Carry on Seargeant by Steve Zocek
This latest article is quite an intriguing one, featuring Steve Seargeant and his son Christian who both played for Everton. Steve made 80 first team appearances for the Royal Blues with one goal in his Everton career, which came in a late September afternoon in 1974 with a memorable strike from 35 yards, which squirmed under the body of Leeds United goalkeeper David Harvey to open the scoring that afternoon. Everton went on to win the game 3-2 after an enthralling 90minutes. For the younger readers who were not aware of his goal, it can be seen on the YouTube channel.
Christian tells me that he never really took an interest in football until he was eight years old, when he started to kick a ball on the field of Harrison Park at the end of the cul de sac where he lived. “Every night, my brother and I used to climb the fence onto the field, football in hand and that’s where I developed an interest. I joined a local team called Greenleas in Wallasey, but my time there was short lived as I was spotted by an Everton scout. I joined the academy at the age of nine and stayed ten years until I was 19. I worked with Ray Hall and Gary Ablett, and towards the end of my time there, I did bits and pieces with Colin Harvey and Alan Harper.
I got close to being involved with the first team earning a one-year scholarship, then a one-year professional contract and trained two or three times a week with the first team. I would be rubbing shoulders with Tim Cahill, Mikel Arteta, Leon Osman, Lee Carsley and Kevin Kilbane under the managerial reign of David Moyes, during the Champions League season.
In that pre-season, I played more or less every game in the first team. I replaced Duncan Ferguson on 73 minutes when we played in Thailand on the tour in 2005 in the Premier League Asia trophy tournament. On the return to England, it was a case of getting back in the reserves.
At the end of my first professional year, I was released and joined Accrington Stanley for the whole of the pre-season. I played the full 90 minutes of their last pre-season friendly at home to Burnley, but unfortunately, was let go.
I was introduced to a guy called Alan Morgan who had played for Tranmere Rovers and was then involved in the League of Wales. He took me to Connahs Quay where I spent one season. Alan then went to Bangor City as assistant manager to Nev Powell and they took me with them. I won two Welsh Cup’s in the two years there. I was then offered a full-time pro contract by TNS, another League of Wales side in 2009/10.
I had 10 years at the Park Hall stadium with TNS and we won the league most seasons. We had some great times playing in Europe against Legia Warsaw, Ludogorets, Helsingborgs, CSKA Sofia, FC Midtjylland, Apoel Nicosia and SlovanBratislava. I even played against Romelu Lukaku at Anderlecht, but playing and training on AstroTurf took its toll on me physically. I made a decision to go back to University and graduated from Liverpool John Moores with a Sport Development degree. I now hold a UEFA A licence.
After retiring from TNS, I was coaching the youngsters at the Everton Academy for three years, then a vacancy at TNS came up and I am now Head of Academy Coaching”
