Thursday, November 23, 2017. Thursday, December 7, 2017. Two dates that are not exactly etched into the Everton history books.
But for former Blues defender Morgan Feeney, they are two dates, as he puts it, he will take to the grave with him.
They are two dates that the boyhood Blue achieved his lifelong dream. Two dates when he did what every Evertonian growing up as a child wants to do. Two dates when the Litherland-born defender pulled on the famous Blue shirt to represent the side he has followed since he was able to walk.
The first of those appearances would bring mixed emotions for Feeney as his side were on the wrong end of a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Atalanta at Goodison Park. But just a couple of weeks later, Feeney would relish a much more enjoyable experience as he joined a host of club youngsters in representing the Blues in the Europa League again.
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Ademola Lookman scored twice before Nikola Vlasic was on target to secure the Blues their only win of their 2017 Europa League campaign.
“I always dreamed as a kid, like every fan does, to make their debut for Everton. Run on the pitch and put the shirt on, and I managed to do that at Goodison,” Feeney recalls to the ECHO in an exclusive chat when asked about the games.
“It was a dream come true really. The result on the night wasn’t how I dreamt it or any of us wanted it to go, but I played for Everton at Goodison that night and no one can take that away from me.
“Luckily, I started in the next game, AEL Limassol away, and we got the three points there which I think was the only win in the group that year.
“We also got a clean sheet and a win, and that was the icing on the cake really. To put things right from the previous game. These two games I will take them to the grave with me. I will never forget them and I still think about them to this day now.”
For Feeney there was a sense of mission accomplished after he joined the club as a seven-year-old to work his way through Everton’s youth system.
“Like you say, playing for the club you love, representing it at a high level is obviously a dream come true,” he adds when reflecting on his first-team appearances.
“Progressing through the ages, you see so many people drop off, it is tough coming through the Academy. It was a dream come true to play for Everton and to get recognition to play for England as well, I couldn’t be happier.”
Feeney is arguably one of the most decorated players to play at under-23 level. First, he was one of the youngest members of David Unsworth's squad that lifted the Premier League 2 tittle at the end of the 2016/17 season.
The captaincy would then follow for Feeney, and his performance levels elevated even further. But unfortunately, Feeney's 2017/18 season was cut short just two months before the end of it as he underwent surgery to correct a long-standing knee problem
“It was tough because you have a little taste of first-team football and shortly after I had double knee surgery and that kept me out for a while,” the former England youth international reflects when looking back on his time on the sidelines.
“After the knee surgery it took a while for me to get going again and then I started getting a few muscle injuries and things like that. It is obviously frustrating but the surgeries had to happen. We all have injuries, but it was obviously tough because all you want to do as a footballer is you want to play, and if you can’t do that you have just got to use it as motivation.
“At the time what can you do? Make myself stronger. Make myself faster than I was and then get myself back on the grass as fast as possible. I tried to do that and work my way through the checklist that I was set and that keeps you motivated and mentally keeps you tough as well.”
When speaking to Feeney it becomes clear just how mentally tough he is. Not many youngsters would have been able to bounce back the way he did from multiple setbacks.
But bounce back he most certainly did. Feeney made his comeback at the start of the next season and went on to enjoy a magnificent campaign as captain, marshalling a Blues defence that conceded just 14 goals in 22 Premier League 2 matches on their way to title glory.
“Being at Everton, it is about development, of course it is. But there is a winning mentality as well throughout the whole club,” Feeney tells the ECHO when looking back on his success.
“You want to develop, but you want to win as well and that is how you were taught from a young age.
“There were a lot of good players in that league, so you try to develop and then being successful is absolutely massive. To lift a few trophies at Goodison was brilliant.”
But by the time Feeney hit the year 2020, injuries were beginning to take their toll. A loan spell with Tranmere Rovers in January was cut short because of a hamstring injury, and all of a sudden the now 23-year-old found himself in uncharted territory.
His time at Everton was over. After over 10 years at the club he loves, the defender was no longer a Blues player. The search for a new club was on, but in typical Feeney fashion, there is just a sense of what had already happened, rather than what might have happened had it not been for the injuries.
“Yeah possibly and it is easy for me to sit here and say that, but I don’t know. People who made those decisions, it was their decision to make,” he replies when asked whether he thinks injuries brought an end to his Everton career.
“I don’t know. I could sit here and say who knows what would have happened if I didn’t have the troubles and things like that. At the end of the day, everything happens for a reason and I had to move on having played twice for the club I love. I’m delighted about that.”
Unfortunately, or fortunately in Feeney’s case, the UK lockdown brought about by the spread of Coronavirus meant the centre-back was unable to say a proper farewell to club staff.
