Douglass Lukjanciks is currently on loan from Everton at Southport.
Douglass Lukjanciks is currently on loan from Everton at Southport.(Image: Garner Visuals/Southport)
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Footballers can sometimes view going out on loan to a lower league or non-league club as a step down or a backwards step. But not, Everton academy goalkeeper Douglass Lukjanciks.
The 18-year-old swapped the comforts of travelling across the country with the Premier League side's Under-21s for trips across the National League North with Southport FC. Already, he has had a small taste of the highs and lows of non-league football in the opening three weeks of his temporary stay in the sixth tier of English football.
Below the Football League can be an unforgiving place, one that can chew you up and spit you out. Lukjanciks views it as an opportunity, and one that he is relishing.
He says: "I'd highly recommend it. When I was told I was coming here, I didn’t see it as a step down. It’s a new challenge, and one I can take on.
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"Lads seeing non-league as a step down is the wrong mindset, wrong mentality because you should be able to play whatever, non-league, Football League or Premier League, it shouldn’t really matter. I think if you can play, you can play in any league."
The Southport-born shot-stopper knows more than most about the hustle and bustle of non-league football, having gone to school at Stanley High, some three miles from Haig Avenue - where he will ply his trade until January at least, unless the recall option is exercised.
Everton No.1 Jordan Pickford spent his formative years in the rungs of the lower leagues with Darlington and Alfreton Town before moving into the Football League with Burton Albion, Carlisle United, Bradford City and Preston North End.
These loan spells allow for younger goalkeepers to learn their trade in a different, higher-stakes environment. It is an opportunity for them to assert themselves as a senior shot-stopper, playing in front of crowds north of 500 - ranging up to around 3,000.
Everton goalkeeper Douglass Lukjanciks joined Southport on loan for his first taste of men's senior football.
Everton goalkeeper Douglass Lukjanciks joined Southport on loan for his first taste of men's senior football.(Image: Cameron Hayes)
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They're also faced with real-life problems, where winning and losing has a significant impact on players and coaching staff alike. A couple of results can make a season, while a downturn could see a manager on the chopping block. There's also the physicality aspect, where opposition players may look to leave a mark, knowing that they're coming up against a young goalkeeper from a Premier League side.
Lukjanciks' introduction came as a result of a disappointing run of results, which saw on-loan Manchester United goalkeeper Solomon Honor taken out of the firing line. The teenager's arrival and subsequent push into the National League North came just days after former manager Neil Danns resigned, and handed a debut in a derby against Morecambe.
The Shrimpers' spiral down the Football League isn't too well documented, but it meant that they visited Haig Avenue for the first time in over 20 years.
The call came days earlier while Lukjanciks was watching Everton's 2-2 draw with Manchester United at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. He had only spoken about the prospect of playing for his hometown club.
"The day I found out I was coming, I was speaking to my mate and I said going on loan to Southport would definitely be something special," he says. "Playing for your hometown team, five minutes later I got a phone call to say I was coming here, it's a bit of a surreal moment.
"I'm enjoying it, hopefully I can keep taking it in my stride and keep performing."
Douglass Lukjanciks has hardly put a foot wrong for Southport since joining on loan from Everton.
Douglass Lukjanciks has hardly put a foot wrong for Southport since joining on loan from Everton.(Image: Garner Visuals/Southport FC)
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Lukjanciks, in his first taste of senior football, was handed a starting berth in a dramatic 2-1 win for the Sandgrounders. Southport led through an Adam Moseley goal after 25 minutes, nine minutes from time, having dealt with a Morecambe bombardment and adverse weather, Adam Lakeland's visitors clawed a goal back.
It sparked wild scenes in the away end, with one fan running onto the pitch and hauling the teenager's water bottle over the away stand, a far cry from the tranquillity of Under-21s and academy football. But the Everton loanee would have the last laugh when Daniel Ugwuru raced down the other end three minutes later to secure a famous Southport win.
Lukjanciks has had a tough education in non-league football, facing burly strikers and experienced defenders, as well as travelling to Worksop Town to play on their artificial pitch. With Mark Duffy in charge, wins have been few and far between and the latest low came on Saturday when Southport squandered a two-goal lead.
The Blues shot-stopper had little to do, claiming crosses and commanding his box, before the Sandgrounders sat off, allowing Spennymoor Town to grow into the game. The first warning shot saw Glen Taylor rattle the crossbar before Rob Ramshaw followed up on the volley, forcing a good diving save from Lukjanciks.
He could do nothing about Taylor's first after the striker powered a left-footed strike off the inside of the post and in. The pair locked horns again in stoppage time when the visitors were awarded a penalty, with the veteran North East talisman coming out on top once again as his spot-kick beat the youngster for pace despite guessing the right way.
Everton are watching on closely to see how the goalkeeper's development continues. Different climates, circumstances and passages in games will test goalkeepers of Lukjanciks' experience in ways the Premier League 2 or the Premier League International Cup could ever.
The Blues have shifted their tact in recent seasons and allowed for their academy players to go out on loan to lower league clubs to boost their development. Two of the goalkeepers that the 18-year-old shares a dressing room with throughout the week at Finch Farm plied their trade in the same division last season.
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George Pickford was on a short-term loan at Southport last season, while Fraser Barnsley spent the season at local rivals Marine. David Raya's short-term loan with Southport frequently hits the headlines, illustrating his rise over 12 years from non-league to becoming a World Cup and Premier League-winning goalkeeper.
Max Crocombe is a lesser-known shot-stopper outside of the seaside Merseyside town.
The 33-year-old honed in on some of his trade at Haig Avenue on loan from Oxford United, since going onto have a career in the Football League with Grimsby Town, Burton Albion and Millwall. The New Zealand international also represented his country at last summer's World Cup across North America.
Lukjanciks has already been told of the path he could tread with Southport wearing Raya's stint at the club as a badge of honour. He says: "It's all I've heard since I've been here, 'we make Champions League goalkeepers'. It's something to aspire to be like, big shoes to fill but I think I'm more than capable."