Corry John Evans (born 30 July 1990) is a Northern Irish professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who plays as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
or
centre-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
for
EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...
side
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
. A
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
under-21 and senior international, he came through the
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
youth academy, like his older brother,
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
centre-back
Jonny Evans
Jonathan Grant Evans (born 3 January 1988) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Leicester City and the Northern Ireland national team.
Evans started his career at Manchester United and progressed th ...
. Corry Evans is capable of operating in defence or the centre of midfield. He has been used mainly as a midfielder for Blackburn Rovers.
Club career
Early career
Born in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
, Evans began his career with Greenisland Boys FC, where fellow
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
youth players
Craig Cathcart
Craig George Cathcart (born 6 February 1989) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for EFL Championship club Watford and the Northern Ireland national team. He has also captained his country's under-21 side.
A ...
and Conor Devlin also played before moving to England. However, when Evans' brother,
Jonny
Jonny is a masculine given name, and pet name, in the English language. A pet form of Jon, the natural diminutive of given name Jonathan, in some cases it can also mean a condom. A variant form of ''Jonny'' is ''Jonnie''.
People with the name
* ...
, was signed by Manchester United, the whole family moved to Manchester.
Manchester United
Evans then joined the Manchester United youth team, and originally played as a schoolboy until he signed a trainee contract with the club on his 16th birthday in July 2006. By then, he had already become a regular in the club's Under-18 side, and he even made his debut for the reserve team on 31 October 2005, coming on as a substitute for
Sam Hewson
Sam Hewson (born 28 November 1988) is an English footballer who plays as a centre midfielder for 1. delid karla side Þróttur Reykjavík.
Club career
Early career
Born in Farnworth, near Bolton, Hewson began his career at his local club, ...
in a 5–1 away defeat by
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
. He made 19 appearances and scored one goal for the Under 18s in 2006–07, but his next reserve team appearance did not come until November 2007, when he came on as a second-half substitute for
David Gray in a 2–1 away win over
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
.
After five more appearances for the reserves in 2007–08, Evans established himself as a regular in the reserve team in 2008–09, and was even given the captain's armband at one point. However, despite having been deployed as a central midfielder throughout his earlier career, Evans found himself increasingly used as a centre-back during the 2008–09 season. Towards the end of the season, along with
James Chester
James Grant Chester (born 23 January 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and is a free agent.
Chester began his career with Manchester United but made only one appearance for the club. He had spells on loan at Peter ...
and
Tom Cleverley
Thomas William Cleverley (born 12 August 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Watford.
After starting his career in the youth set-up at Bradford City, Cleverley joined Manchester United at the age of 1 ...
, Evans was nominated by reserve team manager
Ole Gunnar Solskjær
Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward who last managed Premier League club Manchester United. As a player, Solskjær spent the majority of his care ...
for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award, but lost out to Chester.
Evans received his first call-up to the Manchester United first team on 24 May 2009, when he was named on the bench for the club's last game of the
2008–09 Premier League season against
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...
.
In July 2010, Evans was part of the United squad that toured North America. Although he was an unused substitute in the first match against
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
, he came on as a substitute in the second half of the second game against
Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...
, joining his brother Jonny on the pitch.
On 22 October 2010, he joined
Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
on a one-month loan deal.
Hull City
On 14 January 2011, he joined
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...
on loan. Making his debut on 22 January 2011, as a replacement for
Cameron Stewart
Cameron Stewart (born 1975) is a Canadian comic book creator. He first came to prominence when he collaborated as an illustrator with writer Grant Morrison, and he went on to illustrate ''Catwoman'' and co-write '' Batgirl''. He won Eisner and ...
, and scoring in the 1–1 away draw against
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
. The move was made permanent following the close of the 2010–11 season.
He made his first appearance since joining City on a permanent deal starting against
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
on 13 August 2011 at
Portman Road
Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internatio ...
, with City winning 1–0.
On 10 December 2011 against
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
at the
Ricoh Arena
The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currently home to footb ...
, a neat move down the left resulted in
Dawson sending over a high cross which dropped for Corry Evans, who controlled the ball before sending a low volley past
Joe Murphy and into the bottom corner of the net.
