Ebbrell signed schoolboy forms for Everton aged 12. Everton proposed Ebbrell attend trials for the first intake of the FA/GM National Football School at Lilleshall in 1984. The trials were successful and he went on to captain the England schoolboys teams at various age levels. Shortly after graduating he signed professional forms for Everton in 1986 and was quickly fast-tracked by Howard Kendall to regularly train with the first team squad, resulting in an early first team call-up and then to becoming a regular first team player in the early 1990s. 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, 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.