James Vaughan (footballer Born 1988) - Playing Career - Everton

Everton

Vaughan joined Everton's Youth Academy and was voted by his fellow team-mates as the Under-16s player of the season for 2003–04. He scored a number of goals for the reserve team during the 2004–05 season, making his full debut for the club in the same season. His 73rd-minute substitute appearance for the first team against Crystal Palace on his debut on 10 April 2005 overtook James Milner as the Premier League’s youngest scorer at 16 years and 271 days as well as Wayne Rooney as Everton's youngest top flight goal scorer.

Vaughan signed his first professional contract in the summer of 2005, agreeing to a two year contract. Early in the 2005–06 campaign, he sustained a knee ligament injury whilst on international duty with England Under-18s. A series of complications sidelined him for the remainder of the campaign and he did not have the chance to establish himself as a regular in the senior squad. He scored his second league goal in the 93rd minute of a 2–0 win over West Ham United. Vaughan, despite suffering a severed foot artery in a match with Bolton, went on to score three more goals in the final stages of the 2006–07 season. At the end of the 2006–07 season, Vaughan extended his contract with Everton until the summer of 2011.

Vaughan played a total of 49 times for Everton, making only eight league starts and scoring nine goals. His career at the club was blighted by a number of injuries which limited his opportunities to establish himself in the first team. Highlights of his career at Everton include scoring the winner in a 3–2 Everton victory over AZ Alkmaar, who had a 32 years record of never being beaten at home in European Competitions, and making his return from injury in April 2009 as an extra time substitute against Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final, scoring a penalty in the penalty shootout that saw Everton win 4—2. He went on to play in the 2009 FA Cup Final, coming on as a second half substitute.