WHEN the latest product of Everton's fruitful youth academy made his record-breaking debut in December 2007, supporters could have been forgiven for feeling cautious.
Francis Jeffers, Michael Ball, Tony Grant, Michael Branch, Jon O’Connor, Jamie Milligan and Danny Cadamarteri had all broken into the Goodison Park outfit’s first team during the 1990s, having graduated through the club’s ranks.
Yet despite all showing glowing potential after nailing down a place in the squad, none of them forged a lengthy career in L4.
While Jeffers’ star as a Premiership striker faded almost as quickly as it had risen, the likes of Grant, Cadamarteri, Milligan and Branch all went on to carve out a career in English football’s lower leagues.
Michael Ball undoubtedly had the greatest success, going on to play for Glasgow Rangers, PSV Eindhoven and now Manchester City.
Of course, had he opted to say, Wayne Rooney would still have been kissing the badge of St Rupert’s Tower rather than that of a fork-wielding Red Devil.
But that’s for another time.
When the Everton faithful get wind of a promising prospect these days, it’s usually with good reason.
Since taking over as manager in March 2002, it has been strongly evident that David Moyes is a man who opines that youth is every bit as important to a club’s progress as experience.
And Moyes has shown that if you nurture that talent, the rewards can be immense.
Having been born in Southport in 1991, Jack Rodwell’s formative years were spent at Farnborough Road Junior School and Birkdale United, before moving on to Birkdale High School.
From an early age, Jack showed a deep love for football, preferring to follow players regardless of who they played for.
Birkdale United manager Ste Cattlin remembers Jack as a player who stood out.
He said: “Jack was a very level headed boy, very good on the ball and was very aware of what was going on around him.
“He was very confident and was quite tall for his age. In fact, he was quite stocky as a young lad.
“When he was really young he was released by Liverpool. They wanted him back but Jack’s parents said ‘no’ as they’d already had their chance.
“At Birkdale, Jack always played at centre-half because he read the game so well.
“Even then he had such a good knowledge of the game and was very keen to listen.”
