Julian Eyestone: Football from Birth | OneFootball

Ever since he could walk, football has been a part of Julian Eyestone’s life.

As a youngster growing up in Dallas, Texas, the Brentford B goalkeeper constantly had a ball at his feet, thanks to his dad Peter’s collegiate career playing the game.

It’s no surprise the journey Eyestone has been on ever since, which has taken him from the academy system in America, to the college level and now west London with the young Bees.

“Ever since I could walk, I was basically kicking a ball around because my dad was part of that trailblazer generation, nobody played soccer in America but my dad,” explained Eyestone.

“We always had balls lying around and it was always his sport, so he was always wanting me to play. I was probably two years old when I joined my sister’s team; I’d go practice with them every day, I was four when I started playing on a real team.

“My whole family’s athletes, we have been raised that we had to play sports no matter what … I was playing three, four sports my whole life.

“Even when I couldn’t play other sports and I was forced to just stick to soccer, I was out playing pick-up basketball and throwing the baseball and stuff.”

From his early years playing grassroots level, Eyestone graduated into club ranks, continually impressing as he increasingly played at higher levels.

“I joined a club called Solar in Dallas, which is like a big club that isn’t a professional academy, then when I was 11, I left Solar to join FC Dallas’s Academy,” said Eyestone.

At the age of 17, the University of Duke came calling, Eyestone leaving high school a year early to join the famous school.

While not the biggest university in terms of student numbers, the sporting history the school possesses makes it a premier place for student athletes to go.

“I had the best coaches, I had the best teammates, I had such a great experience. They put the reins in my hands, they said, ‘We know you’re 17 but we want you to come and we believe in you’ - that was all I needed to hear,” explained Eyestone.

“The boys all believed in me, they backed me even though I was a bit younger and they helped me along. We had a good year.

“It’s not 30,000 students, it’s 5,000/6,000, you see all these other athletes, there are probably a few hundred student athletes on campus, and you get to know all of them.

“Every day I’m walking past the basketball players, the football players, I’m boys with the football players, a few basketball players, the baseball guys, the volleyball girls, everybody’s friends on the sporting side.”

While heavily focused on impressing on the pitch during his freshman year, the 18-year-old continued to put the work in off the pitch in the classroom, something he has carried into his time at Brentford.

His sister Sydney, two years his senior, led the way with her studies in astrophysics, helping drive Eyestone to excel in his schooling, too. An eye towards life after football has also played a part, with the keeper aware that the sport may not be forever.

“I’m still doing classes in university, this is my second year… I’m doing an online programme at the University of Pennsylvania, I’m taking a Liberal Arts degree, it’s a bit of a slower paced one, it’ll take me a good five or six years to do, but I’m hoping that by the end of it I can have a degree,” he said.

“After that, I wouldn’t be opposed to going for a Masters or something of that nature.

“Even if everything goes super well and you have a long career, nobody plays past 40, nobody plays into their 40s.

“I wouldn’t mind staying in the world of football, it would be great, it’s all that I know. At the same time, I wouldn’t mind going out and learning more, more life experience, different job realms, things like that.

“Whether that’s the business realm like what my dad does, or working in communications like my mum does, I’ve got a few different paths that I’m curious about.”

Since arriving in west London from Duke in the summer, Eyestone has impressed for Neil MacFarlane’s B team, with his form earning him a spot on Thomas Frank’s bench at stages this Premier League season.

“It’s been fantastic, learning so much every single day has been such a benefit, I feel like the person I was when I walked through the door at the start of the season to now, I’ve learned and I’ve developed as a person and a player a lot,” explained Eyestone.

“As far as results go, it’s been great. The boys are putting in shift after shift, we’re doing really well right now.

“Personally, getting to be in and around the first team as much as I have been, it’s been a total blessing, it’s something that I don’t take lightly.

“Every day, coming out here and being able to train with the first team and being a bit more regular with them, it’s not something that I’m just happy about; that is hopefully the next step.”

Joining first-team goalkeeper Mark Flekken in training and matchdays has provided Eyestone with valuable experience of the top flight in English football, exposure that the youngster doesn’t take lightly.

“There are plenty of things to learn just from being around the guys, especially on a matchday, where I’m not really doing a lot, but I get to watch how they carry themselves and how they act, there are plenty of things to learn as a professional,” he said.

“On the pitch, the speed and the standards are so high at this level and at this club… even just stepping up from the B team, the game sped up so much, you’ve got to be that much quicker, that much sharper, that much cleaner on the ball.

“It’s that next level, that next standard, you can see it. Training with them as much as I have been, you can really get to feel that standard and see what it’s like to step into it, you can see what you need to do to make it to that level.”

With the end of the season edging closer with every passing week, Eyestone has goals in mind, both on a team and personal level.

“As a team, we just want to keep winning, we want some silverware, we’re in a good spot to go and win the Premier League Cup and win the league as well - we believe we can do it,” he said.

“Individually, I just want to keep pushing towards that first team, try to keep getting better and trying to work my way into the team as much as I can.”