Dennis Joseph Evans (18 May 1930 – 23 February 2000) was an English

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 lea ...

who played as a full-back.

Career

Born in

Old Swan Old Swan is an eastern neighbourhood of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, bordered by Knotty Ash, Stoneycroft, Broadgreen, Fairfield, Liverpool, Fairfield and Wavertree. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census, the population was 16,461. ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, Evans first played junior football for Wirral club Ellesmere Port Town. He had an unsuccessful trial with

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

, before signing for London side

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and moving to

Harringay Harringay (pronounced ) is a district of north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is centred on the section of Green Lanes running between the New River, where it crosses Green Lanes by Finsbury Park, and Duckett's ...

in January 1951. After two years in the reserve and youth sides, he made his first-team debut for Arsenal against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

on 22 August 1953. Although, only a bit-part player that season, the next season he became Arsenal's regular

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, succeeding

Walley Barnes Walley Barnes (16 January 1920 – 4 September 1975) was a Welsh footballer and broadcaster. Whilst playing as a defender he featured for Southampton and Arsenal and captained the Welsh national side. Early career He was born in Brecon to Engli ...

. Evans was an Arsenal regular for the rest of the decade, and he was an ever-present in 1955–56. During this time, he scored one of the most memorable

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

s in football history; towards the end of a match against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

on 17 December 1955, which Arsenal were winning 4–0, Evans heard a whistle from the crowd, and mistakenly thought the referee had blown for full-time. He kicked the ball in triumph, which ended up flying past Arsenal

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Con Sullivan Cornelius Patrick Sullivan (31 July 1883 – 31 October 1964) was a New Zealand-born rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s and represented , , and Australasia. Playing career Sullivan started his career playing rugby in We ...

and into his own net; the goal stood but Arsenal held on to win 4–1. With a calm composure, physical strength and a powerful left foot, Evans was rarely out of the Arsenal side during this time, and became Arsenal's preferred penalty taker in 1956; he scored twelve goals for the club in his 207 appearances, including seven in 1958–59. He deputised for

Jack Kelsey after the Welshman was injured in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

match in 1959. For a short spell he was also Arsenal captain, and he played for the

London XI The London XI was a Association football, football team that represented the city of London in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The competition began in 1955, and the first tournament took three years to complete. The entrants were the ma ...

in the 1955–58

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

semi-finals. However, the Gunners were going through a lean spell and were unable to challenge for honours, meaning Evans never won a medal. Evans was Arsenal's first choice left back right up until a match against Wolves on 29 August 1959, in which he broke his

ankle The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...

. After recovering, he was not quite the same player he was. With

Billy McCullough William James McCullough (born 27 July 1935) is a Northern Irish former association football, footballer who made more than 250 appearances for Arsenal F.C., Arsenal in the Football League and was cap (sports), capped 10 times for Northern Irel ...

coming through to replace him, he made only six more appearances for the first team that season (his last coming against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

on 16 January 1960), before stepping down to the Arsenal reserve side. He remained an Arsenal player until 1963, helping to coach to the youth and reserve teams, and later had a spell at

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

doing the same.

After football

After his time at Luton Evans left football entirely, later working as

chauffeur A chauffeur () is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or a limousine. Initially, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to s ...

. He died in 2000, aged 69.

References

;Specific ;General * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Dennis 1930 births 2000 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Ellesmere Port Town F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players People from Harringay Footballers from the London Borough of Haringey London XI players Footballers from Liverpool Footballers from Cheshire People from Old Swan 20th-century English sportsmen