A look back at Phil Jagielka’s twelve years at Everton

Everton captain Phil Jagielka announced yesterday that he would be leaving the club at the end of the month when his current contract with the club expires. He is currently the longest-serving player at the club, and this brings to an end a storied dozen-year tenure at the club that saw him come over from Sheffield United in the summer of 2007.

In that time, he has racked up an impressive 385 appearances for the Toffees, scoring 19 times and picking up 11 assists along the way as well. A couple of those are truly memorable, like the Merseyside Derby equalizer at Anfield in front of the Kop, and the FA Cup semi-final shootout winner against Manchester United that sent the Blues to the final. Unfortunately he missed that game with an injury and the Toffees lost to Chelsea - what might have been eh?

Jags also picked up 40 England caps along the way, and three international goals as well.

It’s truly a shame that he leaves the club without lifting a trophy, and agony that the fans know all too well.

We put together a gallery of pictures, two from every season he spent as an Everton player spanning the time from 2007 until his emotional and fond farewell against Burnley a few weeks ago at Goodison Park.

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• Jagielka during the 2007 preseason, soon after he signed for Everton
• Jagielka during the 2007 season, soon after he signed for Everton Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
• Jagielka during his second season at Everton Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images
• Jagielka during his second season at Everton Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
• Jagielka missed a big part of the 2009-10 season with a knee injury Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
• Jagielka missed a big part of the 2009-10 season with a knee injury Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
• Jagielka was a regular in the starting XI by the time the 2010-11 season rolled around Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
• Jagielka was a regular in the starting XI by the time the 2010-11 season rolled around Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
• Jagielka saw his knee ligament issue flare up again in the 2011-12 season Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
• Jagielka saw his knee ligament issue flare up again in the 2011-12 season Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images
• Jagielka had the captain’s armband by the end of David Moyes’ tenure in 2012-13 Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
• Jagielka had the captain’s armband by the end of David Moyes’ tenure in 2012-13 Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images
• Jagielka retained the captain’s armband from the outset of Roberto Martinez’ era in 2013-14 Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images
• Jagielka retained the captain’s armband from the outset of Roberto Martinez’ era in 2013-14 Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images
• Jagielka after scoring that equalizer in front of the Kop in the 2014-15 season Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
• Jageielka had a very good 2014-15 season statistically Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images
• Jagielka takes on Rooney early in the 2015-16 season Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
• Jagielka missed a couple of months with knee issues again in 2015-16 Photo by Dave Thompson/Getty Images
• Jagielka stayed as captain during Ronald Koeman’s tenure starting in 2016-17 Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images
• Jagielka takes on soon-to-be teammate Gylfi Sigurdsson during the 2016-17 season Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images
• Jagielka endured a tough 2017-18 campaign, as did Everton as a whole Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
• Jagielka during the 2017-18 season Photo by Mark Robinson/Getty Images
• Jagielka celebrates scoring his last goal for Everton in the 2018-19 season Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images
• Jagielka got to bid Goodison adieu with a cameo appearance in the last home game of 2018-19 Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

The Blues have been through some uncertain times over the last decade, as David Moyes left the club and we quickly cycled through Roberto Martinez, David Unsworth, Ronald Koeman, Unsy again, Sam Allardyce and now Marco Silva, but throughout it all the club has been led by the stable and composed presence of the captain, Phil Jagielka.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do next Jags, you’re a true Blue forever.