This week, Everton will be profiling the five Academy graduates who made their Everton debuts during 2015/16.
With a whole host of talent in the youth system at Finch Farm, we have spoken to the people who have worked closest with the quintet to find out more about their development as individuals - both on and off the pitch.
We start with a 19-year-old, who earned his senior Blues bow on the final day of the season…
JONJOE KENNYPosition: Defender
Place of birth: Kirkdale, 1.2 miles from Goodison Park
Date of birth: 15 March 1997
On that day in history…Dave Watson gave Everton a 1-0 win against Derby County at Goodison Park.
‘Mama/Who Do You Think You Are’ by the Spice Girls was number one in the UK music chart.
Top of the UK box office was Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Date of debut: 15 May 2016
BORN A STONE’S THROW AWAY
"I’ve always lived in Kirkdale, it’s where I’ve been brought up, it's where I’m from. It’s so close to Goodison Park that it just makes you want to play there.”
Kenny grew up - and still lives - within walking distance of the Grand Old Lady. Indeed, many match-going Evertonians will be familiar with Goodison’s nearest train station, if not the Kirkdale district itself.
His journey to the stadium may be short in distance - but it was 10 years in the making.
“I ended up at Everton through playing for Liverpool schoolboys and my local team," Kenny explains. "They came to see me and offered me a trial. I was a right winger back then, so things have changed a bit since!”
Martin Waldron, now Head of Academy Recruitment at Everton, also recalls the day that put this budding Blue on the road to success.
“We picked Jonjoe up in his Under-10s season," he says. "He was playing a match near Sandhills, close to Kirkdale, and we invited him to a game the next day against Partick Thistle. He impressed so much that we signed him up there and then.”
SCHOOL DAYS
Kenny was a pupil at St John’s Catholic Primary School in Kirkdale. Damian Walsh was – and still is - Deputy Head and says the signs were there at an early age that the keen footballer would flourish.
“I always remember Jonjoe as a real sportsman at school, he was brilliant at all sports," he reveals. "We took them to Everton Park Sports Centre for the bleep test and they had to turn the machine off in the end because Jonjoe wouldn’t stop running!
“He was a great lad - always bright, happy and popular. His enthusiasm for football was evident but he also stood out with such potential. We’re really pleased he’s done well as he was a clever lad, never got into any bother and has become a real role model for the children.
"His face is going on our wall of fame along with the four Smith brothers, who are all boxers, and Steve McManaman!”
TEENAGE YEARSKenny became a regular in his age group and an important player for each team as he rose through the ranks. Youth tournament success appeared to follow the 'boys of 1997' as they took part in competitions at home and overseas.
A number of ex-Everton Academy and first-team players are now back coaching at Finch Farm - and Kenny (top row, centre above) worked under most of them along the way.
Paul Tait is one such example, having guided the youngster at varying times over the past seven years.
“I first started working with Jonjoe when he was 12 and what I remember about him from his time in the Academy is that he would always be Player of the Season from the manager and the other players each year," he said. “He was 100 per cent, dedicated and had real desire.
"He never missed a training session and you knew from that early age that he was going to be a player at some level. The question mark is always if a player will have the attributes for our first team, but because of Jonjoe’s attitude he has developed and made it that far.
"He's a talented lad, obviously, but it’s his character and drive that sets him apart. He’s got a great family behind him with solid support. Jonjoe (middle row, third from right above) is a typical Scouse kid and has developed year-on-year.
"He was always versatile too. He’s played right-back, centre-back and holding midfield, and I think that’s helped his development. He’s strengthened attributes more than he may have done by just playing as an out-and-out right-back. He’s a real defender, but he has an attacking instinct at full-back as well.”
OFF THE PITCH
“Jonjoe was a firework around the place. He was an old head - like a 40-year-old in a teenager’s body.”
A key figure behind the scenes in the Academy was Mike Dickinson, who served as the Club's Head of Education and Welfare until 2015.
Working across various age groups, Dickinson was a familiar and respected face among Everton’s young stars throughout their development, ensuring their footballing tutelage was balanced with essential academic attainment.
