John Hugh Evans (31 January 1889 – 1971) was a Welsh professional footballer. He spent the majority of his career with

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

, making over 350 appearances in all competitions and playing in the club's first seasons in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. He also played for the

Wales national football team The Wales national football team () represents Wales in international Association football, football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales. They have been a member of FIFA since ...

, winning 8 caps.

Career

Evans was born in

Bala Bala may refer to: Films * ''Bala'' (1976 film), an English-language dance documentary * ''Bala'' (2002 film), a Tamil-language action film * ''Bala'' (2019 film), a Hindi-language black comedy Life forms *Bala shark (''Balantiocheilos melano ...

. As a youngster he worked as an apprentice printer while playing for local side Bala Wanderers, despite his three older brothers playing for Bala Press. He joined

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

in 1908 but sustained a serious shoulder injury and was told he may never play football again. He decided to move to South Wales to continue his work as an apprentice printer and began playing for

Cwmparc Cwmparc is a village and a district of the community of Treorchy, in the Rhondda Valley, Wales. History There is evidence of, and logic for, a medieval park, or hunting preserve, in the enclosed area called Parc Cwm Brychiniog. It lies in the ...

and was spotted by

, becoming the first player to be officially bought by the team when he signed for six

shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence ...

. Club secretary

Bartley Wilson Walter Bartley Wilson (3 January 1870 – 19 November 1954) was an English lithographic artist and the founder of Cardiff City Football Club. Born in Bristol, he moved to Cardiff in 1897 where he became involved with Riverside Cricket Club. En ...

later remarked that the fee "was all we had and included his fare from Treorchy!" He made his first appearance for the club on 1 September 1910 in a friendly match to mark the opening of Cardiff's new ground

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...

against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. Evans scored Cardiff's first ever goal at the ground in a 2–1 defeat, rounding a defender before shooting low past the opposition goalkeeper. Evans even helped construct the ground, earning 35

a week for playing plus bonuses for undertaking other jobs at the ground. Later the same month, Evans scored his first competitive goal for the side on his league debut, helping his side to a 4–1 victory over

Ton Pentre Ton Pentre () is a village in the Rhondda, Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Glamorgan, Ton Pentre, a former industrial coal mining village, is a district of the comm ...

on the opening day of the 1910–11 Southern Football League season. In his first season, Evans scored 11 times in the Southern League, the second highest tally in the squad, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

during a 7–1 win over

Chesham Chesham ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, about north-west of Charing Cross, central London, and part of the London metropolitan area, London ...

in January 1911. In 1912 he became the first ever Cardiff City player to receive a call-up for the Wales squad when he was called up to replace

Ted Vizard Edward Vizard (7 June 1889 – 25 December 1973) was a Welsh international Association football, footballer who became a manager. He spent almost all his playing career at Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers. Playing career Born in Cogan, V ...

for a match against Ireland. Evans possessed a cannonball shot which was eventually nicknamed the "Bala bang" on account of the fearsome power he put into his shots. His shots were so ferocious that one goalkeeper once broke his wrist attempting to stop the ball and a

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

goalkeeper was knocked out cold by another shot. He was a regular for Cardiff during the decade, only leaving the club to serve in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

before returning. A consistent scorer he went on to score 52 goals in 170 Southern league appearances before moving into a more orthodox position for Cardiff's entry into the football league in 1920. Evans eventually left Ninian Park in 1926 to join up with former Cardiff teammate

Joe Clennell Joseph Clennell (19 February 1889 – 28 February 1965) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers, Everton, Cardiff City, Stoke City, Bristol Rovers and Rochdale. Career Clennell was born in ...

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

, where he spent two years before retiring. He died in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. His shirt and runners-up medal from the

1925 FA Cup Final The 1925 FA Cup final was an association football match contested by Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United and Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City on 25 April 1925 at Wembley Stadium (1923), Wembley Stadium in London, England. The final was the s ...

, as well as his first cap for Wales, are now displayed in the boardroom of Cardiff City after being bought at auction by one of the club's directors, Steve Borley."Thank Evans for Wembley return"

South Wales Echo The ''South Wales Echo'' is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Cardiff, Wales and distributed throughout the surrounding area. It has a circulation of 6,026. Background The newspaper was founded in 1884 and was based in Thomson House, C ...

Retrieved on 28 May 2008

Honours

;Cardiff City *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

finalist –

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

References

Bibliography * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Jack 1889 births 1971 deaths Footballers from Gwynedd Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Wrexham A.F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players English Football League players British Army personnel of World War I Men's association football outside forwards People from Bala, Gwynedd