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Brothers that played for the Villa

Brothers have figured strongly in Villa’s history. In 1874 the Matthews’ brothers, George and Harry, were among the founder-members of the club. Another founder member, Jack Hughes, had two brothers - Charlie and Walter - who played in the 1874-76 period - and another founder, Billy Mason, had a brother Tom. Billy was one-time secretary for the Villa and became 'big' in the B'ham FA while Tom became a vice-president of Villa in the 1930s. It was Tom - the keeper - who sat on the trainer's bucket in the middle of the pitch while Villa were beating Small Heath Swifts 21-0 in 1882!

Other brothers of the very early period were Jemmy and Billy Lyndsay from Scotland who were in Brum for a short period around 1876-77.

The following entries relate to more prominent siblings that played for the club from 1878 onwards.

Archie Hunter (1878) and Andy (1879) his brother, who is said to have been a better player than Archie. But Andy succumbed to TB quite early. Archie was famed more for his captaincy, but he was also a foremost player of his time.

The brothers Harry and Joey Simmonds of the 1880s, both full-backs. But I don't think they were on the pitch together at the same time as Harry played in the time of the single full-back. Harry played in the first B'ham Cup win of 1880 while Joey completed a fine career in the FA Cup Final of 1887.

Arthur and Albert Brown of the 1880s, though Albert played through to the early Football League years. Arthur was the joint first England international for Villa (in 1882), while Albert failed to play for England only because he got injured beforehand.

The Burton brothers - James, Jack and Frank - played in a period spanning the 1880s and 1890s. There is a suggestion that a fourth brother, 'Charles', also played for Villa, but possibly in a junior team. Jack was the most prolific of the brothers, with Frank also a trusty servant. All seem to have played at half-back.

Harry and Ollie Whateley. Ollie became Villa’s third-capped England international in 1883 and was famed for his ‘daisycutter’ shooting. Ollie, a graphic artist, also designed the Villa shirt that became iconic from 1894.

Villa’s famed captain of 1892-1900 John Devey and his brother William (‘Will’) played in a few games together, and - in addition - were joined on the pitch by their uncle Harry Devey!

The greatest centre-half of his era, Jimmy Cowan, was joined by his brother John, a winger who was a member of the double-winning side in 1896-97.

Jack and Bertram Sharp, who each played only just over 20 games before both were sold to Everton in 1899, where Jack became a famous player for England at football and cricket.

One of Villa's regular goalkeepers in the late 1890s was Tommy Wilkes. He was soon followed by his midfielder brother Albert who became an England international. Before he retired from football, he became Aston Villa's official photographer and ran a successful business that was taken over by his son. Albert Wilkes also became a club director in 1935 but died not long after.

James Logan, from Scotland in the early 1900s, was joined by his striker brother Alec. They had another brother who played for Chelsea.

Frank and Chris Buckley were both centre-halves, but while Frank didn’t play in the Villa first team, Chris became a prominent member of the championship side of 1909-10. Chris became a director of the club in 1936 and then chairman (1955 until 1966). Frank went on to play for Birmingham and Derby and became ‘Major’ Frank Buckley, and famous as a football manager. He was manager of Wolves before WW2.

Harry Hampton had a brother George who played at full-back for Villa, but only for 3 games in 1914-15.

Villa's famous keeper Sam Hardy's much younger brother George played a handful of games at half-back for Villa in their first-ever season in Division 2.

In the early 1920s, Villa had the three brothers Clem, George and Jimmy Stephenson, all forwards. Clem was much the superior but the others were also useful players.

Frank and Amos Moss, sons of the famous Frank Moss of the 1920s. Frank junior was much the superior player of the two but Amos still played in over 100 games. They had a younger brother (Denis) who played in Villa’s junior sides and of whom it is said that he would have been even a better player but went into business instead. They were contemplating at one time whether Villa would have a half-back line of Moss, Moss and Moss!

At the end of World War Two, the brothers Eddie and Reg Lowe joined Villa. Reg did not play in the first team, but Eddie was a very promising half-back and played for England three times in 1947. They both left for Fulham in 1950, where Eddie was a star player for more than 10 years during a Fulham golden period. Brother Charles also played for Villa’s ‘A’ team as a teenager, and their father Ted played in the reserve side in the early 1920s.

The Rioch brothers Bruce and Neil were on the pitch at the same time in a few matches in the early 1970s.

Brian Little had a brother Alan, but he played only a handful of first-team games in 1974-75.

In the 2000s, there were the Moore brothers Stephan and Luke and more recent still the Gardner brothers, Craig and Gary.