Bred A Blue: Episode 31. Phil Jevons

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.