Dennis Joseph Evans (18 May 1930 – 23 February 2000) was an English

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 played as a full-back.

Career

Born in

Old Swan Old Swan is an eastern neighbourhood of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, bordered by Knotty Ash, Stoneycroft, Broadgreen, Fairfield and Wavertree. At the 2011 Census, the population was 16,461. Description Old Swan is centred on the road ju ...

, Liverpool, Evans first played junior football for Wirral club Ellesmere Port Town. He had an unsuccessful trial with Wolves, before signing for London side

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and moving to Harringay in January 1951. After two years in the reserve and youth sides, he made his first-team debut for Arsenal against Huddersfield Town on 22 August 1953. Although, only a bit-part player that season, the next season he became Arsenal's regular

left 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 ...

, succeeding Walley Barnes. Evans was an Arsenal regular for the rest of the decade, and he was an ever-present in 1955–56. During this time, he scored one of the most memorable own goals in football history; towards the end of a match against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on 17 December 1955, which Arsenal were winning 4–0, Evans heard a whistle from the crowd, and mistakenly thought the referee had blown for full-time. He kicked the ball in triumph, which ended up flying past Arsenal goalkeeper

Con Sullivan Con Sullivan (1886–1964) was a New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s for various Australasian representative sides. Playing career Sullivan started his career playing rugby in Wellington where h ...

and into his own net; the goal stood but Arsenal held on to win 4–1. With a calm composure, physical strength and a powerful left foot, Evans was rarely out of the Arsenal side during this time, and became Arsenal's preferred penalty taker in 1956; he scored twelve goals for the club in his 207 appearances, including seven in 1958–59. He deputised for goalkeeper

Jack Kelsey Alfred John "Jack" Kelsey (19 November 1929 – 18 March 1992) was a Welsh international football goalkeeper, who also played for Arsenal. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers to play for Wales. Early life Jack Kelsey was born at ...

after the Welshman was injured in an FA Cup match in 1959. For a short spell he was also Arsenal captain, and he played for the

London XI The London XI was a football team that represented the city of London in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The competition began in 1955, and the first tournament took three years to complete. The entrants were the major football team of ...

in the 1955–58

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...

semi-finals. However, the Gunners were going through a lean spell and were unable to challenge for honours, meaning Evans never won a medal. Evans was Arsenal's first choice left back right up until a match against Wolves on 29 August 1959, in which he broke his ankle. After recovering, he was not quite the same player he was. With

Billy McCullough William James McCullough (born 27 July 1935) is a former footballer who made more than 250 appearances for Arsenal in the Football League and was capped 10 times for Northern Ireland. Career Born in Carrickfergus, McCullough first played for P ...

coming through to replace him, he made only six more appearances for the first team that season (his last coming against Tottenham Hotspur on 16 January 1960), before stepping down to the Arsenal reserve side. He remained an Arsenal player until 1963, helping to coach to the youth and reserve teams, and later had a spell at Luton Town doing the same.

After football

After his time at Luton Evans left football entirely, later working as

chauffeur A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...

. He died in 2000, aged 69.

References

;Specific ;General * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Dennis 1930 births 2000 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Ellesmere Port Town F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players People from Harringay Footballers from the London Borough of Haringey London XI players Footballers from Liverpool Footballers from Cheshire People from Old Swan