Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Robert Owen Evans [1] | ||
Date of birth | August 1881 | ||
Place of birth | Wrexham, Wales | ||
Date of death | 8 March 1962[1] | (aged 80)||
Place of death | Coventry, England | ||
Height | 5 ft 10+1⁄2 in (1.79 m) [1] | ||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
Youth career | |||
1895–189? | Olympic Juniors | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | ( Gls) |
– | Stansty Villa | ||
1898–1903 | Wrexham | ||
1903–1908 | Blackburn Rovers | 104 | (0) |
1908–1909 | Croydon Common | 57 | (0) |
1909–1913 | Coventry City | 127 | (0) |
1913–1914 | Birmingham | 3 | (0) |
1914–19?? | Nuneaton Town | ||
International career | |||
1902–1914 | Wales | 10 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Robert Owen Evans (August 1881 – 8 March 1962) was a Welsh international professional footballer who won ten caps for his country and made 107 appearances in the Football League playing for Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham. [2] He played as a goalkeeper.
Evans was born in Wrexham. He played local football before joining Wrexham in 1898. [3] Wrexham were champions of The Combination for three successive seasons, from 1900–01 to 1902–03, [4] and Evans played in two Welsh Cup finals for the club, on the losing side in 1902 but victorious in 1903. [5] [6]
His performances for Wrexham and for his country earned him a move to the Football League when First Division club Blackburn Rovers paid a fee of £150 for his services in April 1903. [3] He spent five seasons at Blackburn, playing 104 league games. [2] He then moved into the Southern League, spending the 1908–09 season with Croydon Common, for whom he played 8 games in the Western League, 12 in the United League and 31 in the South-Eastern League as well as 12 in the Southern League, [1] and then four years with Coventry City. He returned to the Football League with Birmingham, [3] played the first three games of the 1913–14 season, conceded nine goals, and relinquished the starting place to Bert Crossthwaite. [7] Evans finished off his playing career at non-league club Nuneaton Town. [3]
Evans made his debut for the Wales national football team while a Wrexham player, on 22 February 1902 in a 3–0 defeat against Ireland at Cardiff Arms Park. [8] He won ten caps in total, [2] of which the last five came in 1911 and 1912 while a Coventry City player. [9] [10] Evans' international appearances were restricted by having to compete with Leigh Richmond Roose, who was an automatic first choice for his country for many years. [11] [12]
Evans died in Coventry in 1962 at the age of 80. [3]