Jake Bidwell

Jake Bidwell was one of the many Everton youngsters thrust into rare first-team action under the Goodision lights on a cold Thursday night in December 2009 when David Moyes fielded a line-up peppered with untried youth against BATE Borisov in a Europa League group game rendered meaningless by the Blues' having secured progress to the next phase of the competition.

Unfortunately for him, it would be his only senior appearance for the Blues before he was farmed out on loan for consecutive seasons to Brentford in League One, an arrangement that would eventually be made permanent in the summer of 2013.

Bidwell was born in Southport in 1993. The left-sided defender joined Everton aged 11 and steadily progressed through the youth ranks. In 2009, aged 16, Bidwell signed scholarship forms at Everton and had already played for both the Under-18 side and the Reserves. Listed as a left-back among the Everton Academy players, Jake progressed nicely through the Under-18 team, bcoming a firm fixture in the Reserves.

The BATE game was notable for many Everton youngsters making an appearance (Duffy, Mustafi, Craig, Forshaw, Akpan, Agard, Baxter, Rodwell) but Bidwell was the youngest.  And aged just 16 years and 271 days, Bidwell became the youngest player ever to represent Everton in Europe. On the night, his perfomance was rated as follows:

"This lad was the youngest player on the pitch and the youngest player to represent Everton in Europe. In fairness, he did quite well.  Sure, he got caught a few times but for his age he looked decent. I like him because he is strong and has an eye for going forward.  Give him a couple of years and he could be a player." — Dick Anderson

He never did come close to playing in the senior side, particularly with Luke Garbutt and, of course, England international – and arguably the best left back in the country – Leighton Baines in his way.

Bidwell continued to develop behind the scenes representing England at U16, U17, U18 and U19 level. And in 2010-11, Bidwell captained the Everton U18 side to national title success. He was also named Academy Player of the Year for 2011.

In November 2011, Moyes decided the time had come to advance the development of Bidwell and sent the now 18-year-old player out on loan to Brentford. He played well enough to earn a couple more months in loan extensions, saying, "It’s been great here. I have had the odd game in front of big crowds but playing week in, week out in front of fans is what it’s all about."

He would go on to spend almost the entire 2012-13 season on loan at Griffin Park making 75 appearances in total and it came as no real surprise when he joined the Bees on a permanent three-year deal for an undisclosed fee in June 2013, following fellow Blues youth-team product Adam Forshaw.

Brentford's Sporting Director, Mark Warburton, said: �We are absolutely delighted to see a young player of Jake's talent and ability commit his long term future to the club.

�Over the last two seasons, Jake has delivered a consistently high level of performance and his desire and determination to give everything to the cause has been clear for all to see.

�He has displayed a maturity beyond his years and his all-round professionalism both on and off the pitch is an outstanding example for all other young players.

By Michael Kenrick
Last updated June 2013