Five days before Christmas 2007, Everton’s stylish home grown centre half turned midfielder, Jack Rodwell, became – aged 16 years and 284 days – the youngest Everton player to appear in a European match.  The progress was scarcely surprising for those who followed the progress of the club’s junior teams.

The tall, athletic defensive minded player had been talked about in excited whispers for years.  Indeed the first signs from the boyhood blue appeared excellent: a powerful, stylish player possessing something of the swagger of Steven Gerrard.

Eased into the Everton team over the following six months he was a surprise starter on the opening day of the 2008/09 season, making 25 appearances – half of them starts – over the subsequent campaign.  He brought elegance and natural composure to the Everton team, offering glimpses of his potential when he chose to break free of his shackles and burst forward.

Speaking to this author in September 2009, David Moyes described him as ‘an elegant midfield player.’ The Everton manager said: ‘He can run, he’s quick, he’s good on the ball.  What he needs is time and maturity and that will make him a very good player… He’s got things he needs to work on but I think a lot of them will come with maturity and with games.  He’s a really level-headed boy, he wants to learn, and because of that we’ve got high hopes that he’ll continue to develop.’  

Rodwell burst into national consciousness when he scored a fine goal to round off a famous 3-1 win over Manchester United at Goodison in February 2010. Introduced as a late substitute he applied a brilliant coup de grâce in the last minute. Taking a short pass from Arteta near the centre circle, the teenager marched through a retreating defence, finding space for himself until he was one on one with Van der Sar. His low finish was emphatic, the Everton fans ecstatic.

Steady progress followed over the next two years, although there were some grumbles that Rodwell was still to fully impose himself on the Everton team.  By the time of his twenty-first birthday he had made more than 100 Everton appearances and was an England international, having also played at every youth level for his country.

Moyes had spoken to me in 2009 of his hopes that Rodwell would break into the international set up following the 2010 World Cup. His international debut came as a second half substitute against Spain at Wembley in November 2011. Rodwell immediately caught the eye as England overcame their opponents 1-0.

‘The suspicion for some of an Evertonian persuasion was that Rodwell was “too much Birkdale and not enough Kirkdale”,’ wrote the elegant hand of the Daily Telegraph’s Henry Winter.  ‘Not now. There’s a bit of bite in his game. Rodwell’s on the rise. One impressive cameo hardly makes a career, and this was only a debut in a friendly, but there were undeniable signs during his enterprising 33-minute shift for England against Spain that Rodwell may mature into a midfielder of genuine substance.’

Alas the midfielder’s 2011/12 season was cut short by a recurrent hamstring injury.  It cost the midfielder a place in the England squad for the 2012 European Championships or at very least the Great Britain Olympic team, for whom he had modelled their kit.  Hopes, nevertheless, remained high that a rest would see him realise his potential.

However this was not to be in the blue of Everton.  In August 2012 he made a surprise £12 million move to Premier League Champions, Manchester City. However, recurrent injuries and strong competition meant his opportunities were limited. He won a Premier League winners medal in 2014 before transferring to Sunderland for £10 million.

The move was a disaster. Sunderland suffered back to back relegations and the frequently injured Rodwell, who was one of the club’s highest earners, became a lightning rod for supporter’s frustrations. He was portrayed unflatteringly in the Netflix documentary, Sunderland ‘Til I Die, and named by two local newspapers as the worst signing in the club’s history. He left the club by mutual consent in 2018 with a year still to run on his contract.

He rehabilitated his reputation with a season-long spell at Blackburn Rovers, but after turning down the offer of a contract extension found himself without a club. An eighteen month spell at Sheffield United yielded just three appearances. Rodwell subsequently moved to Sydney with his Australian wife and captained Western Sydney Wanderers and the A League All Stars teams. A move to Sydney FC in 2022 was, however, undermined by injury and he missed the club’s Australian Cup final win in 2023. A year later he departed the club on the expiration of his contract.