“Everyone is different and it probably would have been nice to say goodbye to people I haven’t seen since,” he says on his Everton departure. "But I’m not one for attention and all that, I’d just rather slip out of the door. Obviously I would have liked to have seen a few people but that happens.
“It was just a matter of focusing on what I had to do next. That chapter had closed and I had to move on and go and make a name for myself. Play, do well and stay injury free. Which wasn’t the case at first, but now I’m feeling good.”
During our chat one name continues to be brought into the conversation - that of David Unsworth. The Everton under-23 boss once described his former defender as 'a wonderful player' and 'a wonderful man'. And Feeney has nothing but good things to say about his old mentor.
“Unsy, the amount of games he played for Everton, he loves Everton like me. So we always had that in common straight away,” he says on his relationship with the former Blues full-back.
“What a tough defender he was. So to learn off him was brilliant. He was hard on you, but fair as well. He was toughening you up as well for the real word of football.
“If he was giving you little pieces of advice about defending then you would be stupid not to take them. I can’t thank him enough for how much he has helped me over the years. The things I have taken from him. There are so many of them I don’t think he even realises.”
Not to be outdone by representing his boyhood club at first-team level, Feeney eventually landed at one of the biggest clubs outside of the Premier League. Signing a short-term deal with Sunderland after a number of weeks training with the club.
But if the former Blues man was hoping for a change of luck, then he would be mistaken. Just weeks into life at the Stadium of Light, injury would once again keep him out.
“I loved my time at Sunderland and I wish it would have gone a bit different, but obviously I picked up an injury early doors there and again it is just something that happens in football,” he tells the ECHO when reflecting on his time with the Black Cats.
But even for someone as strong minded as Feeney, there is a point in life when you start to question things, and for the defender that moment arrived at Sunderland.
So much so that the centre-back not only began to ask whether he was simply 'cursed', but whether his body was cut out for the strains of professional football.
“It was obviously frustrating because I was really motivated and really determined to do well there,” he recalls. “I really backed myself to do well there. But I got a decent injury early doors and I started to think I am cursed.
“But it happens. However, you do start questioning your body a bit, but you have just got to deal with what is in front of you. I’m not really one to dwell on what’s happened, just more what is next. I couldn't really affect what had happened. It had happened.
“Now looking back on it wasn’t the best period for me in terms of playing football, but at the time when you were amongst it you just set your goals. You can’t dwell on it too much otherwise it will get on top of you. I just cracked on and thought about what I can do next.”
Feeney’s time at Sunderland would come to an end after just six months with the club, with the Black Cats opting against extending his deal. A move to Carlisle United would then take place, but the bad luck for Feeney just continued with him breaking his foot in his first training session with his new side.
“I went to Carlisle and broke my foot in the first session. Again that was another bit of bad luck,” he tells the ECHO. “Last season was pretty much a write off, but coming back pre-season and making myself as fit and as strong as possible was my aim.
“I’ve had to be patient this season, I’ve had to wait for my opportunity, which I have done. I have worked hard behind-the-scenes.
“I just wanted to be ready when that chance came. Obviously I’ve loved my time here, even though it has not been the season we would have liked as a group. We are all pulling together to hopefully have a strong end to the season and myself personally just play as much as I possibly can."
Feeney then continued: “It would have been easy for them to push me aside and want nothing to do with me, but the managers I have had here, the staff, have always shown faith in me.
“I need games under my belt, I need to play games. That’s what I have done. I have got a good chunk of games already this season, but I want to make it as many as possible. It is about short-term goals at the minute. It is about playing well and not resting on my laurels.”
Feeney may now be plying his trade in Cumbria, but Everton is never too far from his mind. Unfortunately the defender has had to give up his season ticket in the Gwladys Street due to fixture clashes, but Everton’s results are never too far from his mind.
While the love he still holds for the club is undeniable. Feeney could be forgiven for being bitter at the ways things worked out. But that isn’t his style. Instead the defender prefers to focus all his energy on supporting the club loves and will continue to do so until the day he dies.
“I haven’t got it anymore and I have only managed to get to a couple of games this season because of my own games,” he tells the ECHO when asked if he still has his season ticket in the Gwladys Street.
“You are relying on Sunday games and stuff like that. But going back there is still like it was for me when I was a little kid. I miss going to the game week in week out but obviously I have got a career myself that I need to focus on.
“Sometimes I finish my game and I’m checking how Everton are getting on straight away. Some lads who leave the club may feel a bit bitter and they don’t want to think about Everton because it is too painful.
“But I will love Everton until the day I die. I’ve been going to the game since before I could walk and stuff like that so Everton for me is just home. Every game I can watch I will be supporting the lads.”
