Robert Ernest Evans (21 November 1885 – 28 November 1965) was an English 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 played as a left-winger for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

(1906–1908) and Sheffield United (1908–1915). He won the FA Cup with Sheffield United in

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

and played international football for both Wales and England.

Career

Evans was born in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, England of Welsh parents. He started his football career with Saltney Ferry F.C. In December 1904 he moved to

but played just one league and one Welsh Cup match for the club (both against Wrexham) and returned to Saltney Ferry. He was then spotted by the Welsh professional club Wrexham for whom he signed in the summer of 1905, in time for their inaugural season in the

Birmingham and District League The Birmingham and District Football League (formerly the Birmingham & District Amateur Football Association and often referred to as the Birmingham AFA) is an amateur association football competition covering the city of Birmingham, England, and ...

. He made his debut for Wales in a 2–0 victory over Scotland on 3 March 1906; this was followed by a 1–0 defeat by England a few days later. These performances attracted the attention of

who signed him in the summer of 1906 for a fee of £30. Whilst at Villa he continued to add to his tally of Welsh caps. Despite this, he made only occasional appearances for Villa, playing nine league games in

1906–07 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

and seven in 1907–08 when Villa finished runners-up in the Football League. In 1908 he moved (with Peter Kyle for a combined fee of £1100) to Sheffield United where he soon became an automatic first choice player. He continued to appear for Wales until by 1910 he had ten Welsh caps with two goals to his credit. He had played four times against England, the 1–0 loss in 1906, the 1–1 draw in 1907, the 7–1 loss in 1908 and the 1–0 loss in 1910. His final appearance for Wales was against Ireland on 11 April 1910 when he scored twice in a 4–0 victory. It was then discovered that, although both his parents were Welsh, he had been born in Chester and under the rules of the time was therefore qualified to play only for England.Robert Evans
England Football Online He then made four appearances for England, all at outside left and all as a Sheffield United player, in 1911 and 1912, including 3–0 and 2–0 victories against Wales. He scored his only England goal on his debut against Ireland on 11 February 1911. Evans was a member of the Sheffield United team that won the FA Cup in

. This was his final competitive appearance for Sheffield United and he retired from playing professionally during the First World War, although he turned out in the

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Footba ...

for Crichtons Athletic. He took up employment at the Shell Mex oil company in Ellesmere Port and turned out for their works team. He died on 28 November 1965, shortly after his 80th birthday.

Honours

Sheffield United * FA Cup: 1914–15

References

External links

England profile
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Robert 1885 births 1965 deaths Footballers from Chester English men's footballers England men's international footballers Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Dual men's international footballers Chester City F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Men's association football outside forwards English people of Welsh descent

Career

Honours

See also

References

External links