Everton Forshaw joined the
Everton academy at the age of seven. Prior to the beginning of the
2008–09 season, he was offered a place as a first-year scholar and soon claimed a regular place in the U18 squad. Towards the end of an injury-hit 2008–09 season, Everton's first team manager
David Moyes gave Forshaw his competitive debut in a
Europa League group stage match against
BATE Borisov on 17 December 2009, in which he played the full 90 minutes. Forshaw made his
Premier League debut as an 82nd-minute substitute in a 3–0 win over
Wolverhampton Wanderers on 9 April 2011 and was an unused substitute for a further three league games towards the end of the
2010–11 season. Forshaw signed a one-year contract extension in June 2011 and was an unused substitute for the first team on two occasions during the
2011–12 season. He spent one month away on
loan towards the end of the season and won the reserve team's Player of the Year award. Forshaw was not offered a new contract and was released in May 2012.
Brentford free kick in January 2013.|300x300px On 24 February 2012, Forshaw joined
League One club
Brentford on a one-month youth loan. He made his debut the following day as a 69th-minute substitute for
Sam Saunders in a 0–0 draw with
Scunthorpe United. Forshaw joined Brentford permanently on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee in May 2012. He scored the first professional goal of his career in a 1–0 victory over
Oldham Athletic on 22 September 2012. Forshaw received the first
red card of his career after picking up a second
yellow card in a 2–1 league victory over
Crawley Town on 26 February 2013. After Brentford missed out on automatic promotion to the
Championship following a 1–0 defeat to
Doncaster Rovers, it was Forshaw who scored the winning
penalty in the
playoff semi-final shoot-out against
Swindon Town to send
the Bees to the
final. Forshaw played in the final against
Yeovil Town at
Wembley Stadium, but a 2–1 defeat consigned Brentford to another season in League One. He made 53 appearances during the
2012–13 season and scored three goals. A run of 24 consecutive league starts ended when he was left out of the squad for a 2–0 win over
Port Vale at Griffin Park on 11 January 2014 due to a calf problem. On 16 March, Forshaw was named as the
2014 League One Player of the Year. Forshaw was sent off for the second time of his career in a 1–0 defeat to Swindon Town on 12 April and owing to being suspended, he was absent for Brentford's automatic promotion-clinching 1–0 victory over Preston North End on 18 April. His final appearance of the season came in a 2–2 draw with
Milton Keynes Dons on 21 April and the following day, Forshaw made 40 appearances during the 2013–14 season and scored eight goals. and in the League One
Team of the Year. After missing Brentford's first
2014–15 pre-season friendly in July 2014, manager
Mark Warburton stated that Forshaw would be available for the final pre-season games. In early August, Forshaw was told to stay away from the club's
training ground after two "totally unacceptable" bids for the player were received from Championship rivals Wigan Athletic, managed by former Brentford manager
Uwe Rösler. After missing the early regular-season matches with a hamstring strain, it was announced on 25 August that Wigan Athletic had met Brentford's valuation of Forshaw and he was free to talk with the Latics. Forshaw departed the club on 1 September and made 100 appearances and scored 11 goals during his two spells with the club. believed to be approximately £2.5 million. The move reunited him with his former Brentford manager Uwe Rösler, but the move proved to be an abortive one, with Rösler being dismissed in November 2014 and after 17 appearances and one goal, Forshaw left the
DW Stadium on 28 January 2015. believed to be £2 million. In what remained of the
2014–15 season, he made 20 appearances and experienced another
playoff final defeat, Forshaw made 34 appearances and scored two goals during a successful
2015–16 season, He signed a new four-year contract in August 2016 and in November was reported to have been scouted for the
England national side by manager
Gareth Southgate. He made 35 appearances during a disappointing
2016–17 season, at the end of which Middlesbrough were relegated straight back to the Championship. During three years at the
Riverside, Forshaw made 79 appearances and scored two goals. Forshaw made his Leeds debut starting in Leeds' 0–0 draw against
Hull City on 30 January 2018. After starting for the side since his debut, on 24 February Forshaw missed Leeds' 1–0 win against his former side Brentford with his wife going into labour. He aggravated a previous calf injury against
Sheffield Wednesday on 17 March, which limited his number of performances before the end of the season. During the 2018 preseason, Forshaw sustained a toe injury which on 3 August was reported to require surgery and keep him out for up to eight weeks. He returned from injury on 15 September, as a substitute in the 1–1 draw against
