In a friendly in Switzerland on Thursday, 16-year-old Liam Chipperfield – son of Scott – made his first-team debut for FC Basel in a 4-0 win over FC Schaffhausen.

And not only that, he managed to find the back of the net, opening the scoring for the club that his father won seven league championships with.

Elsewhere, Ange Postecoglou stopped the rot after a run of three successive J1 League defeats for reigning champions Yokohama F Marinos, overseeing an emphatic 6-2 victory over Urawa Red Diamonds, who had Thomas Deng on the bench.

Many other major leagues weren’t playing due to the international break, although most fixtures in England’s second and third tiers went ahead.

They included a face-off between Callum Elder and Ryan Edwards, plus a second headed goal within a matter of days for Shrewsbury Town’s on-loan Newcastle Jets midfielder Matthew Millar.

It runs in the family

68-cap Socceroo Scott Chipperfield enjoyed a distinguished career with FC Basel, featuring at the very highest level in the UEFA Champions League and winning seven league titles as well as six Swiss cups during an 11-year spell with the club.

And now his teenage son Liam could be set to pick up where his dad left off after graduating to the first team for a friendly victory at the end of last week.

The young midfielder has played a handful of games for FC Basel’s youth sides but was given a run-out with the seniors on Thursday against second-tier FC Schaffhausen.

It took him just 32 minutes to make an impact, opening the scoring for the Swiss giants before later helping himself to an assist in a 4-0 rout.

Of course, it’s not all good news for Socceroo fans. Yes, he’s the son of an Aussie legend, but he was born in Switzerland and has already represented the Swiss at various youth levels.

So while he may be set to follow in his father’s footsteps domestically, don’t hedge your bets on him doing so at international level for the Socceroos.

Postecoglou has six appeal

This time last year, Ange Postecoglou was on the verge of becoming the first Australian to win the Japanese league championship, guiding Yokohama F Marinos to their first title in 15 years.

This time around, it hasn’t quite gone to plan.

Marinos headed into the weekend’s fixtures in seventh place and on a three-game losing run for the second time this season.

Ange Postecoglou
Ange Postecoglou's Yokohama F Marinos side hasn't been able to replicate last year's success this time around

But Postecoglou’s men turned their fortunes around with a 6-2 win over Urawa Red Diamonds, as top-scoring Brazilian forward Junior Santos bagging a hat-trick.

After taking a three-goal lead inside 14 minutes, the hosts never looked back - although the Reds were given a glimmer of hope through a freak own goal on 31 minutes, when the goalkeeper’s clearance cannoned off a defender and rolled into the net from 35 yards.

But Marinos didn’t let up and extended their lead to 5-1 before a goal each in the game’s final moments sealed the club’s biggest win of the season.

The romp, however, doesn’t mask what has been a disappointing campaign. Postecoglou’s men 22 points behind leaders Kawasaki Frontale and have played five more games than the current leaders.

Elder aids promotion push

There was an Australian flavour to the English League One clash between Hull City and Burton Albion, with Callum Elder lining up for Hull and Ryan Edwards for Burton.

The Tigers went into the game just a point off an automatic promotion place, with a game in hand, while the Brewers had picked up just four points in their last nine league games.

Burton’s cause wasn’t helped by the loss of 12 players to Covid-19, and things only got worse when Sam Hughes was sent off for a second booking after just 18 minutes.

Hull would eventually make the breakthrough just after the hour mark, before that lead was doubled two minutes from time with left-back Elder claiming the assist, teeing up Hakeeb Adelakun to convert from 20 yards.

The result sees Hull jump into second place – a point behind leaders Peterborough and still with a game in hand – but Burton is in real trouble, second bottom and three points from safety having played a game more than their rivals.

Millar on the mark again

After opening his account for Shrewsbury Town with a goal against Crewe Alexandre in the EFL Trophy in midweek, Matthew Millar doubled his tally with his second in two games at the weekend.

There was a sense of déjà vu as the midfielder, on-loan from Newcastle Jets, tucked home a header at the near post on 16 minutes – in midweek he had scored the same way on 17 minutes.

The goal doubled Shrewsbury’s lead before the hosts were pegged back to 2-1 in the second half.

Veteran Dave Edwards then restored the two-goal cushion for the Shrews, at which point Millar was substituted. But a second-half fightback ended with Swindon scoring twice more, including a 93rd-minute equaliser to earn a share of the spoils at Montgomery Waters Meadow.

A win would have been a big one for Shrewsbury, third from bottom in League One – two points behind opponents Swindon, just outside of the relegation zone with 10 points from their 10 games.

Next up for Millar and his teammates is a trip to third place Ipswich Town at the weekend.

Rounding up the rest

- For just the second time in the league this season Bailey Wright was on the losing side, as Sunderland remain sixth in League One following a 2-1 defeat at home to MK Dons.

- Scottish-born former Olyroo Cameron Burgess hit the crossbar for Accrington Stanley in their 1-0 win at Northampton. That’s the club’s third win by a goal to nil in their last four League One outings.

- Fellow Scottish convert Jack Iredale came on as a 73rd-minute substitute for Cambridge United in their 1-1 draw with Barrow in League Two.

- Oldham Athletic’s three-game winning run in all competitions was halted as Harry Kewell’s men lost 2-0 at home to bottom-club Scunthorpe United, which had lost their last five games in League Two. Forward George Blackwood also played 62 minutes for the hosts.

- Martin Boyle starred for Hibernian in the Scottish League Cup, claiming two assists and a booking in a 4-1 win over second-tier Dundee on Sunday.

- And Brisbane-born Willam Baynham played 63 minutes for Queen’s Park, as the League Two side narrowly lost 1-0 to Premiership side St Mirren in the Scottish League Cup.

- CSKA Sofia won 5-0 against third division Botev Ihtiman in the Bulgarian Cup, with Tomi Juric playing 62 minutes for the victors before being withdrawn.

- Declan Lambert played the first half of Den Bosch’s 3-0 loss at Go Ahead Eagles in the Dutch Eerste Divisie, while brother Ryan was an unused substitute. All three goals were conceded by half time.

- Defender Gabriel Cleur played the final 18 minutes of Virtus Entella’s 2-0 loss at home to Venezie in Italy’s Serie B. Virtus Entella slip into the bottom three as a result.

- In Serie C, Nicholas Pennington played a full game for Olbia in a 2-1 win over Pistoiese, while Alberto Del Grosso was an unused substitute for Lecco in a 2-1 win over Grosseto.

- There was late drama in the Turkish third tier, with Emre Balci featuring for an Iskenderun side which went ahead after 85 minutes, only to be pegged back by Karaman Belediyespor three minutes later. Iskenderun remain top after nine games.

- Ante Bakmaz played a full game for Comuna Recea in Romania’s Liga II as his side won 2-0 against Unirea Slobozia.

- Nagoya Grampus leapfrog FC Tokyo into the J1 League’s top three after Mitchell Langerak kept a league-high 12th clean sheet of the season in a 1-0 win.

- Elsewhere, Jason Geria played a full game in defence for JEF United in a 2-0 win at Albirex Niigata in the J2 League. And Pierce Waring was an unused substitute for Cerezo Osaka under-23s in a goalless draw at Sagimihara in the J3 League.

- Spanish-born playmaker Isaías registered an assist for Al Wakrah in the Qatar Star League Cup. His side beat Al Kharitiyath 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in normal time.

- And in Norway's second tier, Luc Jeggo was a second-half substitute for Bryne, playing the last 12 minutes of a 3-3 draw with Arendal.