Everton midfielder Harrison Armstrong joined Preston North End on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day
History-maker Harrison Armstrong showed another aspect to his game that could hint at a potential future role with Everton. The 18-year-old from West Derby became the first Scouser to represent Everton in a competitive game at Hill Dickinson Stadium when manager David Moyes brought him on as a 90th minute substitute for Jack Grealish in the 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on August 24, a switch that enabled the England international to receive a standing ovation from the home crowd after his sparkling display that included a brace of assists.
Armstrong repeated the trick himself three days later as he teed up first Charly Alcaraz and then substitute Beto for their goals in the 2-0 Carabao Cup second round victory over Mansfield Town but having then been named as an unused substitute for the 3-2 success at Wolverhampton Wanderers, that was his last contribution in a royal blue jersey for the time being as he sealed a transfer deadline day loan move to Championship Preston North End on Monday.
The youngster was deployed in a deep central midfield role against the Stags and some 48 hours after his temporary switch to Deepdale, he operated in a similar area for England Under-19s as they defeated their Ukraine counterparts 2-0 in a friendly at Pinatar Arena in Murcia, Spain with goals from Southampton’s Baylee Dipepa (10) and Chelsea’s Shumaira Mheuka (62), playing 70 minutes before making way for Callum Olusesi of Tottenham Hotspur as part of eight simultaneous changes. However, there was another feature from the game that caught the eye as Armstrong was handed the captain’s armband by England U19 boss Will Antwi.
Some 30 years ago – and almost a dozen before Armstrong was born – Everton were led to their last major silverware to date by a Scouse skipper in the shape of Dave Watson. A member of Howard Kendall’s League Championship side of 1986/87, Watson led Joe Royle’s Blues side to a 1-0 victory over Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the 1995 FA Cup final, following in the footsteps of fellow Liverpool-born centre-half Brian Labone who lifted the trophy following a 3-2 comeback success against Sheffield Wednesday in 1966.
Recalling the celebrations at Wembley to this correspondent earlier this year on his episode of Goodison Park: My Home, Watson, who grew up on Boundary Street, close to the club’s new home, Hill Dickinson Stadium, told the ECHO: “We had a fantastic party, it was just a free flow of champagne everywhere. I said to Big Joe: ‘What time do you want the lads in bed?’
“He just looked at me and replied: ‘Six o’clock in the morning.’ It was about two or three o’clock in the morning and I went up to reception and the FA Cup was behind the desk.
“I just said to the girl: ‘You know what, that’s our cup that, we’ve just won it today.’ She just replied: ‘There you go, lad,’ and passed it over to me – I wasn’t fighting her for it!
“Me and the wife, we took it upstairs and we slept with the FA Cup.”
It remains to be seen how Armstrong’s leadership qualities develop throughout his career, along with his positional sense having been used in various midfield areas so far – Kevin Ratcliffe was just 23 when he captained Everton to FA Cup glory in 1984 – but Moyes will be hoping that he can return to the Mersey waterfront ready to challenge for a regular first team place following his latest loan spell. After the Scot gave the green light to send the teenager to Derby County for the second half of last season, he said: “Look, when I was here before, we used to bring in so many young boys and I don’t even know where I would start.
“Not all of them went on to have the top careers but a lot of them went on to have great careers and there are boys in their 30s now who have gone on to have long careers at other clubs.
“Part of a job at a football club is to develop players and make them into footballers. You might not always get them to be playing in your first team, but I remember Ossie went out on loan to Carlisle and Derby County and Harrison has now gone to Derby County.
“Leon Osman came back from Derby, ready to get in the first team. He’d been a talented young player, I remember watching him in the games when he played up front quite often at that time.
“He ended up having to find positions out wide before he could get roles in midfield. He went on to become a great player for us here, Leon Osman.
“I hope Harrison is on a similar journey and becomes a great player for us. It’s just the start for him and hope that he gets the best part of 10, 12 games then hopefully by the summer, we’ll see how he’s looking then.”