Tottenham on Thursday named identical twins, Michael and Matthew Craig in a men’s first team matchday squad.
The brothers were both named on a youthful substitutes’ bench for UEFA Europa Conference League play-off, first leg against Paços de Ferreira in Portugal.
The 2003-born twins have shone in the club’s Academy set-up over the last few years and signed their first professional contracts with the north London side towards the end of last season.
Both of them play as central midfielders, although Matthew can also play at centre-half.
Matthew joined the club at Under-12 level, while Michael, formerly Arsenal’s Under-12s, joined his brother at Tottenham in the Under-13s.
Matthew once told the club’s official matchday programme about what it’s like to be an identical twin: “I quite enjoy it,” he said. “I’m lucky because I get on with my brother really well so you always have someone to speak to if you need to and if you want to go out and do something you’ve always got someone to do it with. If he doesn’t want to do something I’ll pester him into it!”
Similarly, Michael explained in the program about how the pair like to link up on the pitch: “I think we’re lucky,” he said.
“Everyone has players who they have a natural chemistry with and when you spend a lot of your lives together, you just end up knowing what the other person wants from you on and off the pitch. That gives you a deeper understanding of how you can work with them to try to dominate games with the team.”