Maurice George Evans (22 September 1936 – 18 August 2000) was a football player with
Reading Football Club
Reading Football Club ( ) is a professional football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is managed by Paul Ince.
Reading are nicknamed ...
, and later manager of
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
, Reading and
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
.
Career
Evans was born in
Didcot
Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire and the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire. Didcot is south of Oxford, eas ...
(now in
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, but then in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
) in 1936. He signed for
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 ...
in 1952 as a ground staff junior, aged just 16. He soon won his place at left-half in the first team and held it throughout the adversities of working in the
National Service's RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
. He went on to make the
wing-half
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 ...
position his own for the next ten seasons, and was a skilful, thoughtful player. The wing back also appeared to be without an ounce of malice in him, in him playing 459 first-team games without being booked once. He was selected as reserve for the
Third Division South side against the North in April and October 1957. In compilation by the Royals' of their best-ever eleven, Evans was voted the best right-winger with 48.4% of the vote.
After leaving the club in 1967, he briefly took over as
player-manager
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...
at
Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
*Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* Andove ...
before joining
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
as player-coach, eventually becoming their manager in 1972. He returned to
Elm Park
Elm Park is a suburban planned community in East London within the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is identified as a district centre in the London Plan with several streets of shops and a priority for ...
as
Charlie Hurley
Charles John Hurley (born 4 October 1936) is an Irish former footballer who played mainly in the Center Back position. Hurley is best known for his long career at Sunderland, where he was named the Black Cats' "Player of the Century" by th ...
's assistant manager in 1974, and finally took over as manager in 1977. He managed the
1978–79 championship-winning team, securing the Manager Of The Year Award in the process. He remained Reading manager until 1984, making perceptive signings from non-league football such as
Kerry Dixon
Kerry Michael Dixon (born 24 July 1961) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a forward.
His club career was spent most notably at Chelsea, where he won the Second Division twice. His 193 goals for the club across all ...
,
Trevor Senior
Trevor Senior (born 28 November 1961) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker, primarily at Reading. He is the assistant manager of Dorchester Town.
Playing career
Senior was born in Stratton, near Dorchester, Dorset. He ...
and Paul Stanford. Dixon was later capped several times by
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and for almost a decade was
Chelsea's top goalscorer. Senior was a highly accomplished goalscorer for Reading, particularly when they won promotion to the Second Division as Third Division champions in
1985–86. Evans was also responsible for giving opportunities to the likes of Neil Webb, who went on to play for Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and England.
Evans then joined
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
as Chief Scout and Youth Development Officer. He became the manager after the resignation of
Jim Smith in the summer of 1985, and led the team in their first season in the top flight of English football. The season ended with United beating
QPR
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football, football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home ...
(managed by Smith) 3–0 in the final of the
Milk Cup
SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area o ...
at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
, and avoiding relegation by achieving the same scoreline over
Arsenal in the last game of the season a week or so later. At the Wembley final, Evans famously sent up long-serving club physio Ken Fish in his place to collect his winner's medal, a gesture seen as typifying his modesty and generosity.
In November 1986 Oxford briefly occupied eighth place in the First Division — their highest standing to date — but they finished 18th in the final table and Evans resigned in March 1988 just before Oxford's relegation. He continued at the club in various capacities, including a brief stint as
caretaker manager
In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...
in 1993 and elevation to the board of directors in 1998, before rejoining Reading as Chief Scout in November 1999.
Personal life
He died of a heart attack on 18 August 2000 at the age of 63. A plaque was placed in the wall of the
Madejski Stadium
The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a Association football, football stadium in Reading, Berkshire, Reading. It is the home of Reading F.C., Reading Football Club, who play in the E ...
by Reading F.C. in his memory, reading "Maurice Evans, 1936–2000. Player, Manager, Gentleman". A lounge at Oxford's
Kassam Stadium
The Kassam Stadium (also known as Grenoble Road) is the home of Oxford United Football Club, and is named after the ground's owner and former chairman of the football club, Firoz Kassam.
The Kassam Stadium currently hosts League One (third t ...
is also named in his honour.
Honours
Managerial
; Reading
*
Fourth Division:
1979
; Oxford United
*
Milk Cup
SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area o ...
:
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
References
Obituary, The Association of Football Statisticians
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Maurice
1936 births
2000 deaths
English footballers
English football managers
Reading F.C. players
Andover F.C. players
Shrewsbury Town F.C. managers
Reading F.C. managers
Oxford United F.C. managers
People from Didcot
Association football midfielders