Everton’s u18s will take on Wolves in the FA Youth Cup under new management after Leighton Baines’ promotion to the first team coaching staff.
Former Everton midfielder Keith Southern, who was a title-winning under 21s captain in David Moyes’ first stint as Everton manager. Despite his obvious talent, a serious injury delayed his first team appearance and he was later loaned and then sold to Blackpool, where he enjoyed a decade-long spell at the club.
He will have the honour of managing Everton at the first ever match a Bramley Moore, a test event featuring the u18s in a friendly in front of 10,000 fans.
Southern has held a couple of roles at Everton as he learns the managerial ropes. He was assistant manager to u21s boss Paul Tait and has been a youth coach for several years. An ambitious young coach at just 43, he has been open in his desire to manage one day.
He will now be given the reigns of a talented u18 side that contains talented players in goalscorer Braiden Graham, new winger Justin Clarke, homegrown talent in Joel Catesby and Welsh youth striker George Morgan. He is also bolstered by the occasional appearance of Harrison Armstrong, who scored a hat trick at Goodison Park against Nottingham Forest in the FA Youth Cup’s previous round.
Southern, who survived a cancer scare at the age of just 30 when he had a tumour removed from his testicle, is a highly regarded coach and may not be a long term appointment for the youth side. He has previously said: “”If I turn 55 or 60 and I’ve not taken that step and had a go, then I think I will regret it, so at some point I do want to manage.
“Obviously the timing has to be right, although I’m not sure it ever is in management.
“The club has to be right at that time, so there are a lot of variables to take into consideration but I do have a burning desire to manage.”
Everton will need to recruit in the academy after promoting Leighton Baines, with a youth coach set to be top of the priority list to replace Southern on the staff as he steps up to the top job.