John Ebbrell has taken up a newly-created position within Everton’s reshaped Academy structure and will become Player Development Senior Coach. Ebbrell assumes the role having been a valued part of the Academy coaching set-up since 2015 and having served as Under-23s assistant manager for the past six years. Since November 2020, Ebbrell has held the dual role of Under-23s assistant manager and Head of Academy Coaching.
The new position, established by Director of Football Kevin Thelwell as part of the club's strategic review, will see Ebbrell focus on the implementation of a structure and activities for players in the Professional Development phase (Under-17 to Under-23), offering an increased focus on the individual development of players, as well as supporting staff who lead teams. Ebbrell will work closely alongside new Academy Director Gareth Prosser, with the aim of preparing players for the step up from Academy to Under-21 football and their onward journey towards the First Team environment.
Ebbrell said: “We’ve seen several Academy players get a taste of what first team football is all about in recent seasons and it’s always fantastic to see someone like Anthony Gordon really grasp that opportunity and become a regular fixture in the senior side. Our aim as a club and an Academy has always got to be to try to push more players through and prepare them as best we can for that step up to the First Team set-up.
“This new role will allow me to focus on ensuring and maintaining an environment and practices that give us the greatest chance to succeed in that, and I’m really excited to work with Kevin and Gareth, as well as Paul (Tait), Leighton (Baines) and the other coaches, and get started.”
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Having made 265 appearances for Everton as a player, Ebbrell boasts a wealth of coaching knowledge and experience, both with the Blues and prior to his return to the club, having been Centre of Excellence manager at Tranmere Rovers from 2010 until 2015. His standing has also seen Ebbrell support both David Unsworth and Duncan Ferguson during caretaker spells in charge of the Everton first team.
On rejoining Everton in 2015, he became an Academy coach, before being named Under-18s manager the following year and later stepping up to support Unsworth as part of the Under-23s set up. In his role as Under-23s assistant, Ebbrell helped the young Blues become the inaugural Premier League 2 champions in 2016/17 and retain the title two seasons later as part of a league and cup double.
Everton will now look to recruit a new Head of Academy Coaching, with the positions of Player Development Lead Coach, Loan Pathways Manager and Head of Performance Analysis and Insights also to be appointed. This follows confirmation of Prosser’s arrival in June, while Paul Tait and Leighton Baines were recently named as the head coaches of Everton's Under-21 and Under-18s teams respectively.
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