Tottenham On This Day: Three Brothers Play In The Same Spurs Team
By Logan Holmes
Brothers, Bobby and Danny Steel [Photo: Logan Holmes]Tottenham On This Day
The Steel brothers, Bobby, Danny and Alex, played in the same Tottenham team against Bradford City in the Football League on this day in 1910.
29th January, 1910
The Steel Brothers, Bobby, Danny and Alex
Tottenham Hotspur 0 Bradford City 0 (1st Division)
A scoreless draw in Spurs’ second season in the Football League and their first in the First Division would appear to have little significance in the history of Spurs but its position of eminence is due to the make up of the team on that particular Saturday.
For the only time in Tottenham history, three brothers appeared in the same team. Bobby Steel and Danny Steel had been almost ever present in the Spurs team during the first two seasons in the League and for this game their brother, Alex, made his one and only League appearance at right half. Danny played at centre half while Bobby played at inside forward.
Appearances:
Robert (Bobby) Steel: (1908-15) League: 227 appearances 41 goals FA Cup: 19 appearances 5 goals
Bobby Steel was the youngest of the three brothers who came from Ayrshire in Scotland and he joined Tottenham in May, 1908. He made his debut in Spurs’ first game in the Football League against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 1st September, 1908. An outstanding forward he was one of the stars of Spurs’ early years in the Football League. Bobby captained Tottenham as did his brother, Danny.
Danny Steel: (1906-12) League: 128 app. 3 goals FA Cup: 12 app.
Danny Steel was the oldest of the Steel brothers and he joined Tottenham from Glasgow Rangers in 1906 where he had mostly played in the reserves. A centre half, he was mostly in the reserves in his early days at White Hart Lane but became a regular in Tottenham’s Southern League side in 1907. He made his Football League debut in the club’s first League match in 1908. An ever-present in that promotion winning season he maintained his place until the summer of 1912 when he returned to Scotland to play for Third Lanark.
Alex Steel: (1906-11) League: 1 app.
Alex Steel joined Tottenham from Manchester City in February, 1906 but didn’t make any senior appearances until his debut against Bradford City. He remained with Spurs until being released in the summer of 1911 when he joined Kilmarnock.
Polston Brothers
John Polston and his brother Andy became the first brothers to play together in the Tottenham first team since 1912 when they both appeared in a game against Crystal Palace at White Hart Lane on 3rd March 1990. John was a centre half who made 27 League and Cup appearances and scored 1 goal but Andy, a full-back, made only that single appearance as a substitute. Spurs lost 1 – 0 to Palace.
John joined Norwich on leaving Spurs where he was a regular in their League team. Andy played for Gillingham, Cambridge and Brighton after leaving Spurs.