Ian Evatt

Ian Ross Evatt (born 19 November 1981) is an English professional football manager and former player.

He is the manager of Bolton Wanderers.

He also owns shares in Football Ventures (Whites) Ltd, the company that own Bolton Wanderers, making him one of minority owners of the club itself.

Evatt began his career as a central midfielder, but was later converted to a central defender.

He signed his first professional contract on his seventeenth birthday in 1998.

He began his professional career in 1999 at Derby County, and he also played for Northampton Town (on loan), Chesterfield (in two spells), Queens Park Rangers and Blackpool.

His first appearance in the Derby team came in the last match of the 2000–01 season, on 19 May 2001 at Pride Park, when he replaced Þórður Guðjónsson in the 78th minute.

In the 2001–02 season he spent two months on loan with Division Two club Northampton Town, from 10 August to 10 October 2001, playing in eleven League games.

His next appearance for Derby came in April 2002 when he came on for Rob Lee against Newcastle United, then on the last day of the 2001–02 Premier League season he made his full debut against Sunderland, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–1 draw at the Stadium of Light.

Derby were relegated and the following season, under new manager John Gregory, Evatt was a regular starter in the side.

On 9 September 2002, Evatt scored The Rams ' third goal as they beat Division Two club Mansfield Town 3–1 in the League Cup.

In the following round against Oldham Athletic, Evatt found himself having to play in goal when Mart Poom got sent off.

He started out as a centre-midfielder, before being moved to central defence.

Evatt said of the move, "I started off my career in midfield. I played a few games in the Premier League and, as I got bigger, I moved backwards but I enjoyed it. They saw the potential for me to be a better centre-half."

He made a total of 34 League appearances for The Rams, including some in the Premier League, but was released by George Burley at the end of the 2002–03 season.

Evatt suffered an injury in March 2003.

Then, just before George Burley was appointed as manager to replace John Gregory, who had been sacked in March, Evatt had to have a double hernia operation and he did not feature much for Derby afterwards.

Evatt signed for Division Two club Chesterfield in July 2003, with Spireites manager Roy McFarland saying that Evatt was his number-one target to take to the club.

Initially he played in midfield, where he struggled, before being moved by McFarland into central defence, where his performances improved.

He went on to become the club captain and he won the Player of the Season award for the 2003–04 season.

However, in the summer he needed a further hernia operation as the operation the previous year while he was with Derby did not fix the problem.

On 26 August 2004, Evatt signed a contract extension with the club to the summer of 2007, saying that it took him just five minutes to make the decision to sign, as he felt the club were "going in the right direction".

At the end of the 2004–05 season, Evatt won the SIFA Player of the Season Award and was runner-up in the CFSS Player of the Season Award.

He made a total of 84 League appearances, scoring nine goals for the Spireites.

In February 2005, Chesterfield turned down an offer for Evatt from Bristol City.

He was also attracting interest from other clubs, including Leicester City.

On 2 June 2005, Evatt signed a three-year contract with Championship club Queens Park Rangers for a fee of £150,000, under a clause in his contract at Chesterfield that allowed him to move if a six-figure bid was made.

On 3 December 2005, during an away match against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, Evatt was assaulted by a Stoke fan.

When a Stoke City player was sent off, resulting in a penalty being awarded to QPR, a young Potters fan ran onto the pitch and jumped at Evatt from behind, knocking him to the floor, where he was also alleged to have punched Evatt.

The youth was arrested and subsequently charged with assault.

He was banned from attending football matches for three years and at trial pleaded guilty to assault.

Evatt made 27 League appearances for the Hoops.

As a player, he gained promotion with Blackpool (from League One to the Championship in 2006–07, and from the Championship tier to the Premier League in 2009–10) and with Chesterfield (from League Two to League One, as champions, in 2013–14).

On 1 August 2006 he was sent on a six-month loan to Blackpool, who were then in League One.

As a manager, he won promotion with Barrow from the National League to League Two in 2019–20 and with Bolton from League Two to League One in 2020–21 as well as winning the EFL Trophy with Bolton.

Evatt was born in Coventry, West Midlands.

As a child he supported hometown club Coventry City.

He attended Caludon Castle School for his secondary education.

When he was ten years old, Evatt played for the district side in his hometown and was scouted by Derby County.

He started with them from the age of 11 years.