Gareth Evans (footballer, born 1987)

Gareth David Evans (born 10 January 1987) is a Welsh retired footballer. Evans is currently an assistant coach for OKC Energy FC in the USL Championship.

For other people named Gareth Evans, see Gareth Evans (disambiguation).

Gareth Evans
Personal information
Full name Gareth David Evans
Date of birth (1987-01-10) 10 January 1987
Place of birth Wrexham, Wales
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1997–2001 Brickfield Rangers
2001–2003 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Cefn Druids 31 (0)
2004–2009 Wrexham 26 (0)
2007 → Northwich Victoria (loan) 1 (0)
2008 → Tamworth (loan) 1 (0)
2009 Austin Aztex FC 21 (0)
2009–2010 Vauxhall Motors 1 (0)
2010 Real Maryland Monarchs 17 (0)
2010–2011 → Chester (loan) 1 (0)
2011 Wilmington Hammerheads FC 20 (0)
2011 Carolina RailHawks 8 (0)
2012–2013 Wilmington Hammerheads FC 48 (1)
2014–2016 OKC Energy 54 (2)
Managerial career
2021– OKC Energy (asst.)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 June 2021

Career

England and Wales

Evans is a former Newi Cefn Druids player, who made 31 appearances, 25 as substitute, for the club in the Welsh Premier League during the 2003–04 season.[1] He joined Wrexham in 2004 and signed a professional contract in summer 2006, after initially being told that the club could not afford to give him one.[2]

He broke into the first-team in the 2006–07 season, making 14 league and cup appearances.[3] Manager Denis Smith praised Evans and fellow centre-back, Mike Williams, after a 1–0 win over Darlington in December 2006, saying, "It's possibly the youngest centre-back pairing the club's ever put out and I think they did tremendously well. I'm delighted with the way they played and I think the lads applied themselves well in difficult circumstances."[4] Evans signed a new two-year contract in May 2007.[5]

Evans was loaned to Northwich Victoria and Tamworth during the 2007–08 season but also made another 14 league and cup appearances for Wrexham[6] as the club unsuccessfully battled against relegation from the Football League.[7]

United States

Evans left Wrexham in January 2009 to continue his footballing career in the United States,[8] and joined USL First Division club Austin Aztex FC in February 2009.[9] He was released by the Aztex at the end of the 2009 season.[10]

After a brief stint back home with Conference North side Vauxhall Motors[11] in late 2009, Evans signed with USL Second Division side Real Maryland Monarchs in 2010.

In October 2010, Evans joined Chester until March 2011, when he returned to the United States to play for Los Angeles Blues in the USL Professional League.[12] He made his debut for Chester on 9 October as a 76th-minute substitute against Harrogate Railway Athletic.

Upon returning to the United States in spring 2011, Evans trained with LA Blues, with whom he had signed a contract, but did not remain with the club. On 5 April 2011 he signed with Wilmington Hammerheads of the USL Pro.[13] At season's end he joined Carolina RailHawks FC for the remainder of the 2011 North American Soccer League season. Evans re-signed with Wilmington for 2012 on 5 December 2011.[14]

After two seasons with Wilmington, Evans joined Oklahoma City Energy FC for its 2014 season.[15]

Evans retired from professional football following the 2016 season and entered a coaching role with Oklahoma City's youth partner, Oklahoma Energy FC. In June 2021, he returned to the pro club as an assistant coach.[16]

References
  1. "Welsh Premier career details for Gareth Evans". Welsh Premier League Football. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  2. "Evans' unexpected Wrexham chance". BBC Sport. 2 August 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  3. "Games played by Gareth Evans in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  4. "Smith hails rookie centre-backs". BBC Sport. 23 December 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  5. "Wrexham re-sign youngster Evans". BBC Sport. 31 May 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  6. "Games played by Gareth Evans in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  7. "Wrexham go out of Football League". BBC Sport. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  8. "Backlog not a problem for Terry". Evening Leader. North Wales Newspapers Ltd. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  9. "Aztex sign two players from open tryouts". Austin Axtex FC official site. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  10. Austin Announces Release Of 14 Players From The 2009 Squad
  11. "Macauley recruits two". vmfc.com. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  12. LA Blues Sign Welsh Defender
  13. "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  14. "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  15. "Energy FC -". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  16. "ENERGY FC BRINGS BACK CLUB LEGEND GARETH EVANS AS ASSISTANT COACH". EnergyFC.com. Retrieved 10 June 2021.


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