CHRISTOPHER ATHERTON HAS already set one footballing record that is unlikely to be broken anytime soon.

At 13, in September 2022, the Armagh native made his senior debut with Glenavon, in the process becoming the UK’s youngest-ever player.

“There are other kids [who] if I’d put them in the first team at 13 or 14, it could ruin them mentally because it’d go to their heads, but I knew it wouldn’t with him. He’s a quiet boy, an introvert. He’s not excitable,” then-Glenavon boss Gary Hamilton told The Athletic at the time, adding that the young winger was “the best young player I’ve seen come through… He is just always scanning the pitch. It’s rare for someone that age.”

He initially joined Glenavon at the age of four and was a first-team regular for the NIFL Premiership club during the 2024-25 season, making 34 appearances overall. Last March, he scored his first goal against Loughgall, impressing despite the team struggling to a 10th-place finish out of 12 top-flight clubs.

At the end of last month, it was confirmed that Atherton, who is now 17, completed a transfer from Northern Ireland to represent the Republic of Ireland.

The move prompted some consternation up north and excitement in the south.

Atherton has long been considered one of Irish football’s brightest prospects – frequently playing with higher age groups even before his senior breakthrough.

Billy Barr, the scout who arranged his move from Glenavon to Chelsea, previously worked with Everton and was instrumental in the Toffees’ recruiting of Seamus Coleman and Shane Duffy.

The Blues starlet, who signed for the Premier League club on St Patrick’s Day 2024 before officially linking up with them last summer, consequently dreams of one day becoming the third Barr-endorsed player to captain Ireland.

Yet even for youngsters as talented as Atherton, the route to a career in professional football is rarely straightforward.

Jim Fraser, the longstanding Head of Youth Development at Chelsea and the man primarily responsible for Atherton’s signing, left only four months later, along with fellow stalwart Neil Bath, as part of a significant restructuring of the academy, despite the club enjoying great success under the pair, winning five FA Youth Cups in a row between 2014 and 2018.

This transition has impacted Atherton, with other players in his position recruited and prioritised in the London club’s youth set-up.

While the homesickness felt in the early days of his move is wearing off, Atherton is unsettled at the club and frustrated with their change of plans.

Despite making a four-year commitment, the expectation is that he will move on in the summer, with high-profile Champions League-level sides currently understood to be monitoring the situation.

And while the announcement of his decision to switch to the Republic will have been a surprise to many Northern Ireland fans, those within the association would not have been so shocked.

At the end of last season, Atherton told the Irish Football Association that he would be taking a break from international football to focus on settling in at Chelsea and to afford him some extra time to spend with family during the breaks in the club game.

Multiple subsequent Northern Ireland underage call-ups were declined. 

And by Christmas, the decision was made, with the inspirational 3-2 victory over Hungary in the World Cup qualifiers alleviating any lingering doubts he may have had.

Not that his aspirations to play for the Republic weren’t long held.

Atherton (centre) pictured signing for Chelsea on St Patrick's Day 2024, with Billy Barr (right), Jim Fraser (left) and scout Danny Dolan.

Atherton was part of the FAI Emerging Talent Programme at 12 years of age, with Rory Finneran and Goodness Ogbonna – both of whom represented Ireland at the U17 World Cup last November – among his teammates.

But regular trips to Dublin were harder to commit to as he became more embedded in Glenavon’s senior set-up.

Andy Waterworth, the Elite Performance Director at the Irish FA, asked for permission to speak to Atherton, and initially, they were happy for the player to stay involved with both countries, before lining out solely with the North became the most convenient option at the time.

Representing the North also required diplomacy in certain respects.

Christopher’s father, Stephen, hails from Glasgow, and the youngster has been a Celtic season ticket holder since the age of four.

Yet he felt the pressure to avoid posting about these frequent trips to Parkhead on his Instagram page, knowing it would not go down well with a section of Northern Ireland’s support base.

Atherton considers Bhoys star Jota and Everton veteran Seamus Coleman among his heroes, and like the latter, was a keen GAA player growing up in a small Armagh parish with a chapel and Gaelic pitch as its two main landmarks.

And while Atherton always felt a more personal affiliation with the Republic, it did not prevent waves of abuse greeting the recent announcement.

The significant media attention Atherton received was a factor, of course. BBC News were among the outlets that broadcast the story, which led to substantial pressure that a 17-year-old can never be fully prepared for.

Some social media users complained that Atherton was taking up time and resources from Northern Ireland’s prestigious JD National Academy, which he in fact never attended, rejecting invitations to do so and preferring to play football at his school.

John McKnight, the scout who brought Christopher over to Man City at the age of eight and Man United at 14, believes he has “a big chance” of carving out a sustained career in the game. 

“Superb pace, skipped past players as if they weren’t there, and he scored some smashing goals. Absolutely loved him,” he tells The 42 of his early impressions of the player.

“Great family, and the kid himself is absolutely brilliant. I mean, he’s such a nice fella, makes life easy for a scout. He’s the kind of player who will listen to what he’s told. 

“I think Chris could make it to senior level [in Britain], I really do. I’d be really, really proud if he does.”