Duncan Ferguson has left his role as Everton's first-team assistant manager.
The club confirmed the departure of the Blues legend, reporting his decision was in order to pursue his managerial ambitions. Frank Lampard is thought to have been keen to retain the services of the former captain.
Ferguson is the latest big name to exit Finch Farm this year, with former player David Unsworth leaving his academy role in April. Unsworth also left in order to follow management dreams.
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Announcing his decision, Ferguson told Evertontv: “It’s been a massive decision for me. An incredibly difficult one but I need to move on, to take that next step in my career and look for that new challenge. Being a caretaker manager has given me confidence to step into management.
"The club has been fantastic with me. They’ve supported me all the way through my journey.
“You’ve got the chairman who has supported me as a player and as a coach. He’s been amazing with me, so I would like to thank him. And then there’s people like our CEO Denise [Barrett-Baxendale] who has been fantastic. It really is a caring club with some proper people in it. They’re massive Evertonians.
“And, of course, there’s the fans. They’ve been incredible to me since I came in ’94. We’ve got a strong bond. The relationship we’ve had over the years has been special. They know how much they mean to me. I’ll always love them.”
Ferguson signed for Everton from Rangers in 1994 and scored his first goal in a Merseyside derby victory at Goodison Park. He scored 73 goals in 273 Everton appearances that spanned 10 years, winning the FA Cup in 1995.
After his playing career ended he then returned to the Blues to coach in the academy and in 2014, after working as Under-18s assistant manager and gaining his UEFA Pro coaching licence, was promoted to a position with the first team.
He had two spells as caretaker manager. The first of those in December 2019 saw Ferguson oversee a victory over Chelsea at Goodison and go unbeaten in further matches against Manchester United and Arsenal.
Lampard described Ferguson as “an Everton legend, who… the players respect, the club respects and the fans respect”.
Ferguson added: “It was difficult last season but this club is definitely heading in the right direction. It’s a fantastic club.
“The team is in good hands with Frank as manager. He’s been first class and he wanted me to stay on.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Frank. He’s a great man and a great young manager, I’m sure he’ll do very well for Everton. There’s also the new stadium on the horizon which is going to be unbelievable for the club.
“I’ll be there as a supporter. My kids have got season tickets and I’ll be looking forward to coming back.”
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