The List examines five sets of brothers who have both worn the City shirt…
Kolo and Yaya Toure
The most successful set of brothers in City history, Yaya and Kolo Toure both won the Premier League title with the Blues in 2012, and picked up FA Cup winners medals in 2011. Defender Kolo arrived in Manchester in 2009, and was joined by his younger brother from Barcelona a year later.
Both have made their mark at the Etihad Stadium, with Kolo turning out over 100 times for the Blues before his summer move to Merseyside, and Yaya finding the net a total of 35 times in all competitions to date – including the winner over Stoke in the FA Cup Final at Wembley.
The pair have also made a combined 186 appearances for the Ivory Coast, and have a third brother, Ibrahim, who plies his trade for Libyan Premier League side Al-Nasr.
Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips
The sons of prolific Arsenal striker, Ian Wright, Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips are both City Academy graduates whose footballing pedigree was evident from a young age.
The elder of the two, Shaun rapidly became a hero at Maine Road and scooped the club’s Young Player of the Year Award four times in succession between 2000 and 2003. His performances in sky blue led to an England debut in 2004, and a year later Chelsea swooped for the young winger.
Returning to the fans’ delight in 2008, Shaun scored twice on his second debut at Sunderland.
Striker Bradley didn’t enjoy the same easy transition to the first team after being top scorer in the reserves, and was sold to Southampton after making 32 league appearances.
While Shaun is now at Queens Park Rangers, his brother is enjoying life in New York with the Red Bulls alongside Thierry Henry, no less.
Ian and David Brightwell
The Brightwell brothers both began their careers at City, with Ian part of the side that scooped the FA Youth Cup in 1986.
Three years older than his brother, Ian racked up 382 appearances in 12 seasons for the Blues in which he experienced promotion and relegation with the club.
David played just 49 times in a City shirt and had a number of loan spells with Chester, Lincoln, Stoke and Bradford in a total of seven years on the club’s books, but enjoyed a steady playing career in which he made a total of 303 appearances for ten different clubs.
Jim and Jeff Whitley
Jim and Jeff Whitley both appeared for City in the 1990s, with younger brother Jeff beginning his career with the Blues at the age of ten.
He went on to make 116 league appearances for City, scoring six goals from midfield before leaving for Sunderland in 2003. Playing across three divisions for the Blues, Jeff enjoyed a season in the Premier League and played at Wembley in the famous play-off final between City and Gillingham that earned promotion from Division Two in such dramatic style in 1999.
Jim had a promising start to his career when he was voted City’s Young Player of the Year in 1998 after only making his first team debut in January of that year. After 38 league appearances, the midfielder left for Wrexham in 2001.
Paul and Ron Futcher
Twin brothers Paul and Ron Futcher arrived at City in the summer of 1978 and stayed for a single season, having both begun their careers at Chester and moved on as a pair to Luton Town.
Paul became City’s record signing and the country’s most expensive defender when he moved north for £350,000 in June, and he was joined at Maine Road by his brother the following August.
Making a combined total of 54 league appearances under manager Tony Book, Ron managed seven goals for the Blues from his position as a striker, while Paul eventually lost his place in defence to Tommy Booth.
Ron enjoyed success on the other side of the Atlantic after he began playing in the USA during the English summer break, and was a Soccer Bowl Champion in 1983 with the Tulsa Roughnecks.