Millwall. Forshaw was praised for his performance in a newer role as
defensive midfielder in a 2–0 win against
Derby County on 11 January 2019, with
Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Phil Hay describing it as "arguably his best for Leeds". During the
2018–19 season, Forshaw played 32 games in all competitions, after Leeds finished the regular season in third place. Leeds qualified for the playoffs and Forshaw started the first leg for Leeds in their semi-final playoff match against sixth-placed Derby County, but was replaced by
Jamie Shackleton after an injury in the first half during a 1–0 win at Pride Park. However, Leeds were beaten 4–3 on aggregate over the two legs. With Forshaw out injured, Leeds lost 4–2 in an encounter at Elland Road that saw Derby progress to the final against
Aston Villa. He featured prominently in the documentary
Take Us Home, documenting the Leeds's
2018–19 season, on
Amazon Prime, released in August 2019. On 8 August 2019, it was reported that Leeds had rejected bids for Forshaw during the 2019 transfer window in order to keep him at the club. Forshaw started the
2019–20 season strongly alongside
Mateusz Klich and
Kalvin Phillips in central midfield, but after seven games suffered a hip injury. The injury was at first judged to be minor, but on 4 January 2020 after 16 weeks out injured, head coach
Marcelo Bielsa said that Forshaw was still trying to recover from his hip injury. In February, Forshaw was sent to the Steadman Clinic in Colorado, United States, for surgery and was ruled out of the rest of the season. After the English professional football season was paused in March 2020 due to the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on association football, the season was resumed during June, where Forshaw earned promotion with Leeds to the
Premier League, who also became
EFL Championship Champions for the 2019–20 season in July after the successful resumption of the season. By January 2021, Forshaw had missed more games for Leeds out injured than he had actually played a part in, with Bielsa stating at a 25 January press conference: "Forshaw is a professional who looks after his health very much, that's why I think that as soon as his injury problems are resolved he will be able to compete very quickly." On 16 April 2021, Forshaw returned to action playing 82 minutes in a Leeds U23 match versus Aston Villa U23, although he sustained a minor hamstring injury which kept him out for another period of time. Following a successful preseason, Forshaw made his first start for nearly two years for Leeds' senior team in a competitive game, playing the first hour of a
League Cup match against
Crewe Alexandra on 24 August 2021. Forshaw played his first league game of the 2021–22 season against
Southampton in October, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for
Rodrigo. On 7 November, Forshaw was in the starting lineup for Leeds against
Leicester City, his first Premier League start in over four years. In January 2022, Forshaw extended his Leeds contract until the end of the 2022–23 season with the option to extend for a further year. On 13 June 2023, Leeds announced that Forshaw's contract would not be renewed, and he would leave the club at the end of the 2022–23 season.
Norwich City On 26 August 2023,
Norwich City signed Forshaw on a free transfer. He made his first appearance for
The Canaries three days later as a substitute in a League Cup tie and, after a handful of other substitute Championship and League Cup games, was named in the starting XI on 4 October 2023 in a league defeat at
Swansea City.
Plymouth Argyle On 19 January 2024, Forshaw joined Championship club
Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer having had his contract with Norwich City terminated. He made his first appearance for
The Pilgrims in a 3–1 win at
Home Park over
Cardiff City on 20 January 2024.
Blackburn Rovers On 11 January 2025, Forshaw joined Championship side
Blackburn Rovers on a short-term deal until the end of the season, having terminated his contract with Plymouth. On 15 February 2025, Forshaw scored his first goal for Blackburn, and his first goal in nine years, against former club Plymouth Argyle in a 2–0 win. Forshaw celebrated in front of his former manager
Miron Muslic, however he later said he was aiming the celebration at his family in the stand. On 19 May 2025, the club announced that the Forshaw would depart in June upon the expiry of his contract, having made 17 appearances in all competitions. On 19 June 2025, Forshaw re-joined
Blackburn Rovers on a one-year contract. Forshaw scored his second goal for the club and his first for the
2025–26 season in a 1–1 draw with
Stoke City. Forshaw was later voted player of the month for March. On 30 April, Forshaw signed a new 1 year contract extension until the end of the 2026–27 season. ==Career statistics==