Evan: You just grow with the flow..
FERGUSON SAYS THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
EVAN FERGUSON has backed Arsenal and Glenavon recently fielding 15-year-old and 13-year-olds respectively.
Lurgan-based Glenavon handed a first-team debut to Christopher Atherton in their League Cup win over Dollingstown, making him the UK’S youngest ever senior player.
A few days later, Gunners prospect Ethan Nwaneri came off the bench against Brentford, with both cases generating much debate over whether the players are too young for senior football.
It’s a conversation Ferguson once found himself in the middle of as he was just 14 when he made his debut for Bohemians.
The striker came on in a friendly against Chelsea in July 2019 and two months later he made his competitive bow against Derry City. Asked about Atherton and Nwaneri, Ferguson said: “I’d imagine they are in training with the first team a bit, I don’t think they’d get thrown straight on the bench, they’d be used to the environment.
“I’d say it has gone through the club, the parents and that. At the end of the day it’s up to the kid, if he feels he’d be able to do it, I don’t see an issue with it.
“If he’s good enough there’s no reason that he shouldn’t be able to play.”
Ferguson can still remember his own debut – and how he quickly discovered it was a different world.
“It’s a lot different coming into a men’s dressing-room,” he said. “That’s the first time with fans so it’s sort of like you’re walking out on the pitch, you’re looking around and it’s completely different to schoolboy football. “I wouldn’t say it was daunting, I sort of enjoyed it because
there was no one else really doing it. “I was still in school and playing this game, it was weird.”
Asked about the reaction at school to his headline grabbing appearances, he recalled: “I think it sort of blew up a little bit.
“I didn’t know I was going to play, I knew I was on the bench but I didn’t know if I was going to come on or this, that or whatever.”
Just three years on, Ferguson has made five first-team appearances with Brighton, including one in the Premier League.
And last month he scored his first senior goal in the Seagulls’ 3-0 League Cup win over Forest Green (inset).
At the age of 17, he is by far the youngest member of Jim Crawford’s squad ahead of their two-legged European Championships play-off with Israel.
But he said: “I feel like everyone is in a good place at the minute.
“Everyone has been playing with their clubs, everyone is going to be sharp coming into the camp so I feel like we’ve a good chance to get a win.
“Qualification would just be a proud moment for all of us.
“It’s obviously going to be hard but I think we’ll give ourselves a good chance.”