Ched Evans
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Chedwyn Michael Evans | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Manchester City | ||
| Number | 26 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of September 10 2008 (UTC) | |||
Chedwyn Michael "Ched" Evans (born 28 December, 1988 in Rhyl) is a Welsh footballer currently playing for Manchester City. He is currently in the first team at Manchester City and looks to be a hot prospect.
Evans began his playing career in Rhyl and was spotted by highly-respected football scout John Reardon. Ched spent several years scoring many goals at Chester City's youth set-up before it folded. He scored the winning goal in the Nathan Fennah Memorial game at the Deva Stadium in Chester City's U12s' 1–0 win against Wigan U12s. Evans played and starred for Moss Valley Rovers in many summer tournaments in the North West. Manchester City signed him in 2002 following the collapse of Chester City's youth system on Reardon's advice. Contrary to some reports, he was never at Manchester United's youth system on trial or otherwise.
In September 2007, Evans came off the bench to make his senior début in City’s 1-0 Carling Cup victory against Norwich. The striker had scored a hat-trick for the reserves at Sunderland the week before and a brace against Bury.
Previously, In the 2006–07 season, Evans scored 16 goals in 23 starts at Academy level, and a further six in 10 starts in the Premier Reserve League, as well as gaining his first Wales U21 cap. Since winning his first cap he has become a regular member of the squad and on 20 November, 2007 he scored a hat-trick against France U21s. In doing so he became only the fourth player to have scored a hat-trick for the under-21 side, along with John Hartson, Craig Davies and Lee Jones.
On 21 November 2007, Evans moved to Norwich City on loan until 1 January 2008. He made his début for the Canaries the following week when he came on as a substitute in the 3–1 victory over Blackpool.
His first goal for the club came just two minutes into his first start in the 2–1 victory over Plymouth Argyle on 4 December 2007. He then scored the winning goal in Norwich's next game, a 1–0 win over Sheffield United at Carrow Road on 8 December 2007.
Evans returned to Manchester City after 1 January when the loan deal expired. Initially, Norwich manager Glenn Roeder's attempts to extend the loan were refused, however, on 10 January 2008, the club announced that Evans would return to Norwich on loan until 26 February 2008, with the Manchester Club initially able to recall him after 6 February, however, after talks between the two clubs at the end of January 2008, it was announced that Evans would be staying with the Carrow Road club until the end of the season. Then-manager Sven-Göran Eriksson stated he had no plans to sell Evans and that he will not be sold in the summer window.
On 13 April 2008, Evans scored his first goal in an East Anglian Derby. Despite ending up on the losing side this confirmed Evans' cult status amongst the supporters.
At the end of his loan spell, he had notched up 10 goals from 20 starts and eight substitute appearances — an impressive ratio in a struggling Norwich side. In a rich vein of form for the Wales U21s too, John Toshack handed him his full national début against Iceland on May 28, 2008, and he responded with a back-heel[1] just before half time to give Wales a 1-0 victory.
Evans made his Premiership debut for Manchester City on the 18 August, 2008, on the opening game of the season, against Aston Villa. He wasn't chosen for the starting eleven, but replaced Valeri Bojinov, who suffered another long term injury during the pre-game warmup.
Ched Evans scored his first Premier League goal for Manchester City against Portsmouth on September 21, 2008.
External links
- Ched Evans at Soccerbase