Royal Blue: Everton FC stars who lost their way and slid down the non-league ladder

Gareth FarrellyTHE number of players who have jumped from non-league to the big league at Everton can be counted on the fingers of one hand.Eamonn O'Keefe (no relation to the usual face at the top of this page - and certainly better at penalties than our Greg) and John Barton (the marauding and moustachioed 70s full-back) are the most recent - unless Echo readers know better.But the number who have made the opposite journey are increasing in number.It's a sweet and sour experience seeing players who once had so much hope invested in them, running out in front of a couple of hundred customers. Sweet, because it's heartening to see players still so in love with the game that they will carry on playing regardless of the level.Sour because such great things were once expected of so many of these 'fallen' stars.Michael Branch was genuinely considered to be the Evertonian equivalent of Michael Owen.(It's about time the journalist who worked on this newspaper who wagered that Branch would get to 20 league goals before Owen paid up).Now he's leading the line for Evo-Stik League side Burscough.Neil Moore achieved fleeting fame at Everton in the early 90s as a commanding centre-half who lived so close to the ground he used to walk there on matchdays - boots slung over his shoulder.Howard Kendall decided he didn't quite have the quality for top flight football, but after a solid career in the lower leagues he now turns out regularly for Conference North side Solihull Moors at the ripe old age of 38.Still in demand, last summer he turned down offers from Bedworth United, Nuneaton Griff, Hinckley United and Shepshed Dynamo before opting for Solihull.Jamie Milligan once formed the most lightweight forward line ever seen at Goodison when he partnered Francis Jeffers for the final few minutes of the 1-0 win over Newcastle on the night Duncan Ferguson was sold.Now he pulls the midfield strings for Fleetwood Town.But perhaps the biggest eye-opener is Republic of Ireland international Gareth Farrelly.

Source: Liverpool_Echo