‘A man at 14’ - Evan Ferguson’s rapid rise from Bohemians to Brighton

“Jesus, we need a 14-year-old to come on and create chances,” Robert Cornwall remembers thinking as he recalls the night Evan Ferguson made his Bohemians debut in a friendly against Chelsea. 

The schoolboy striker’s impact came as little surprise to teammates such as Cornwall but it was not good for their ego to be outdone by someone about half their age.

Just over four years on, Ferguson has become one of the Premier League’s most exciting prospects. A hat-trick for Brighton against Newcastle in September confirmed his status and after scoring last Sunday against Fulham the 19-year-old will be hoping to add to his tally at Everton on Saturday, having netted there in a 4-1 win last season against a side managed, as on his debut, by Frank Lampard.

It was a big day when Bohemians welcomed Lampard’s Chelsea to Dalymount Park, allowing fans to see one of the Premier League’s elite up close. 

It looked as if Chelsea would secure victory through a Michy Batshuayi goal but Bohemians manager at the time, Keith Long, had an ace up his sleeve and brought on Ferguson with just over 20 minutes to go. 

“The mood changed from ‘We have a big friendly against Chelsea’ to ‘who is Evan Ferguson?’” Cornwall says. “He ran the show.” Ferguson dummied the ball to help Eric Molloy to equalise late on, a sign of the intelligence he offered despite his age. Cornwall and his teammates had witnessed for a while what Ferguson could do in first-team training.

“Our manager was very good at bringing up young lads,” Cornwall says. “He was a familiar face. I think he was 13 or 14 and he’d been brought in on a recovery day for passing drills but everyone was talking about him. Then he came up more regularly when he was 14 and was training with us. The