Tom Evans (footballer, born 1976)

For other people named Tom Evans, see Thomas Evans (disambiguation).

Tom Evans

200px Evans playing for York City in 2007
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Raymond Evans
Date of birth	(1976-12-31) 31 December 1976
Place of birth	Doncaster, England
Height
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
000?–1995	Sheffield United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–1996	Sheffield United	0	(0)
1996–1997	Crystal Palace	0	(0)
1996	→ Harrow Borough (loan)
1997	→ Coventry City (loan)	0	(0)
1997–2006	Scunthorpe United	245	(0)
2006–2008	York City	81	(0)
2008–2009	Alfreton Town	16	(0)
2009	→ Gainsborough Trinity (loan)	4	(0)
2009–2010	Boston United
International career
2003	Northern Ireland B	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Thomas Raymond "Tom" Evans (born 31 December 1976) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in England, he has played for the Northern Ireland B team.

Club career

Early career

Born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, Evans started his career with the Sheffield United youth system as a trainee before signing a professional contract on 3 July 1995. He made no appearances for the side before joining Crystal Palace on a free transfer on 14 June 1996, and was loaned out to Isthmian League side Harrow Borough in August. Evans later made a loan move to FA Premier League side Coventry City in March 1997, but failed to make any appearances.

Scunthorpe United

Palace released him after his first season at the club and on 22 August 1997 he signed for Scunthorpe United. Evans played for Scunthorpe in their 1–0 victory over Leyton Orient in the 1999 Football League Third Division play-off Final at Wembley Stadium. He had surgery on a hand injury in May 2005, having suffered a problem with one of his knuckles on his index finger that had troubled him in previous seasons. This operation led to him missing the first two months of the season, but returned to the line-up in early December. He kept his place in the team for three months and after another spell on the sidlines he played in Scunthorpe's last six matches of the season.

York City

File:Tom Evans 2.png

Evans playing for York City in 2007

He was released by Scunthorpe in May 2006 and joined Conference National club York City on 31 July after making a good impression on manager Billy McEwan during several weeks on trial. He said that he believed promotion could be achieved for York with 20 clean sheets. He was sent off in the 16th minute of a game against Crawley Town on 9 September after fouling Dannie Bulman outside the penalty box, which York lost 3–0 with second choice goalkeeper Arran Reid being used as his replacement. He was offered a new contract by York City at the end of the 2006–07 season.

At the beginning of York's 2007–08 season, Evans came under-fire for poor performances by his manager, Billy McEwan and was later replaced by on-loan Bristol City goalkeeper Stephen Henderson. Evans kept his place in the side after Henderson's recall back to Bristol City but was released at the end of the season.

Later career

He signed for Alfreton Town in the Conference North in July 2008. Evans found himself dropped from the Alfreton team at the beginning of December 2008 and in March 2009 Evans joined Gainsborough Trinity on a one-loan, debuting in 1–1 draw at Redditch United on 21 March 2009. At Gainsborough, he made four appearances. He finished the 2008–09 season with 24 appearances with Alfreton and he was released by the club, after which he joined Northern Premier League Premier Division team Boston United on 23 July 2009. He was released by Boston on 9 May 2010 after helping them win promotion to the Conference North after beating Bradford Park Avenue 2–1 in the 2010 Northern Premier League Premier Division play-off Final. He later returned to former club Scunthorpe to coach the youth team's goalkeepers.

International career

Evans played Northern Ireland at youth level and won his only cap for the Northern Ireland B team in a 2–1 defeat to Scotland on 20 May 2003.

Personal life

After retiring from professional football, Evans earned qualifications as a financial adviser and worked for Lloyds Bank before joining Paul Kerr Associates, the organisation of former player Paul Kerr.

Career statistics

Club statistics

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Scunthorpe United	1997–98	Third Division	5	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	7	0
	1998–99	Third Division	24	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	27	0
	1999–2000	Second Division	28	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	31	0
	2000–01	Third Division	46	0	5	0	2	0	1	0	54	0
	2001–02	Third Division	42	0	3	0	0	0	3	0	48	0
	2002–03	Third Division	46	0	4	0	1	0	3	0	54	0
	2003–04	Third Division	36	0	6	0	1	0	3	0	46	0
	2004–05	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
	2005–06	League One	18	0	2	0	0	0	3	0	23	0
	Total		245	0	23	0	7	0	16	0	291	0
York City	2006–07	Conference National	45	0	2	0	—		3	0	50	0
	2007–08	Conference Premier	36	0	2	0	—		9	0	47	0
	Total		81	0	4	0	—		12	0	97	0
Alfreton Town	2008–09	Conference North	16	0	6	0	—		2	0	24	0
Gainsborough Trinity (loan)	2008–09	Conference North	4	0	0	0	—		0	0	4	0
Career total			346	0	33	0	7	0	30	0	416	0

Honours

Scunthorpe United

• Football League Third Division play-offs: 1998–99

Boston United

• Northern Premier League Premier Division play-offs: 2009–10

External links

• Tom Evans career statistics at Soccerbase