Christopher Michael Long (born 25 February 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL League Two club Crewe Alexandra.
[2] He made his debut for the Toffees' youth team in a 2–1 Premier Academy League defeat to Bolton Wanderers on 5 February 2011, coming on as a late substitute for Hallam Hope.
[10] After steady progress in the reserves and a goal for the first team in a 3–1 pre-season friendly defeat to Paderborn in August 2014,[11] Long received his maiden call into the senior squad for Everton's dead rubber Europa League group stage match versus Krasnodar on 11 December.
[13] Entering the final six months of his contract in January 2015, Long stated that he hoped to earn a new deal with his performances on loan away from Goodison Park.
[16] Allotted the number 15 shirt, Long made the first professional appearance of his career in a 3–2 win over Shrewsbury Town three days later, starting the match and scoring his first senior goal to put the Dons 2–1 ahead.
[19] Long followed in the footsteps of former Everton youth colleagues Jake Bidwell, Adam Forshaw and Conor McAleny by joining Championship side Brentford on 20 January 2015, on an initial one-month loan.
[25] A stomach bug, an injury and a gashed knee (the latter suffered in an Everton reserve match) kept Long out of the squad for the rest of the regular season.
[28][29][30] Long failed to appear again until what became Brentford's final game of the season, a 3–0 playoff semi-final second leg defeat to Middlesbrough on 15 May,[28] replacing Toumani Diagouraga after 71 minutes.
[43] He made his Crewe debut in a League Cup first round tie at Hartlepool United on 10 August 2021,[44] but initially struggled to get further games due to COVID-19, Norovirus and a slight injury.
[56] After his third season at the club, having helped it reach the League 2 play-off final in May 2024, Long was offered another new contract by Crewe[57] and signed a one-year deal.
[62] Making a first league start since his injury comeback, Long scored the opening goal in Crewe's 3–2 New Year's Day victory over Carlisle United.