Arthur "Candy" Evans (18 November 1903 – 7 January 1952) was a Welsh boxer, dual-code international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and at club level for Pontypool RFC, as a

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales, Glamorgan County RLFC, and at club level for Halifax,

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, and

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

, as a , or .

Background

Candy Evans' birth was registered in

Abersychan Abersychan is a town and community (Wales), community north of Pontypool in Torfaen, Wales, and lies within the boundaries of the Monmouthshire (historic), historic county of Monmouthshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county o ...

district, Wales, he was a

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

, on his retirement from boxing and rugby he became a professional gambler, facing substantial debts, he committed suicide aged 48 in

, Wales.

Playing career

International honours

Candy Evans won

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

(RU) while at Pontypool RFC in the 1924 Five Nations Championship against England, Ireland, and France, and won 4 caps for

(RL) in 1928–1933 while at Halifax, Leeds, Castleford in the 19–23 defeat by England at

Fartown Ground The Fartown Ground or just simply Fartown is a sports ground located in the Huddersfield suburb of Fartown, Huddersfield, Fartown in West Yorkshire, England and is predominantly famous for being the home ground of Huddersfield Giants, Huddersfi ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

on Wednesday 18 March 1931, and Warrington.

County honours

Candy Evans won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s playing at for Glamorgan County RLFC while at Castleford in the 19–12 victory over Cumberland at Recreation Ground,

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

on Saturday 21 March 1931, and 12–33 defeat by Yorkshire at

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax R.L.F.C., Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifa ...

, Halifax on Wednesday 15 April 1931.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Candy Evans played in

's 17-21 defeat by

in the 1933 Challenge Cup Final during the 1932–33 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, in front of a crowd of 41,784.

Boxing career

Candy Evans was also a boxer, one year going straight from a Welsh rugby union international against Ireland to compete in, and win, the Welsh amateur boxing championship hours later. He later became a professional boxer, though remained better known for his rugby achievements.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at boxrec.comStatistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Candy 1903 births 1952 deaths 1952 suicides 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Castleford Tigers players Dual-code rugby internationals Halifax Panthers players Leeds Rhinos players Leigh Leopards players Pontypool RFC players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Torfaen Rugby league second-rows Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Torfaen Suicides in Wales Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Warrington Wolves players Welsh male boxers Welsh miners Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Welsh gamblers