“He was always outgoing, chatty, aggressive on the pitch in the right way and his character is infectious," Dickinson recalls fondly. "When he was at Archbishop Beck High School, he came out for a day and a half each week to work on his football. The school were brilliant in co-ordinating that with us.
“When our lads go all the way through the system and make their debut, it means everything to us and it’s a thrill. It’s a real success story and a culmination for all the stakeholders - the parents, the schools, the kids themselves and us at the Academy.
"Jonjoe, as with the others, has been a credit to the Club and a joy to work with in my time there.”
ENGLAND GLORY
In May 2014, Kenny slotted the penalty that clinched the European Under-17 Championship for England.
Fellow Academy graduate and close friend Ryan Ledson was captain of the Young Lions for the tournament, but the decisive spot-kick in the final’s shootout against the Netherlands fell to the right-back.
It was a pressure moment that could have caused weaker shoulders to buckle. Typically, he took it all in his stride.
"Walking up to take the penalty, I was confident to be honest," Kenny remembers. "I knew where I was going to go, so I just thought to myself to stick with that spot and if the goalkeeper saves it, he saves it.
"For the previous two weeks we'd been practicing penalties in training, so I was confident I could do it and buzzing I could get the winner.
"It was massive for us to win it. I was out injured for 10 or 11 weeks in the build-up to the tournament and I didn't think I'd be getting into that European Championship squad in truth.
"My aim was just to get back fit and get back playing, so when I found out I was in the squad I was over the moon.
"With everything Everton and my mum and dad have done for me, I just wanted to make them proud and to get the winning penalty just capped it all off."
LOAN SUCCESS
Kenny has worn the shirts of three professional clubs this season, with his Toffees debut following successful loan spells at Wigan Athletic and Oxford United.
His seven appearances for the Latics came before 20 outings for the U’s, as they sealed promotion to League One. A medal for his part in the achievement was just reward for a player who boss Michael Appleton was delighted to borrow the services of.
“He has done really well,” Appleton said in February. “He has had to adapt and get used to playing three games in a week all the time but that is what he is here for; to learn and to experience big matches and what it takes to play competitive games back-to-back.
“He has fitted in with the squad, he is enjoying his football, and we are more than happy to have him here for longer. He has a big future."
UNSY'S APPROVAL
Such was Kenny's maturity and progress, he became involved in the Everton Under-21s side at the tender age of 16. He hasn't looked back.
A regular in the starting XI ever since and captain throughout the 2014/15 campaign, he quickly became one of the young Blues' leaders and did not look out of place against opposition several years his senior.
It was, of course, David Unsworth who handed him his debut. And, having worked together for over two seasons, the FA Cup-winning defender admires a lot of traits in Kenny's game.
"As Under-21 captain he played centrally and was outstanding there. You look at him and think he’s got no chance of playing in that role because of his size, but his spring, his desire and his ability in the air make him very effective in that role. He can play in central midfield as well, so he is one of the youngsters who we know has been ready and we know has got the ability."
'WHEN YOU HEAR THE CROWD GOING FOR YOU, THAT REALLY HELPS YOU OUT'
And so the opening paragraphs of the latest chapter in Kenny's Everton career were written when he emerged from the substitutes' bench 28 minutes into the 3-0 win against Norwich City.
Most defenders would have been happy with a clean sheet, but the right-back showcased the attacking side of his game with an assist for the Blues' third.
“I’m over the moon,” he told evertontv at the final whistle. “It was a dream come true and it’s what I’ve been working towards ever since I came to Everton.
“When you come on and make your first tackle or pass and hear the crowd going for you, that really helps you out and gets your confidence up. The fans really helped me out and it was brilliant to be involved.”
What next for the boy born down the road then? Involvement with England Under-19s over the summer comes before a pivotal pre-season where he will be hoping to catch the eye of a new manager.
"It’s a clean slate again for everyone," he says. "We’ll hopefully go back into pre-season and I'll try to impress and do well."
Keep an eye on evertonfc.com this week as we profile our four other young debutants from 2015/16.
