Terry Evans (footballer, born 1965)

Terry Evans
Personal information
Full name Terence William Evans[1]
Date of birth (1965-04-12) 12 April 1965
Place of birth Hammersmith, England
Height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[1]
Playing position Central defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Hillingdon
Queens Park Rangers
Hillingdon
1985–1993 Brentford 229 (23)
1993 → Wycombe Wanderers (loan)
1993–1997 Wycombe Wanderers 136 (16)
1997–1998 Kingstonian 38 (3)
Teams managed
1999 Wycombe Wanderers (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Terence William "Terry" Evans (born 12 April 1965) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender, making over 360 career appearances. He spent the majority of his career in the Football League with Brentford and Wycombe Wanderers, captaining both clubs. He is a member of the Brentford Hall of Fame. After his retirement from football, Evans served as caretaker manager, assistant manager and physiotherapist at Wycombe.[2] He is currently on the medical team at rugby union side Wasps.[3]

Career

Early years

Born in Hammersmith, Evans began his career with Southern League Southern Division side Hillingdon,[1] a period bisected by a spell on non-contract terms with Queens Park Rangers.[4] He made his debut for Hillingdon at age 16.[4]

Brentford

Evans moved into the Football League in the summer of 1985, joining Division Three side Brentford for a £5,000 fee.[1] Evans had an uneven beginning to his career at Griffin Park, suffering an injury in a friendly match in February 1986 and making two aborted comebacks, before returning to the side on a regular basis in October 1987,[1] making 32 appearances during the 1987–88 season.[5] He forged a centre back partnership with Keith Millen and eventually became captain of the club.[1] Evans made a career-high 62 appearances during the 1988–89 season, a successful campaign in which he missed just one league game and appeared in all 8 games of Brentford's run to the sixth round of the FA Cup.[5][6]

Evans' greatest season with Brentford came in 1991–92, captaining the side to the Division Three title and promotion to the second tier for the first time since 1954.[1] He was also named in the PFA Team of the Year.[7] Evans had a season to forget in the new Division One, succumbing to injury on the opening day against Wolverhampton Wanderers and only regaining fitness for the final 10 games of the season,[5] a campaign which saw the Bees relegated straight back to the third tier. Early in the 1993–94 season, new manager David Webb preferred Jamie Bates and Shane Westley to Evans and Millen as his centre back pairing and Evans chose to depart the club.[1] Evans made 285 appearances and scored 30 goals during his eight years with Brentford.[1] A cult hero, Evans was named as Brentford's all-time fans' favourite, second greatest player and best-ever captain in a Football League 125th anniversary poll.[8] He was inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in August 2014.[9]

Wycombe Wanderers (loan and permanent transfer)

Evans joined Division Three side Wycombe Wanderers in August 1993 on a six-week loan, linking up with friend and former Brentford teammate Jason Cousins.[10][11] Evans had a difficult debut in a 4–3 victory away to Hereford United on 31 August 1993 and after regaining fitness, his performances led manager Martin O'Neil to sign him on a permanent deal for £40,000.[1][11] An injury suffered in a Football League Trophy Southern Area semi-final shootout win over Fulham on 8 February 1994 ruled Evans out for the remainder of the 1993–94 season,[10] though his form prior to the injury was such that he was named in the PFA Team of the Year.[7] After Wycombe's promotion to Division Two via the playoffs, Evans returned as captain for the 1994–95 season.[10] He missed just two league games as the Chairboys finished in sixth position, missing out on a second successive playoff campaign.[12] Evans played on until the end of the 1996–97 season, when he was released by manager John Gregory.[10] Evans made 157 appearances and scored 19 goals during his four seasons at Adams Park.[10]

Kingstonian

Evans dropped into Non-League football in the summer of 1997, linking up with former Wycombe teammates Matt Crossley and Gary Patterson at Isthmian League Premier Division side Kingstonian.[10] His single season at Kingsmeadow was a successful one, making 49 appearances, scoring three goals and captaining the side to promotion to the Conference as champions.[10][13]

Physiotherapy career

Evans returned to Wycombe in 1998 as the youth team's physiotherapist.[2] Evans stated that his desire to become a physiotherapist was driven by Wycombe's Sports Therapist Dave Jones, who oversaw Evans' management of problems with his right knee, having suffered from a chondral defect and undergone two anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions and a medial cruciate ligament repair during the last three years of his playing career.[14] Evans departed Wycombe in March 2004, but returned in 2006 to take up the role of Senior Strength & Conditioning coach.[14] He left to take up a similar role at rugby union side Wasps in 2008,[14] progressing to become the club's Senior Strength & Conditioning Rehabilitation Specialist and serving as a physiotherapist.[3]

Management and coaching career

While working as Wycombe's youth team physiotherapist, the sacking of first team manager Neil Smillie on 11 January 1999 saw Evans take over the position as caretaker.[15][16] The Chairboys won both games under Evans' care and he was retained as part of the management team as an assistant when Lawrie Sanchez was appointed manager on 5 February.[17][18]

Personal life

Evans' son Harry is a taekwondo fighter and won gold medals in the U16 categories in the 2014 ITF World Championship and the 2015 ITF European Championship.[19] Evans worked as a printer while with Hillingdon early in his playing career.[4]

Honours

As a player

Brentford

Wycombe Wanderers

Kingstonian

As an individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 54. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  2. 1 2 Dave Peters. "Evans leaves Wanderers for Wasps". Bucks Free Press. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Medical Team". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 386. ISBN 9781906796723.
  5. 1 2 3 "Brentford Football Club History". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Football Club History Database – Brentford". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Lynch, Tony (1995). The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. Random House. pp. 149–150. ISBN 0-09-179135-9.
  8. ↑ "Brentford – Football League 125". =The Football League. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  9. 1 2 Chris Wickham. "Former Brentford captain Terry Evans added to Club's Hall of Fame". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Terry Evans – Chairboys on the Net Profile". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Wycombe Wanderers – 1993/94 season". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  12. 1 2 "Terry Evans – Player File from Chairboys on the Net". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  13. 1 2 "kingstonian.net – Appearances". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  14. 1 2 3
  15. ↑ "League Managers Association". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  16. ↑ "Neil Smillie sacked as Wycombe Wanderers Manager – Chairboys on the Net". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  17. ↑ Amy Lawrence. "Lawrie's debt to Jack". the Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  18. ↑ "Terry Evans". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  19. ↑ Street, Tim. "Brentford legend's son is a world champion". Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  20. ↑ "Brentford Football Club History". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  21. ↑ "Football Club History Database – Wycombe Wanderers". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  22. ↑ "Football Club History Database – Kingstonian". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  23. 1 2 Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the 80s. Legends Publishing. p. 383. ISBN 978-1906796716.
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