Season › 2014-15 › News Dowell signs pro contract with Everton Lyndon Lloyd , 24 March, 15comments | Jump to most recent (Alex Livesey/Getty Images) Academy midfielder Kieran Dowell is the latest Everton youngster to sign professional forms with the club, putting pen to paper on a two-year deal. The 17 year-old follows his U18s and U21s teammate Liam Walsh in committing his immediate future to the Blues and he expressed his delight to evertonfc.com: “It's what I have wanted to do ever since I joined the Club, so it's great to be able to finally say I'm a professional footballer for Everton. “I've been here since I was seven. I was with a few different clubs before that, but then I got the opportunity to join Everton and I've enjoyed everything about it all the way through the age groups." The Ormskirk-born player has already made his first-team debut as a starter in the Europa League Group H match against FK Krasdnodar last December, a career highlight so far for the boyhood Blue. “It was unbelievable and being an Evertonian myself, it was a dream come true," he said. "All my family are Blues as well so they were there watching and they were made up for me." Reader Comments (15) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Brian Hill 1 Posted 24/03/2015 at 17:21:44 "I've been here since I was seven. I was with a few different clubs before that."Can anybody explain this, or am I too old to understand anything? Patrick Murphy 2 Posted 24/03/2015 at 17:28:24 Brian - He was with the Teddy Bear Club and Tiny Tots before he made his international debut for the Under-3s unfortunately he was put on the naughty step for unacceptable behaviour and banned for three months from playing for the under-4s. Eugene Ruane 3 Posted 24/03/2015 at 17:33:16 Brian (1) re "“I've been here since I was seven. I was with a few different clubs before that."I got a mental image of a coach (of a different club) talking tactics to the stomach of a heavily pregnant woman.(does sound mad doesn't it) John O'Brien 5 Posted 24/03/2015 at 17:37:28 IÂ’m a relative of KieranÂ’s and can explain.He was first spotted by Liverpool and was attending what they called their satellite training sessions just after he turned 7. He also did training sessions with Man City and Bolton.However, he was (and still is, by the way) a season ticket holder at Everton so I got in touch with the club and asked them to see if they would be interested, which they were. After once Everton had seen him he stopped attending sessions at other clubs which was when he was just turned 7.He only ever wanted to play for Everton and heÂ’s made up to sign his new contract Brian Harrison 6 Posted 24/03/2015 at 17:36:39 BrianYoure not alone he had played for other clubs before joining us at 7 years old. I really think these clubs have lost the plot surely at 7 you should be playing with your mates not structured coaching. I wouldnt mind if this meant that because clubs get hold of boys who are no more than infants, that clubs would be producing lots of local boys playing in the first team but that isn't what happens. So can anyone tell me why are we taking kids as young as 7 into Everton or any other club for that matter as I am sure they all do it. Michael Winstanley 7 Posted 24/03/2015 at 17:40:38 'Don't panic when you get to the box...' that sort of thing? Dave Abrahams 9 Posted 24/03/2015 at 18:03:43 Brian Harrison, of course boys of that young age should be with their mates enjoying playing football for fun, let them play like this for a few years, then if they have the aptitude and attitude to want to play football let their experience begin.I would seriously be wary of a lot of professional coaches, they may have their badges etc. it doesn't mean a thing, it's like having your union cards to get you on to building sites in the 60's and 70's, didn't mean you were any good at actually doing the job. Dave Southword 10 Posted 24/03/2015 at 19:22:58 Back on topic - congratulations to the lad. He's living the dream. Paul Ellam 12 Posted 24/03/2015 at 19:46:34 I am pretty made up by this. He looked decent when he played for us in Europe. Hope he is a long serving successful Everton player. Adam Carey 13 Posted 24/03/2015 at 20:47:17 My lad joined our local team, registration forms and all, at the under-6 age group so not that unusual. I also remember scouts from Palace and West Ham watching his age group at a local summer tournament that year as well.My lad wasn't picked so not sure what level of coaching they get that young though. Harold Matthews 14 Posted 25/03/2015 at 14:40:13 Good luck to the lad. Got a touch of class.When I was kid in the 40s we spent hours kicking a small ball around in the street. None of us saw a full size ball till we were much older but we all had a good first touch. Wish I could say the same about Jags, Distin, Lukaku and Naismith. These lads must have been tripping over a big ball in nursery school. Each has the finesse of a Mongolian clog dancer. Phill Thompson 15 Posted 25/03/2015 at 15:38:20 Harold , I can relate to that but a few years later , lots of street football, passing off the curb , close ball control needed. A few weeks ago I started playing Walking Football about 35 years since I last played. First touch was still there !Re Dowell, I'm surprised he's not in either the England U17 or U18 squad , seems a strange omission given his talent. Dave Abrahams 16 Posted 25/03/2015 at 15:48:17 Harold (14) and Phill (15), like you two I hope the lad makes it to the top but, these days,talent and class are not enough on their own, you've got to have graft and determination for ninety minutes, every game. Sam Hoare 17 Posted 25/03/2015 at 15:55:48 Could very much use a player of his kind, with strong passing, technique and vision making the step up. Seems like he has the talent and can hopefully apply himself to be the best he can be. Andrew Ellams 18 Posted 25/03/2015 at 16:20:57 Looked a player when he came on against Krasnodar. Hope he kicks on from here and becomes a club legend Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. About these ads © ToffeeWeb