Sean McAllister has left Everton Academy where he progressed with the U18s and U21s, to join local club Marine of the National League North.
McAllister's contract with Everton expired in the summer of 2024 but the club agreed to keep him at Finch Farm while he recovered from serious injury for the last 8 months.
He was finally fit enough to take the next step in his career, signing for Marine after being out of action since he last went off injured while playing on loan for Inverness Caledonian Thistle in May 2024.
He leaves after more than 5 years with Everton Academy, an injury-blighted career being one of the main factors that robbed him of any chance to ever play for the Everton first team.
Reader Comments (5)
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 ()
2 Posted 22/03/2025 at 21:34:08
This could be an unfortunate run of bad luck and physical development of the player (and others).
Or, do we over-train these young players from a young age as if they are adults? Coaching young players is a different skill to seniors, yet I am not convinced we differentiate. Over coaching at a young age is both confusing, takes the enjoyment out of the game, and is not good for physical development.
3 Posted 22/03/2025 at 21:47:56
For this lad, it was sadly very common — I don't think he completed one season in five with the Academy where he didn't suffer a serious injury that denied him substantial game-time.
Could it be over-training? Or the kid just wanting to impress and trying that bit too hard? Or the physical strength of his body simply not matching the footballing intelligence in his head and desire in his heart?
4 Posted 22/03/2025 at 21:49:41
https://marinefc.com/1st-team-squad/
WIKI (for what it's worth): "In February 2025, McAllister signed for National League North club Marine, but left soon after"
To be fair, Marine have been on a cracking run over the last couple of months, zooming up the league, now 14 points clear of the drop zone, where they were at the start of the year. Not much room for bringing players in on a run like that.
I hope that SM does still have a place somewhere with Crosby's finest, "the Mariners" and "the Lilywhites".
COYM
COYB
5 Posted 22/03/2025 at 22:25:45
It could well be a combination of all of those factors. The wanting to impress and trying too hard are very valid questions. Players of all ages are sods for saying they're okay and wanting to play when they're not. We've all been there and even the finest of margins make a difference when you get to a certain level.
Modern techniques and fitness tests go a lot of the way to filtering that out, but you can understand young players' almost desperation to succeed and fear that, if they don't, they lose their place in the pecking order. I hence I get your point.
It's why I'm not a big advocate of the academies in their current structure.
I'm looking forward to seeing the U21s tomorrow, the first time I will have seen them live.
Once I've taken in the experience of BMD, I'll write something up.
Add Your Comments
In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.
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.
How to get rid of these ads and support TW
Top of the Page
1 Posted 22/03/2025 at 21:22:58
But he's now missed all 5 games played so far in March. He can't be injured again surely.
One place said that he may have already left the club. That would be a real tragedy for such a promising talent.