The latest guest in our ‘Bred a Blue’ series has had quite an eventful football journey since making his one and only first team appearance for Everton.
Chris Long netted a friendly goal against Paderborn as a teenager and played at Goodison in the Europa League before accepting that the level of competition for striking places was just too much...although in hindsight he wishes he'd signed the three-year deal that Roberto Martinez offered him.
“I was fuming when we signed Samuel Eto’o,” he grins, looking back at his struggle to break through. “We had Jelavic, and Lukaku was on fire. Arouna Kone was there too, but I knew I was better than him!”
Chris Long can also name Harry Kane and Eric Dier as teammates, and he admits that he never saw an England record breaker when he first partnered the current Three Lions captain in an international youth team. And he credits a current Everton Academy staff member with helping Dier become an international Premier League footballer.
After leaving Everton, Long played for Sean Dyche, worked with David Weir, got knocked out on his debut for Motherwell and quickly learned that being a professional footballer isn’t always the glamorous existence it seems.
“Everyone thinks it’s sunshine and rainbows but it’s actually not. I’ve had more lows than highs and I wish I’d had more highs than lows but it’s the best job in the world and I love it. I thought I’d be Everton’s number nine for years and be the main man but football isn’t like that. And life isn’t like that. But at least I can tell my son I played for Everton.”
Chris Long’s career has been something of a rollercoaster but he’s back enjoying his football and is looking forward to the start of a new season…on the other side of the world!
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The latest guest in our ‘Bred a Blue’ series has had quite an eventful football journey since making his one and only first team appearance for Everton.
Chris Long netted a friendly goal against Paderborn as a teenager and played at Goodison in the Europa League before accepting that the level of competition for striking places was just too much...although in hindsight he wishes he'd signed the three-year deal that Roberto Martinez offered him.
“I was fuming when we signed Samuel Eto’o,” he grins, looking back at his struggle to break through. “We had Jelavic, and Lukaku was on fire. Arouna Kone was there too, but I knew I was better than him!”
Chris Long can also name Harry Kane and Eric Dier as teammates, and he admits that he never saw an England record breaker when he first partnered the current Three Lions captain in an international youth team. And he credits a current Everton Academy staff member with helping Dier become an international Premier League footballer.
After leaving Everton, Long played for Sean Dyche, worked with David Weir, got knocked out on his debut for Motherwell and quickly learned that being a professional footballer isn’t always the glamorous existence it seems.
“Everyone thinks it’s sunshine and rainbows but it’s actually not. I’ve had more lows than highs and I wish I’d had more highs than lows but it’s the best job in the world and I love it. I thought I’d be Everton’s number nine for years and be the main man but football isn’t like that. And life isn’t like that. But at least I can tell my son I played for Everton.”
Chris Long’s career has been something of a rollercoaster but he’s back enjoying his football and is looking forward to the start of a new season…on the other side of the world!
The latest guest on our Bred a Blue podcast series is former striker Phil Jevons.
Jevons joined the Everton Academy as a schoolboy and went on to make nine senior appearances under Walter Smith.
He recalls his early days at Netherton and Bellefield when the ‘friendly and challenging environment’ helped him develop, playing alongside the likes of Leon Osman, Franny Jeffers, Danny Cadamarteri, Michael Ball, Richard Dunne and Jamie Milligan.
Jevons also played against international footballers when he reached the reserve team: “We played Manchester United at Old Trafford and they had Scholes, Jordi Cruyff and Solskjaer.”
The Liverpool-born centre-forward helped Everton to win the FA Youth Cup in 1998 and the FA Premier Reserve League in 2001 – and in between he made his senior debut away at Blackburn Rovers.
"I’d been top scorer for the reserves for three years on the run, so I felt like I was ready,” Jevons said. He went on to have a hand in the Everton goal in a 2-1 defeat: “I played an early ball to Don Hutchison and he found Bakayoko who scored.”
The turn of the century was a challenging time to be a young striker at Everton because the competition was intense. Jevons was battling with Duncan Ferguson, Franny Jeffers, Kevin Campbell, Nick Barmby, Ibrahim Bakayoko and Danny Cadamarteri for a starting role.
It was the subsequent arrivals of Joe-Max Moore and Mark Hughes that convinced Jevons that his future lay beyond Goodison Park
“Joe-Max Moore was a good player and a great lad but I didn’t think he was any better than I was,” he says. “But my squad number went up from 20 to 26 so I had an inkling!”
Jevons left Everton with no regrets and during the podcast conversation he reveals the player who had the biggest influence on him during his time with the senior squad.
“He was fantastic with me. He was the ultimate professional, fit as a fiddle. He told me how to live my life, how to eat and how to train.”
He left Everton in 2001 and joined Grimsby Town, for whom he scored a never-to-be-forgotten League Cup winner at Anfield against Liverpool!
“I still get Evertonians coming up to me to talk about that goal!”
Jevons went on to have personal and team success with Yeovil Town and Bristol City before winding down his playing career and moving into coaching – starting off at the Everton Academy where he was involved in the development of Kieran Dowell, Nathan Broadhead, Liam Walsh, Tom Davies and Calum Connolly.
Jevons left Finch Farm to join Sunderland and he speaks honestly and with clarity about the ruthlessness of senior coaching environments.
It’s another fascinating football story that has its roots at the Everton Academy.
The Official Everton Podcast
The latest guest in our ‘Bred a Blue’ series has had quite an eventful football journey since making his one and only first team appearance for Everton.
Chris Long netted a friendly goal against Paderborn as a teenager and played at Goodison in the Europa League before accepting that the level of competition for striking places was just too much...although in hindsight he wishes he'd signed the three-year deal that Roberto Martinez offered him.
“I was fuming when we signed Samuel Eto’o,” he grins, looking back at his struggle to break through. “We had Jelavic, and Lukaku was on fire. Arouna Kone was there too, but I knew I was better than him!”
Chris Long can also name Harry Kane and Eric Dier as teammates, and he admits that he never saw an England record breaker when he first partnered the current Three Lions captain in an international youth team. And he credits a current Everton Academy staff member with helping Dier become an international Premier League footballer.
After leaving Everton, Long played for Sean Dyche, worked with David Weir, got knocked out on his debut for Motherwell and quickly learned that being a professional footballer isn’t always the glamorous existence it seems.
“Everyone thinks it’s sunshine and rainbows but it’s actually not. I’ve had more lows than highs and I wish I’d had more highs than lows but it’s the best job in the world and I love it. I thought I’d be Everton’s number nine for years and be the main man but football isn’t like that. And life isn’t like that. But at least I can tell my son I played for Everton.”
Chris Long’s career has been something of a rollercoaster but he’s back enjoying his football and is looking forward to the start of a new season…on the other side of the world!
