family tree: `1 followed Everton because I was sorry for me mam'

When Peter and Shaun Reid were growing up in Liverpool, it was in a divided household - part red, part blue.

The Sunderland manager and his kid brother - Chester City's Shaun is 10 years younger - had loyalties on opposite sides of Stanley Park. Peter, who was to enjoy his best playing years in an Everton shirt, was a die- hard red.

"Peter used to go off to Anfield with my dad and uncle," Shaun recalls. "In fact everyone in the family was a Liverpool fan except mam. I started to follow Everton because I was sorry for her being the odd one out."

Shaun's own career has followed a more modest path than his England international brother. Passed over at both Goodison and Anfield, he plied his trade with Rochdale (twice), York and Bury before joining Chester last Christmas.

Like his brother, a tigerish midfield player, the 30-year-old Shaun helped turn Chester from relegation candidates to promotion challengers last season - they made the Third Division play-offs. Unfortunately, he will not join this season's campaign until next Christmas at the earliest because of a knee ligament injury.