Tony Evans (footballer, born 1954)

Anthony Evans (born 11 January 1954) is an English former professional footballer.

Tony Evans
Personal information
Full name Anthony Evans[1]
Date of birth (1954-01-11) 11 January 1954 (age 70)[1]
Place of birth Liverpool,[1] England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1973 Formby 15 (7)
1973–1975 Blackpool 6 (0)
1975–1979 Cardiff City 124 (47)
1979–1983 Birmingham City 66 (28)
1983–1984 Crystal Palace 21 (7)
1984–1985 Wolverhampton Wanderers 23 (5)
1985Bolton Wanderers (loan) 4 (0)
1985Exeter City (loan) 0 (0)
1985–1986 Swindon Town 10 (0)
1986–1987 Stafford Rangers
Total 269 (94)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Evans was born in Liverpool. He played as a forward for clubs including Cardiff City, for whom he made well over 100 appearances,[3] and Birmingham City, for whom he was leading scorer in the 1981–82 season.[4]

Evans scored a hat-trick for Birmingham City against Manchester City in September 1981.[4] This was the last top-flight hat-trick for Birmingham City until Mikael Forssell scored three against Tottenham Hotspur in 2008.

He then spent 21 games of the 1983-84 season with Crystal Palace, scoring seven goals - all of them away from home - to ensure their safety in the Second Division.[5]

He joined Swindon Town on a free transfer from Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 1985, staying for the whole season but only racking up 14 appearances - mostly in August and September, and none after January - before he went to Stafford Rangers in May 1986.[6] He stayed there for one season.[7]

On retiring from football, he became a social worker, setting up the "Midnight League" to give young people an opportunity to play organised football at night as a diversion from possibly less constructive activities.[8][9]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Tony Evans". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  2. ^ Rollin, Jack, ed. (1980). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 62. ISBN 0362-02017-5.
  3. ^ "Tony Evans". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
  4. ^ a b Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. pp. 85, 217. ISBN 1-85983-010-2.
  5. ^ "1983/84 revisited".
  6. ^ "Tony Evans playing record". Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  7. ^ "Tony Evans". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  8. ^ Davies, Gareth A. (14 December 2000). "Rays of hope in the dead of night". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
  9. ^ Hubbard, Alan (22 April 2001). "Just a kick at midnight". The Independent. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2009.