Robin van Persie says his decision to hand son Shaqueel a senior debut in Feyenoord’s Europa League defeat by Celtic was made “as a coach” and not out of sentiment.
The 19-year-old forward spent two seasons at Manchester City’s academy, before following in his father’s footsteps with a move to Feyenoord in 2017 and signing a first professional contract with the Dutch club in 2022.
Fast forward to 2025 and Shaqueel was named in Feyenoord’s first-team squad for the first time in Sunday’s Eredivisie defeat by NEC Nijmegen.
Four days later he made his senior debut, coming on in the 81st minute of Feyenoord’s Europa League loss to Celtic.
“I made that call as a coach, not as a dad because we needed a goal,” said former Arsenal and Manchester United forward Robin afterwards.
“Shaqueel is a player who can score a goal from all angles. That was the reason I brought him on.
“From a father’s point of view, when your son makes his debut that is always a special moment. But I wasn’t that busy with enjoying that moment, I was doing my work like Shaqueel was.”
The London-born teenager didn’t have chance to make an impact and had just one shot in Celtic’s box.
He came on with the score at 2-1, with Martin O’Neill’s side scoring their third a minute after his introduction.
“The way I see Shaqueel is as one of the players,” added Robin. “This is what we both agreed to a couple of years ago when we already worked together. Shaqueel was handling that really well, I am too in my opinion.
“Later on when we are home of course we will have a nice moment, when we are proud of each other. I am proud of Shaqueel because, like every player who makes his debut, there is a whole process going on before he made his debut. He worked hard, deserved it and, for him, is a special moment.”
Van Persie is not the first manager to give his son a debut as BBC Sport picks out some of the others, plus other father-son duos to have featured in the same team.
