Premier League veteran to play towards his personal son in FA Cup conflict – in state of affairs not seen in 44 years

Ashley Young has admitted that it would be ‘a dream come true’ to play against his son in the FA Cup. 

Young, 39, has enjoyed a distinguished career that has seen the veteran make 724 appearances for the likes of Watford, Aston Villa, Man United, Inter Milan and Everton.

The defender, who still regularly features for the Toffees, won the FA Cup with United back in 2015-16 and has played 31 times in the competition.

And on Monday night, Young saw Everton drawn against Peterborough in the third round in what could prove to be a dream encounter for the 39-year-old.

Young’s son Tyler, who is 18, plays for Peterborough and made his debut back in October for Darren Ferguson’s side after joining the club in the summer.

Now, Young has taken to X to describe his joy at potentially playing against son Tyler in the next round.

Ashley Young could face the bizarre quirk of playing his son Tyler in the FA Cup third round

Tyler Young, 18, plays for Peterborough and the League One side were drawn away at Everton

The Youngs could have a dream encounter if both of them are picked to play in the tie

He posted on X shortly after the draw concluded: ‘WOW………. Dreams Might Come True #FaCup #GoosebumpsMoment #YoungVsYoung’.

Meanwhile, Tyler shared a graphic of the fixture announcement on his Instagram account and tagged his dad, before adding two eyes emojis.

He previously discussed the prospect of taking on his son when speaking to talkSPORT in October.

He said: ‘I’m hoping and praying that it could be in the next couple of years. To play alongside him or play against him would be unbelievable. 

‘Obviously to play alongside my son would be a dream come true. You see LeBron [James, with his son Bronny] in basketball.

‘I’ve done my homework, it hasn’t been done since 1980 I think, which is obviously a long time ago.’

If Tyler and Ashley both featured in the game, it would be a fascinating moment, although they would not be the first father-and-son pair to play in the same match.

Back in 1951, Stockport County’s Alex and David Herd were on the same team in a clash against Hartlepool, while former Chelsea star Eidur Gudjohnsen replaced his father Arnor as a substitute in 1996 when he made his debut for Iceland. 

Young made mention of the fact LeBron James (left) and his son Bronny (middle) play together

Young won the FA Cup with Man United in 2016 and has played 31 times in the competition

Tyler joined Peterborough in the summer after a brief trial at the club, following his release from Arsenal’s academy, where he had spent much of his youth career.

He made his debut in an EFL Trophy tie against Stevenage, coming on as a substitute for the final 27 minutes of the game. 

Speaking after the match, he had said: ‘It was quite bad weather today, but I feel like I was just ready to go when the gaffer said just get ready. Even with the delay, I was still ready to go. So, I just dealt with it all.

‘But, it was a great experience. I didn’t expect to get that long. I was thinking I would maybe get 10-15 minutes on the pitch but when I came on it felt very normal.