Everton’s academy enjoyed an entertaining season in which several young stars highlighted serious potential for the future.
The Under-21s finished eighth in the 14-team Premier League 2 and it was in the cup competitions that Paul Tait’s players excelled. The youngsters defeated Paris St Germain on the way to the quarter finals of the Premier League International Cup and reached the last 16 of the Papa John’s Trophy, many of the players showing they were capable of competing with senior Football League sides.
The second half of the season was more experimental after several of the more experienced players moved on elsewhere, Tom Cannon securing a valuable loan spell in the Championship and Joe Anderson and Seb Quirk, who each featured on the first team’s Australia trip in November, moving permanently to Sunderland and Accrington Stanley respectively. Those deals did offer opportunities for some of Leighton Baines’ Under-18s to step up and impress, however.
