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Stepping out on the pitch against Everton was a full-circle moment for Wanderers defender Gethin Jones.
Jones played 70 minutes as Ian Evatt’s men held their Premier League opponents to a goalless draw at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
The versatile defender spent nearly a decade in the Toffees’ youth ranks, learning from the likes of Duncan Ferguson, Alan Stubbs and John Ebbrell among others.
“I first moved up when I was 13 and was there for nearly 10 years,” Jones recalled.
“It was a massive part of my career, moving away from home and my family to live with digs’ parents, and moving up to Liverpool at such a young age and going to school there.
“I was lucky to live with John King, who worked for the club, and his family when I first moved up and they were so good to me. Everton are such a massive club and really close to my heart.”
He added: “I was a young lad from Wales who had never had a lot of coaching when I was younger, but I had the size and a little bit about me.
“They saw something in me when I was 13. When I first came up it was a big shock for me, going from local town at Porthmadog to Everton and coaching three nights a week.
“It was quite tough going but I learned so much from all the coaches I had there and I can’t thank them enough for doing that for me and progressing my career.”
Jones trained with the first-team squad during his time at Goodison Park and made his senior debut in a Europa League tie against Russian side Krasnodar, coming off the bench for the final few minutes.
The 27-year-old says he looked up to Seamus Coleman and learned lots from the Republic of Ireland full-back.
“I was made up after my second year as a scholar when I got given a pro contract,” he continued.
“From then onwards I trained a lot more with the first team and was around it quite a bit – going on pre-season tours and being involved in quite a few of the squads in the Europa League.
“As a full-back I was looking up to Seamus Coleman. He was playing unbelievably and I was learning so much from him.
“When I got injured at Under-23 level, Seamus had broken his leg at the same time so we were both doing our rehab together.
“I was asking him so many questions every single day in the gym on what’s best in certain situations in a game for a full-back.
“That was so helpful, but it was difficult because they had such a strong squad back then. I remember I was on the bench twice in the Europa League and I came on for two minutes in one of the games.”
While his debut was a special moment, Jones was eager to play regular first-team football and opportunities were hard to come by at Everton.
The defender went on to have loan spells at Plymouth and Barnsley before completing a permanent switch to Fleetwood in January 2018.
“It was a proud moment when I was 19 and having my family there, but I wasn’t getting the minutes at first-team level," he said.
“I went out on loan to Plymouth and Barnsley and from gaining that loan experience, I wanted to play regular football week in, week out.
“I wanted to kick on and play regular football, so I made the move but will always be grateful for what Everton did for me.”
The 27-year-old spent 18 months at Fleetwood before heading to Carlisle, making a positive impact at Brunton Park.
The Cumbrian outfit were keen to keep hold of Jones but he turned down the offer of a new deal to join Wanderers in 2020.
He has since become an integral member of Evatt’s squad and is currently serving as vice-captain alongside skipper Ricardo Santos.
The defender is looking forward to the new campaign as the Whites aim to build on last season’s fifth-place finish in League One.
Evatt’s men also won the EFL Trophy following a memorable 4-0 victory against Plymouth in the final at Wembley. Jones was on target that day with a clinical header from a corner.
He insists the squad is raring to go ahead of their curtain raiser against Lincoln on Saturday, August 5.
“I’m sure all the lads will back me on this, pre-season is a tough time and a lot of hard work goes into the first few weeks,” he added.
“The more these games are coming now, we’re all just itching and ready for that first game at home against Lincoln.”
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