Even the most knowledgeable football fan, or the most skilled Career We Go player, will find that there are some footballers that they just can’t tell apart. Due to similarities in appearance, playing style, or career path, and often a combination of the three, some players just lend themselves to being confused with each other.
Below are, to my mind, some of the most difficult to differentiate groups of players. Not included are the obvious ones – the two 1970s goalkeepers called Phil Parkes, for example, or the two Gary Stevenses that England took to the 1986 World Cup. Identical twins like the De Boers are also out, and we’ve all heard the Bobby Robson stories.
Dean Henderson, Sam Johnstone and Aaron Ramsdale
Yes, they’re all pretty high-profile, being current England players, but it’s hard not go get confused by the three goalkeepers’ similarities, as well as their tendency to trade clubs like Italian coaches. You may be familiar with one or all of them, but could you honestly say which of the three didn’t begin with Man U? Which one never played for Crystal Palace? Or Sheffield United? Which two were backup to Jordan Pickford in any given recent tournament? Trick question in the case of Euro 2020, as it was all three: Ramsdale replaced Henderson after England’s first match.
Luke Daniels and Luke Steele
They won’t all be former Man United reserve keepers I promise – truthfully, you probably get an article out of them, but I’ll leave it with these two. As well as the obvious name similarity, both played for West Brom, and a similar range of EFL clubs. Steele is the more accomplished of the two, having been signed by United as a promising keeper from Peterborough, and having a couple of years with Panathinaikos. Although he didn’t play for Man United, Jason Steele completes the venn diagram.
Ian Feuer and Jürgen Sommer
One for the 90s heads this, from the peak of American goalkeepers in the football league. Feuer and Sommer were two examples of this, both very tall, both with German surnames that translate to something associated with heat (fire, and summer). The two even had spells in Luton that overlapped in 1995.
Diego Cavalieri and Doni
Two Brazilian keepers who played for Liverpool, one was a Benitez signing, and one wasn’t, but I could not tell you which was which without looking. Both were decent goalkeepers who won caps for Brazil, but made a combined four league appearances for the Anfield club. With both, I couldn’t help but wonder – why did Liverpool need such high-profile keepers who weren’t going to dislodge Pepe Reina? And more to the point, what did they get out of sitting on Liverpool’s bench for a few years? Doni, like a future Brazilian Liverpool keeper, had come from nearly 200 appearances for Roma, and his career stands in contrast to another Brazilian keeper that followed seven years later.
Steven Carr and Stephen Kelly
A pretty straightforward one here. Admittedly Carr is more prominent, but the similarities are striking: two Dublin-born right-backs who began at Tottenham, and went on to play for Birmingham. In a neat symmetry, Kelly emerged at Spurs when Carr left, only to be replaced by Carr at St Andrews in 2009.
Jack Collison and James Tomkins
West Ham are of course ripe for this sort of thing, but it’s these two that stand out – or don’t – as solid, unspectacular centre-backs who came through the academy. Collisons’ Wales caps mean you could also add James Collins to the mix, another central defender, but he feels a different type of player to the other two. like Having said that, I did assume Collison’s name was Collinson.
Michael Brown and Sean Davis
Although their careers started differently, this is one of the more common mixups. Both are solid, unspectacular midfielders of a similar age, whose connection was secured when they both got caught up in the Harry Redknapp Portsmouth/Tottenham vortex. Brown is probably remembered as a more combative player, notable for his role in the Battle of Brammall Lane, and his spell at that club leads to occasional confusion with Michael Tonge.
Paul Bernard and Paul Kane
Another throwback to the 90s, but look at the partial careers of these two Scottish midfielders. Bernard: Oldham (1991-95), Aberdeen (1995-01), Barnsley (2001-02), St. Johnstone (2003-05). Kane: Oldham (1990-91), Aberdeen (1995-96), Barnsley (1995-96, loan), St. Johnstone (1997-02). In leaving Aberdeen for Norwegian club Viking, Kane became the first British player to move on a Bosman, so there’s that.