On 29 December 2012, Evans scored the first goal in the Tigers' 2–0 victory over
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
, placing the ball into the bottom corner past Leeds goalkeeper
Paddy Kenny
Patrick Joseph Kenny (born 17 May 1978) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Kenny began his career with Bradford Park Avenue before turning professional in the summer of 1998 upon ...
.
Blackburn Rovers
After 97 appearances for Hull, Evans left to join
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
in August 2013. Despite a groin injury delaying his debut for the club, Evans passed a medical and signed a three-year contract. On 31 August 2013, Evans scored his first goal for the club with a superb volley from 25 yards. In November 2015, he signed a contract extension which would keep him in the club till 2019. He was injured in December 2016 in a match against
Brighton and Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
in December 2016 due to a recurring groin problem. As a result, he was substituted off in the second half. In March 2017, it was announced that he would be ruled out of action for the rest of the season as he would undergo a surgery for his groin problem.
Evans' departure from Rovers was announced at the end of the 2020–21 season.
Sunderland
On 15 July 2021, Evans joined
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
side
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
on a free transfer, signing a two-year deal with an option of an additional year. On 4 August, he was appointed club captain by manager
Lee Johnson Lee Johnson may refer to:
Sportspeople
* Lee Johnson (wide receiver) (born 1944), American football wide receiver
*Lee Johnson (punter) (born 1961), American football punter
*Lee Johnson (basketball) (born 1957), American basketball player
* Lee Jo ...
. He scored his first goal for the club on 5 February 2022 in a 2–1 loss to
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
.
International career
Evans began his international football career as a schoolboy international, playing for the Northern Ireland under-16 side; he scored one goal in three appearances for the team. In 2007, he progressed to the under-17 side, playing in five fixtures in the space of two months. However, the team went winless in those five matches, losing three and drawing the other two. By the end of 2007, Evans had joined the under-19 team, but they were just as the under-17s, losing four and winning just one of the six matches that Evans played in between October 2007 and October 2008. He made his debut for the under-21 side on 19 August 2008, but he was substituted after 72 minutes of the 1–0 defeat to
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. He has since made four more appearances for the under-21s. Although the U21s failed to qualify for the
Euro 2009, he was recalled for several
Euro 2011 qualifiers.
Evans received his first call-up to the
Northern Ireland senior team on 20 May 2009; he was named in a 19-man squad that contained nine other uncapped players for the match against
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
in
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
on 6 June 2009. He made his debut in that very game, playing 78 minutes of the 3–0 defeat before being replaced by
Shane Ferguson
Shane Kevin Ferguson (born 12 July 1991) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays for Rotherham United and the Northern Ireland national team. He previously played for Newcastle United in the Premier League, where he had two spells ...
. On 3 September 2010, Evans scored his first international goal as he scored the winner with his first touch after coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 away win over
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
in the first
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, held in Poland and Ukraine. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held ...
game.
Evans was included in the Northern Ireland squad for the
2016 UEFA Euro
The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...
which took place in France. He was an unused substitute in its first match which saw Northern Ireland lose to Poland by a margin of 1–0. He played the whole of the country's last group stage match against
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
which produced a similar result due to which Northern Ireland was eliminated from the tournament.
During the first leg of a two-game playoff against
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
in the qualifying tournament for the
2018 FIFA World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...
in Russia, Evans was penalised for handball after a shot from close proximity from
Xherdan Shaqiri
Xherdan Shaqiri (; born 10 October 1991) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire and the Switzerland national team.
Shaqiri began his career at FC Basel, winning honours including t ...
went off his side, leading to a penalty kick that would be converted for what would ultimately prove the deciding score, both on the day and on aggregate. His brother Jonny compared the decision to
Thierry Henry
Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best players ...
's handball against the Republic of Ireland in the 2010 qualification playoff.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.''
Honours
Blackburn Rovers
*
EFL League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
runner-up:
2017–18
Sunderland
*
EFL League One play-offs
The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...
:
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
References
External links
*
* at irishfa.com
Northern Ireland progileat NIFG
* at redStat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Corry
1990 births
Living people
Association footballers from Belfast
Association footballers from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland youth international footballers
Northern Ireland under-21 international footballers
Northern Ireland B international footballers
Northern Ireland international footballers
Association football defenders
Association football midfielders
Manchester United F.C. players
Carlisle United F.C. players
Hull City A.F.C. players
Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
English Football League players
UEFA Euro 2016 players
People educated at Monkstown Community School