Mickey Evans (Irish footballer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mickey Evans | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael James Evans | |
| Date of birth | 1 January 1973 | |
| Place of birth | Plymouth, England | |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1991–1997 1992 1997–1998 1998–2000 2000–2001 2001–2006 2006 |
Plymouth Argyle Blackburn Rovers (loan) Southampton West Bromwich Albion Bristol Rovers Plymouth Argyle Torquay United |
162 (39) 0 (0) 22 (4) 63 (6) 21 (4) 176 (31) 14 (1) |
| National team | ||
| 1997 |  Ireland |
1 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Michael James "Mickey" Evans (born 1 January 1973 in Plymouth, England) is an English-born Irish former footballer. Nicknamed "Trigger" after a character from Only Fools and Horses, Evans is a striker who last played for Devon club Torquay United, but also had spells with Southampton, West Brom, Bristol Rovers and spent a large part of his footballing career at Plymouth Argyle.
Despite being born and bred in Plymouth and living in Britain for most of his life, he has one cap for the Republic of Ireland.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
[edit] Plymouth Argyle
Evans originally joined Plymouth Argyle in December 1987 as an associate schoolboy, and signed as a professional in March 1991.
He was a member of Neil Warnock's Plymouth side which won promotion from the Third Division via the play-offs in 1996. Following that success, in March 1997 he was signed by Graeme Souness at Southampton for £650,000.
[edit] Southampton
Souness signed Evans to add a bit of muscle to the forward line as Southampton entered the final lap of a desperate fight to avoid relegation from the Premier League in the 1996-97 season.
He was a big and brave striker and scored four crucial goals as Saints successfully beat the drop, finishing in 16th position. His greatest game in a Saints shirt came at Nottingham Forest's City Ground, where he scored a brace. For the second goal, he sprinted from the half-way line, taking a pass from Eyal Berkovic to beat goalkeeper Mark Crossley who could only half block the shot.
He followed this up with 2 more goals against West Ham United and Coventry City, and his form in April 1997 was such that he was awarded the Premiership Player-of-the-Month Trophy.
The following season, Souness had been replaced as Saints' manager by Dave Jones and Evans lost his place to Kevin Davies. Although he was to make a handful of appearances in the 1997-98 season, his career at The Dell only lasted just over 6 months and in October 1997 he moved on to West Bromwich Albion for a fee of £750,000.
A few days before his transfer to The Hawthorns, he won a Republic of Ireland cap against Romania.
[edit] West Bromwich Albion and Bristol Rovers
Evans made his Albion debut on 29 November 1997, coming on as a late substitute in a 1-0 defeat away at Middlesbrough. Used mainly as a substitute during 1997-98, it took him 12 games to register his first goal for the club, scoring in a 2-0 win at Swindon Town on 7 February 1998. Evans' time at West Brom was frequently blighted by injury. He was loaned out to Bristol Rovers, a successful spell which led to a £250,000 permanent deal being struck in September 2000.[1]
Evans then returned to Plymouth Argyle as one of the first signings of Paul Sturrock, joining on transfer deadline day 2001 for £30,000.[2]
[edit] Back to Plymouth
Although not a prolific goalscorer, Evans played an important role in the Pilgrims' recent success; in particular his hold-up play and lay-offs created numerous goalscoring opportunities for his teammates. He scored the opening goal in Argyle's 4-1 Third Division Championship sealing victory at Darlington in the 2001-02 season.
He was named Argyle's "Player of the Year" during their title-winning Division Two campaign in 2003-04. He scored the opening goal in the 2-0 home victory over Q.P.R which was decisive in confirming Plymouth Argyle as that season's Division 2 champions.
The 33-year-old Plymothian announced his decision to leave Plymouth Argyle, saying "the time is right for me to move on", with effect from the Pilgrims' final Championship game of the season on Sunday 30 April 2006.
Evans scored the winning goal with a "diving header" in his last appearance for Plymouth Argyle against Ipswich Town, to secure the club a 14th place finish in the Football League Championship (the highest finish for the club in two decades) and forever sealing his status as a Plymouth Argyle legend amongst the club's fans.
[edit] Torquay United
On 18 May 2006 Evans signed on a free transfer for local rivals Torquay United.[3] On November 24, 2006, he decided to retire from professional football,[4] a decision coinciding with a period of deep unrest among Torquay United's players.
[edit] Honours won as a player
With Plymouth Argyle
- 1995-96 Football League Division Three play-off winners
- 2001-02 Division Three Champions
- 2003-04 Division Two Champions
With Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland 1 International Cap
[edit] Testimonial Season
In June 2007, a Testimonial Season in honour of Mickey Evans was announced. The main beneficiaries of the various events that have been planned will be several local charities.
[edit] External links
- Mickey Evans career stats at Soccerbase
- Mickey's Testimonial Website : Info on his up and coming testimonial.
[edit] References
- ^ "Rovers complete Evans move", BBC Sport, 2000-09-07. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
- ^ "Transfer deadline moves", BBC Sport, 2001-03-22. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
- ^ "Gulls sign veteran striker Evans", BBC Sport, 2006-05-18. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
- ^ "Veteran target man Evans retires", BBC Sport, 2006-11-29. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Evans, Mickey |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Evans, Michael James |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Footballer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1 January 1973 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Plymouth, England |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
