He played for Sheffield United in the Football League but an ankle injury limited him to one appearance over two years and would later lead to his retirement.
He returned to Everton initially as a scout but would join Tranmere Rovers as a youth team coach and later, manager of their centre of excellence.
Everton proposed Ebbrell attend trials for the first intake of the FA/GM National Football School at Lilleshall in 1984.
During a difficult decade for the Toffees, Ebbrell was part of the Everton squad that reached the 1995 FA Cup final starting 3 of the 6 matches,[4] but after missing the semi-final (in which Everton comfortably beat an impressive Tottenham Hotspur) through suspension, manager Joe Royle continued with the other two-thirds of the Dogs of War for the final – Barry Horne and Joe Parkinson, and strikers Duncan Ferguson and Daniel Amokachi were chosen to be the outfield subs ahead of Ebbrell.
In July 2010 Ebbrell succeeded Kenny Shiels as Tranmere Rovers' Centre of Excellence Manager.