Former Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney starred for Everton in the midweek Carabao Cup win over Newcastle United (Image: Peter Byrne)
Former Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney starred for Everton in the midweek Carabao Cup win over Newcastle United (Image: Peter Byrne)
HAYDEN Hackney is smiling.
The midfielder has stopped to talk in the media mixed zone at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium less than 20 minutes after the Toffees had booked their place in the last eight of the Carabao Cup, setting up a tie against League Two Fleetwood.
Earlier in the evening, Hackney had scored his first Everton goal and the fact it came against Newcastle United means the Teessider is expecting to have a fair few messages from back home to respond to when he gets around to checking his phone.
Hackney wasn't smiling five month ago.
He was crying on the Wembley pitch after Middlesbrough's Championship play-off final defeat to Hull City.
The 24-year-old was the EFL's best player last season and everyone knew what was coming next after Boro - the club Hackney has supported and loved since he was a boy - came up short in their bid to win promotion.
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What made it all the more cruel for Hackney was the fact he'd had to watch the run-in from the stands rather than participate on the pitch, an injury picked up last March meaning the midfielder missed the most crucial spell of fixtures and only returned to action when Kim Hellberg turned to him on the bench in the second half of the Wembley final.
When it became clear Hackney was coming on, the roar from the Boro end at Wembley was deafening.
That roar - the reaction - will stay with Hackney forever, he says.
He was immensely grateful for the opportunity to return to the Riverside earlier this month for the club's Legacy Game. He couldn't play, obviously, but he was introduced to the fans and it felt like a chance to say a proper goodbye, for the supporters and the star himself.
"That was an amazing moment," Hackney tells the Northern Echo.
"I'm very privileged to have had that moment to stay goodbye really because my last game was obviously at Wembley and it wasn't really the moment to say goodbye, although the reception I got when I came on will stick with me forever. But it was a really, really nice moment."
What was going through the mind of the tearful Hackney at full-time at Wembley, just moments after Oli McBurnie had broken Boro hearts?
"All sort of emotions," he says.
"Obviously we lost the game which is the main thing to be angry about and sad about at that time - and then you think maybe that is the last time you wear the shirt.
"But everything happens for a reason. That legacy game was a good time for me and I enjoyed saying goodbye to Middlesbrough fans."
Everton was the move Hackney really wanted in the summer but Boro will always mean so much to him.
"I grew up there, it's my club," he says.
"I really enjoyed representing the club, I was honoured to represent Boro like I am with Everton now. Hopefully I can kick on now and do the same with this club."
The Carabao Cup has been kind to Hackney.
He dazzled for Everton on Thursday night, setting up the first goal before scoring the second and staking a strong claim to stay in David Moyes' starting XI for the Premier League re-run on Monday night against Newcastle at St James' Park. Plenty of his mates are heading up the A19 from Redcar for the game.
It was in the League Cup that Hackney had one of his most magical moments in a Boro shirt, scoring the only goal in the semi-final first leg win over Chelsea at the Riverside in 2024.
The second leg didn't go to plan but Hackney will always have the memory of that Riverside night.
"That was such a special moment," he says.
"It's probably one of my favourite goals that, to be fair. It's been good to me, this tournament."
It might get better.
Beat League Two Fleetwood and Everton are in the last four, only two games away from Wembley and three away from silverware.
How Hackney would love to celebrate a double this season, as an Everton player and a Boro fan.
"That would be ideal, wouldn't it, seeing Boro back in the Premier League and us getting silverware," he smiled.
"That would be perfect."