Alun Evans
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| Alun Evans | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alun William Evans | |
| Date of birth | September 30, 1949 | |
| Place of birth | Bewdley, England | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1966-68 1968-72 1972-75 1975-78 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers Liverpool Aston Villa Walsall South Melbourne |
22 (4) 79 (21) 60 (11) 87 (7) |
| National team | ||
| England Under-23 | 4 | |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Alun William Evans (born 30 April 1949) was a centre forward who made his name in the Liverpool side rebuilt by Bill Shankly at the start of the 1970s.
[edit] Life and playing career
Born in Bewdley, Worcestershire, England, Evans was a skilful striker who had played for England at youth and under-23 level. When he outran and out-thought Liverpool captain Ron Yeats in a match in 1968 for his first club Wolves, Shankly liked what he saw. Evans duly joined for a huge £110,000. Despite his youth, he was only 19, and despite Shankly's known desire to introduce new players gradually to the team, Evans was put straight into the side and stayed there until the end of the season. He made his debut on the 21 September 1968 in a league match against Leicester City at Anfield, the game also provided Evans' first goal for the club, he scored the third of an emphatic 4-0 victory, Evans' goal came in the 10th minute with all 4 goals being scored by the 12th! Evans went on to feature in 33 league games scoring seven goals as Liverpool finished 6 points, in the old 2pts for a win system, adrift of Leeds United who won the title with 67 points setting a points record in doing so, a record that was broken by the Liverpool side of 1978/79.
The following year, Evans seemed set to become the replacement for Roger Hunt, who departed for Bolton Wanderers, but he struggled to maintain his early impact, possibly due to nerves.
In 1971 he fared better, scoring frequently at the start of the season but suffered from injury and ill-luck which forced him out of the team, including facial scarring after being attacked with broken glass in a nightclub. He got back in towards the end, scoring a magnificent equaliser against Merseyside rivals Everton as Liverpool came from behind to win their FA Cup semi-final at Old Trafford. However, Evans played disappointingly in the final and was substituted midway through the second half being replaced by winger Peter Thompson. Liverpool eventually lost 2-1 to Arsenal after extra time.
He also bagged a hat-trick to remember during the '70/71 campaign, it came in a European Fairs Cup 4th round 1st leg tie at Anfield against German giants Bayern Munich on the 10 March '71, Evans hit the back of the net in the 30th, 49th and 73rd minutes of the 3-0 win, the victory proved to much for Bayern who could only manage to get a draw out of the Reds in the 2nd leg, the game ended 1-1 meaning Liverpool went through 4-1 on aggregate.
Evans Anfield career didn't last much longer, after 111 first team appearances he departed for Second Division, newly promoted, Aston Villa on the 20 June 1972, Evans could have joined the Villa Park club straight from school as he impressed during a trial in 1964, however, he decided to sign for Midland rivals Wolves.
Villa paid Liverpool £72,000 for the 23 year-old hoping that the early promise that he showed at Molineux would show through, unfortunately, for both Alun and the club, he, again, struggled somewhat and after Villa had finished third, 1 spot outside of the promotion places, and a very disappointing 14th the following season, changes had to be made, so with just 71 games and 17 goals in his 2½ seasons he was allowed to leave joining fellow Midlanders Walsall for £30,000 on 14 December 1975, ironically, 5 months after Evans departed, Villa gained the promotion back to the big time they yearned for finishing runner-up to Manchester United by 3 points.
He ended his career abroad playing in both the USA and Australia (South Melbourne FC). After hanging up his boots he stayed in Melbourne for a spell where he became a delivery driver delivering bread, he then went on to become a painter and decorator.
Evans was also a useful League cricketer and is presently in the Lancashire Over 50s squad as a wicket-keeper/batsman.
Considering Alun had only a brief spell at Liverpool he made his way into the hearts of Koppites everywhere, mainly due to his FA Cup semi final derby goal in 1971. He was voted in at No.87 on the 2006 Official Liverpool Football Club web-site poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop.
