Exclusive: Lewis Dobbin interview on living his Everton dream

The joy was pure. On Lewis Dobbin’s face, in the response of his teammates and the reaction in the stands of Goodison Park.

“It was one of the best feelings I have ever had,” said the 21-year-old, smiling as he reflected on the moment his goal against Chelsea announced him to the world beyond Everton.

“I kind of knew when it left my foot. I caught it well and the keeper was a bit flat-footed so I knew straight away.” Sensing his left-footed strike was about to fly past Djordje Petrovic meant Dobbin had a split-second to prepare for what happened next. But there was no plan. He had spent years imagining his first senior goal at the club he joined as a schoolboy, but not what would come next. As a result, he provided Goodison with one of its standout moments of the season.

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“It was a bit of a blur,” he tells the ECHO. “It was a natural reaction, a pour out of emotion. I didn’t really know what to do at the time. I had dreamt about it but I had never really thought too much into the celebration because I knew if I was to score I wouldn’t know what to do. My just emotions took over. It is my boyhood club. I have been here since the age of 11. To have that moment was a bit of relief. It showed the hard work can pay off and hopefully I get many more.”

Dobbin fought his way through the clutches of Amadou Onana as he wheeled away to celebrate in front of the Park End, past Beto and into a knee slide to the corner flag. There, he was mobbed, dragged to the floor by Onana just after James Tarkowski had reached and embraced him.

Every single outfield player joined him as they celebrated the stoppage time goal that gave them an insurmountable lead and the third of four consecutive league wins that provided the perfect response to the 10 point deduction weeks earlier. Dobbin said: “It showed how tight a group we had become. We have really grown this season, we have had a couple of setbacks that were not in our control so it pulled us together as a team and it feels like a family in there.”

That night was the Christmas party and Dobbin was the centre of attention. Meanwhile, his goal was still reverberating around a fanbase overjoyed at such a big moment for one of the club’s own. That was a major part of why the experience was so special, Dobbin said, adding of the response of the crowd to his goal: “It was surreal. They have had a tough season with what they have been through so to have a moment like that takes a bit away from what has been going on on the outside and you get to live in the moment. To hear that crowd noise was just surreal. [My first Everton goal] would have been special regardless but I think having it in front of a full Goodison is what you dream of growing up in the academy. I think that made it extra special.”

The goal was more impressive because it hinted at a growing maturity from Dobbin. The England youth international, who exchanged messages with ex-teammate Jude Bellingham over his goal, had spent the previous weeks in the Under-21s under the stewardship of Paul Tait. After a season of learning on loan with Derby County, then a summer in which he received a massive boost when Sean Dyche pulled him aside and said he wanted him to stay with the squad this year, that stint back with the academy could have dented his spirit. Instead he produced performances that highlighted he had outgrown that level, scoring against Athletic and tearing apart Monaco at Walton Hall Park.

Dobbin viewed those matches as just another opportunity to impress Dyche - which he did. He said: “I am not the type of player who is going to drop down to the U21s and think this is not my level, I am not going to try. The gaffer is there most games anyway so I knew I had to use that as an opportunity to try and impress and catch his eye because an opportunity can come at any time in the season.”

That chance came sooner than expected and Dobbin made sure he took it. Ahead of a summer in which Everton will initially be reduced to having just one senior winger, and with money set to be tight, Dobbin may now get the chance to build on his 12 appearances of this season with another positive pre-season. That is his aim. He said: “I will do the same again, work hard in the summer - get stronger, get faster, get fitter, come back firing again and hopefully get my chance again.”

As he looks ahead to pre-season he knows he can count on the honesty of Dyche, a manager who has been accused of being unwilling to give youth an opportunity yet has offered breakthrough first team chances to Dobbin, Jarrad Branthwaite and Joao Virginia this campaign.

Dobbin said: “He is open with it. You are only going to play if he thinks you are ready and you are capable of playing at that level. You have got to earn your chance, which is what I prefer because if I know I am pushing towards something, and if I am performing at a high level, I am going to get the chance to have that reward. It gives you confidence if you know that, if you are hitting the right level, he will put his confidence in you and trust you. It shows I am in control of what I am in control of and it is down to me where I can go.”