David Albelda and Ruben Baraja
Two steady midfielders from the great Valencia team of the turn of the century, both of whom stayed for more than a decade at Mestalla. Both have a similar number of caps, and neither played abroad or for Spain’s big two. In fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they didn’t play for anyone else, but they had spells at Villarreal (Albelda, on loan), and Atletico Madrid and Valladolid (Baraja).
James McArthur and James McCarthy
Almost too obvious to include, but the list would feel incomplete without the former Hamilton, Wigan and Crystal Palace midfield duo. They did at least have the decency to play for different nationalities.
Lloyd Dyer and Nathan Dyer
Another obvious one, but as well as their positional similarity, it’s their contrasting spells at Leicester that seal it. While Lloyd served the club for six years in the Football League, he was sold after their promotion in 2014, only for Nathan to turn up 18 months later, for a six month loan in which he won the Premier League.
Harry Wilson and Ben Woodburn
As a Liverpool fan, I should not be getting these two confused. Both Welsh midfielders, both emerged at Anfield in the Rodgers-Klopp transitional years, but despite Woodburn making 11 appearances to Wilson’s two, it’s the latter who has established himself as a Premier League player. Shamefully, I assumed they were still at broadly the same level – and frankly wouldn’t have been surprised if one or more were still technically Liverpool players.
Peter Hoekstra and Pieter Huistra
Huistra was a blonde, Dutch international left winger who played for Rangers during their glory days under Walter Smith. In 1995 he left for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, so imagine the 14 year old me’s confusion when the Dutch Euro 96 squad featured a blonde left winger called Peter Hoekstra. Was this an alternative spelling? Well, no, but it seemed like a baton had been passed between two very similar players. Huistra had more caps than Hoesktra but didn’t play in a tournament, but the latter was the only one to play for any of the Dutch Big Three. Both players’ careers ended before the age of 35, Hoekstra’s at Stoke, who he joined when they were in the third tier.
Gerard Deloufeu and Oriol Romeu
You’ve got to have a system. Another two extremely similar careers, beginning at Barcelona, inexplicably returning, and otherwise having various loan and permanent spells in England, Spain and beyond. I’d been under the misapprehension that both are attacking midfielders, but apparently Romeu is more defensive and Delofeu plays up front. Who knew? A lot of people probably. I have also clearly imagined Romeu’s spell at Everton
Oliver Burke and Oli McBurnie
There’s a spectrum of the pairings on this list – from similar careers that I probably could, if pushed, tell apart, via players who I regularly get confused, to those I genuinely didn’t realise were two different players. These two are very much at the latter end. Same nationality, very similar names, similar positions. On top of that, oth have been abroad, and neither have anywhere near the number of Scotland caps you might expect. I definitely thought “oh, he’s back from the Bundesliga then” when McBurnie scored in last May’s playoff final.
Artiz Aduriz and Ismael Urzaiz
I’m not sure why La Liga has come up in this list so much – it probably reflects my knowledge of the league – a degree of familiarity, but just enough to reveal the ignorance even more. This pair feels like another baton being passed, with the two players – born ten years apart – playing together for Athletic Club in the 2000s. Both feel like one club men, having each had long spells at Athletic, but both are far from it. Both players played for the club way into their 30s, and both were Spanish internationals, but never quite regulars at international level. Oddly, Urzaiz – a Real Madrid youth product – ended his career with a brief spell at Ajax.
Kieffer Moore and Kemar Roofe
Possibly the best way to discover which players people get confused is through football trivia. I’d guess that most of the players in this article have, for some question, been confidently guessed when the other is the answer. So it is for me and these two. The other day, someone on our Whatsapp group asked “can we name all 14 clubs Kieffer Moore has played for?” (yeah, it gets pretty wild in there). I confidently stepped in with Rangers, remembering the journeyman striker’s exploits in the UEFA Cup. Or not remembering it, you could argue. Their careers do differ in some ways – Roofe didn’t start in non-league like Moore did – but look, their names are almost anagrams, both have been at a few clubs in their time, and get this – Roofe had a loan spell at Vikingur, of Iceland, and Moore had a brief spell at Norwegian club Viking.
Others
This is my point of view, but surely just a selection. If there are any players you get confused, comment below.
When I was young, for some reason I thought Steve Sherwood and Steve Sutton were the same goalkeeper.