Joe Hilton signed a two-year scholarship deal with Everton in February
2016 after leaving Manchester City and joined a group of promising young
goalkeepers at Finch Farm.
Hilton had already played for City's U18s team while aged just 15,
and was highly-rated by coaches at the Etihad Campus. The young
6'-5" giant saved a penalty for City's U18s last April as a youthful
Citizens line-up lost 4-1 in North London. And it is believed Everton
had to fend off interest from other top flight clubs to persuade Hilton
to come to Merseyside.
The competition at Finch Farm, however, was tough as he did not play
for the U18s in that first full season, 2016-17, and it took quite a while the
following season before he appeared on the bench for an Everton U18s
game in November 2016. He would not get a game for the U18s and was an
unused sub in the brief FA Youth Cup campaign, but did appear in one
Under-23 game, in the Premier League Cup at Portsmouth.
For season
2017-18, however, he started as first-choice
keeper for the U18s and also featured in a handful of games for the
U23s until he was rotated with newcomer Nicolas Hansen. He signed a new one-year contract in July 2018,
despite the arrival of Joao Virginia, who
would eventually go above him in the pecking order for the U23s, with
Hilton spending most games on the bench.
It came as no surprise when
he was farmed out on loan to Marine for the second half of the 2018-19
season, with a deal whereby he could swing by on an as-needed basis to
bolster David Unsworth's U23 squad as sub keeper. He played 18
games for Marine, keeping 6 clean sheets but Everton chose to finally
release him at the end of the season.
Top of the Page