Everton fans will have noticed a familiar name getting himself on the scoresheet in the Championship on Wednesday evening, with Wrexham beating high-fliers Bristol City 2-0 in north Wales.
Although Wednesday’s footballing schedule was dominated by headlines surrounding Arsenal’s win over Bayern Munich and Liverpool’s crushing loss to PSV Eindhoven, a former Everton forward grabbed the attention in the Championship with one of the goals of the evening.
Wrexham, recently promoted from League One, have hit a real run of form lately and find themselves 10th in the Championship table, just two points from the play-offs and five points away from second-placed Stoke City.
And it was former Toffee and Wales international, Nathan Broadhead, who was in the spotlight after his long-range attempt against Bristol City.
Former Everton attacker Nathan Broadhead.
Photo by Daniel Chesterton/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Nathan Broadhead continued Wrexham’s strong season with a screamer against Bristol City
In a week where another former Everton forward, Ellis Simms, scored an incredible goal against Middlesbrough to put Coventry 10 points clear at the top of the table, Broadhead soon followed that up with an outrageous effort of his own.
Latching onto a pass on the edge of the box, Broadhead’s first touch opened his body, and around 22 yards from goal, he unleashed an effort that beat Bristol City goalkeeper Radek Vitek all ends up inside the first 15 minutes.
That is absolutely genius from Ellis Simms!
Wrexham could become the first team in Football League history to rise from the fourth-tier to the top-flight in consecutive seasons – made even more impressive after their promotion from League Two also came at the first time of asking, after winning the National League in the 2022-23 campaign.
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And with some incredible summer spending, the Red Dragons could make unprecedented history with Broadhead leading their line.
Nathan Broadhead has forged a solid career for himself away from Everton
Broadhead, now 27, joined Everton’s youth academy at the age of 10, incidentally from Wrexham’s youth setup.
Making his first-team debut in 2017 in the same game as departed winger Anthony Gordon, he recorded an assist on his debut in the Europa League against Cypriot outfit Apollon Limassol, though he failed to make another appearance for two-and-a-half years from there.
Loan moves to Burton Albion, Sunderland and Wigan Athletic were impressive, and that led Broadhead to make his Premier League bow in April 2021 in a 0-0 draw under Carlo Ancelotti.
Team Appearances (goals)
Everton 2 (0)
Burton Albion 22 (3)
Sunderland 27 (13)
Wigan Athletic 22 (5)
Ipswich Town 84 (23)
Wrexham 15 (5)
A move to Ipswich Town transpired, where Broadhead recorded back-to-back promotions with the Tractor Boys to get another taste of Premier League football – and with two goals in the top-flight coming against Bournemouth and West Ham United, he proved he can cut it at the top level.
Whilst he likely wasn’t good enough to get into David Moyes’ plans, it’s good to see Broadhead excelling elsewhere – especially having recently found his way into the Wales setup, with four goals in 17 caps.
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