three seasons for Sheffield Wednesday. Following retirement, he ran a pub in Baslow for many years. 

5. Tyler Smith & Kyron Gordon (2018-2021): 1 appearance together 

The only pair of brothers to have played for United this century are Tyler Smith and Kyron Gordon. Both youngsters were Blades fans and grew up together through the youth ranks dreaming of playing together for the first team. 

This dream became a reality when they both made their first team debuts in the first pre-season friendly of the Slavisa Jokanovic era against Triple Point in Gibraltar when Smith scored the third goal in a 3-0 victory.

Tyler is 3 years older than Kyron and had just returned from various loan spells away from the Blades with 23 goals in 53 league starts for Barrow, Doncaster Rovers, Bristol Rovers, Rochdale and Swindon Town.    

They are the only Blades brothers to make their competitive first team debuts together. This was in the Carling Cup v Carlisle United on 10 August 2021 when their family swelled the crowd by taking up more than 35 tickets in the South Stand.   

This was Tyler’s only appearance before he was transferred later that month to Hull City. The brothers were on opposing sides when United visited Hull City on 4 September 2022. Gordon was an unused sub as Smith started for Hull in a game where Gordon was the subject of racist abuse while warming up. 

Tyler (left) and his younger but taller brother Kyron (right)

Gordon left United when his contract ended this Summer after making a total of 10 appearances in the League and Cup. He is now in the National League at AFC Fylde while Tyler joined Bradford City in the Summer after a spell on loan at Oxford United. 

Blades Brothers; not in the same team