A FORMER football starlet who was once tracked by an English Premier League club has been convicted of supplying cocaine.
Steven McAfee — who was on Morton’s books as a teenager — dished out the Class A narcotic from the fire exit door of a licensed premises in Port Glasgow’s Scarlow Street.
The shamed 23-year-old striker, inset, is facing a possible prison sentence after being spotted by plain clothes police and later formally identified from CCTV footage.
McAfee — who now plays for Port Juniors — works as a labourer after ‘forfeiting’ a career in banking as a result of the cocaine offence, Greenock Sheriff Court was told.
Prosecutor Pamela Brady told the court: “Three police officers in plain clothes and in an unmarked car became aware of the accused at the fire exit doorway with other males. CCTV monitored the accused and he was traced and detained.
“Within his wallet was a polythene wrap containing white powder, which tested positive for cocaine.” 
The court heard that McAfee was seen passing a bag of the drug to another man.
He later claimed to police that he had merely done this in order to ‘become friends’ with him.
But McAfee told social workers preparing a pre-sentencing background report on him that he had been handed the £30 bag by someone and had been trying to return it.
His defence lawyer, Charles Drummond, said: “His position is that he had no interest in this bag and it was his intention to return this item to individuals.”
But Sheriff Derek Hamilton noted: “He tells the police that he’d passed this on to become friends with someone, and in the background report he says that a big boy did it and ran away.
“It is completely incredible what he suggests in the report.”
Solicitor Mr Drummond said: “Mr McAfee had a promising career with the Royal Bank of Scotland which he has now forfeited, albeit that he has now found work as a labourer.
“He is from a very good family who are not at all impressed with him.”
McAfee was a promising 17-year-old in Morton’s under 19s squad when he was scouted by Aston Villa — then in England’s top flight league — in 2011.
Morton’s then-head of youth John Laird said at the time: “The Villa scout came to talk to me about Steven McAfee after we had played a game against the Celtic under-19s. Steven played very well.”
Sheriff Hamilton declared that McAfee appeared to want to ‘pick and choose’ his sentence after ruling himself out of doing unpaid work because he plays for the Port at weekends.
The sheriff said: “I will continue this matter for Mr McAfee to clarify his employment commitments going forward to see if there is an alternative to custody here.” 
He told McAfee: “When you decide to supply drugs at the door of a nightclub there are consequences to that.”
McAfee, of Southfield Avenue in Port Glasgow, committed the cocaine supply offence on October 18 last year.
He is due back in court to learn his fate on October 26.