Ched Evans

Chedwyn Michael Evans (born 28 December 1988) is a Welsh footballer who plays as a striker for club Preston North End.

Born in Rhyl, Evans was signed by Manchester City from Chester City's youth set up in 2002 and he subsequently progressed through the ranks.

Evans began his playing career in Rhyl, before spending two seasons in Chester City's youth set-up from where he moved to Manchester City in 2002 following the closure of Chester's youth team.

During the 2006–07 season, Evans was a regular in the academy and reserve teams and was also in the side that reached the final of the 2006 FA Youth Cup, where City lost to Liverpool.

Evans was loaned to Norwich City in 2007, where he scored 10 goals in 28 league appearances, before returning to his parent club.

In May 2007, Evans signed his first professional contract with Manchester City.

In September 2007 Evans came off the bench to make his senior debut in City's 1–0 League Cup victory against Norwich City.

He also represented Wales at Wales under-21 and senior level, scoring on his debut for the national side in 2008, and making a total of 13 appearances.

With first choice opportunities at City limited, Evans moved on loan to Norwich City in November of that year, agreeing a deal until 1 January 2008.

He made his debut for Norwich the following week when he came on as a substitute in the 3–1 victory over Blackpool.

His first goal for the club came two games later, and just two minutes into his first start in a 2–1 victory over Plymouth Argyle at the start of December.

Evans returned to Manchester City after his initial loan deal expired in January 2008, having made eight appearances and scored two goals.

Initially, Norwich manager Glenn Roeder's attempts to extend the loan were refused, however, on 10 January, the two clubs agreed a deal to allow Evans to return to Norwich on loan until 26 February, with Manchester City able to recall him after an initial period.

However, after talks between the two clubs at the end of January 2008, the deal was extended to allow Evans to stay with the Carrow Road club until the end of the season.

Then Manchester City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson stated he had no plans to sell Evans and that he would not be leaving the summer transfer window.

Evans played regularly for Norwich for the remainder of his loan spell and by the end of the season he had notched up 10 goals from 20 starts and eight substitute appearances.

Evans made his Premier League debut for Manchester City in the opening game of the following season on 18 August, against Aston Villa.

He was not chosen for the starting eleven but replaced Valeri Bojinov, who suffered an injury during the pre-game warm-up.

Evans scored his first Premier League goal for Manchester City against Portsmouth on 21 September, scoring the fifth goal as City went on to win 6–0.

With first team opportunities at City limited he was subsequently sold to Sheffield United for £3 million in 2009.

With City's acquisition of Craig Bellamy and later Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez, Evans opted to leave in 2009 in order to get more first team football.

Evans joined Sheffield United for a fee of £3 million on a three-year deal in July 2009, making his debut for United in the first game of the new season; a 0–0 draw with Middlesbrough.

Having bagged a brace for the Wales U21s during the midweek fixtures he then scored his first goal in Blades colours on his home debut, a 2–0 win over Watford.

Despite a promising start Evans struggled to maintain any real form and was often relegated to the role of substitute during his first season with the Blades, making 36 appearances but scoring only four goals.

The following season Evans was a regular first team choice and his form and scoring rate began to improve, despite the club going through a season of turmoil and battling against relegation.

He finished the campaign as top scorer with nine goals in all competitions, but was unable to prevent the team dropping out of the division.

With the Blades now in League One there was speculation that Evans would be sold to ease the club's wage bill but an injury picked up in the last days of the previous campaign meant he was unavailable until early September, preventing him from moving on to another club.

Having returned from injury Evans hit a rich vein of form scoring regularly in both league and cup competitions as the Blades contested for promotion.

After an unspectacular first two seasons at Bramall Lane he scored 35 goals during the 2011–12 season.

On 28 March 2012 he scored a second-half hat trick within 15 minutes against Chesterfield giving him his thirtieth goal of the season in a 4–1 win for Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

During this impressive third season, Evans drew attention from Championship and Premier League clubs with his contract scheduled to expire in the summer.

However, Blades manager Danny Wilson stated that Evans "[wasn't] even thinking about leaving Bramall Lane", adding "Of course we don't want to lose Ched."

Evans was named League One Player of the Month for March 2012, having scored 10 goals in 8 games.

He was nominated for 'League One Player of the Season', and in April 2012 Evans was named in the League One PFA Team of the Year.

He ended the season with 35 goals in all competitions, but following his rape conviction Evans was released by United at the end of the season.

On 20 June 2016, Evans signed his first contract since his release from prison and the quashing of his conviction, signing for one year at Chesterfield in League One.

He was signed by his former Sheffield United manager Wilson, and their first-team coach was his former Blades teammate Chris Morgan.

He scored on his debut for Chesterfield on 23 July, his first game in nearly four years, in a 3–0 pre-season friendly win over Ilkeston.

He also scored, with a free-kick from 25 yds, on his return to professional football, in a 1–1 away draw with Oxford United, on 6 August 2016.

In his home debut for Chesterfield, on 13 August 2016 against Swindon Town, Evans produced a match-winning performance, scoring Chesterfield's third goal and having a hand in the other two from Gary Liddle and Jay O'Shea as they won 3–1.