Steven James Evans (born 26 February 1979) is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer who is assistant manager of Flint Town United. He is a Welsh former international footballer, having played for his country at

semi-pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André 3000 (credited as And ...

and full levels. In 2008, he became the first

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

er to be

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 ...

ped by Wales since 1930 – a 76-year gap.

Club career

Much of Evans' playing career saw him playing for

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, commonly known as The New Saints () or TNS FC, are an English professional football club that play in the , but are based completely within England, in Oswestry, Shropshire. They a ...

, over two spells either side of a three-year tenure at hometown club

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

. Evans also represented Oswestry Town and Connah's Quay Nomads on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

, in 2001–02 and 2014–15 respectively.

Early career

He began his career with as a trainee at

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

but was not offered a professional contract by either club.

Total Network Solutions (TNS)

He joined

League of Wales League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

side

Total Network Solutions The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, commonly known as The New Saints () or TNS FC, are an English professional football club that play in the , but are based completely within England, in Oswestry, Shropshire. They a ...

(TNS) in the summer of 1999, playing in the title-winning side of

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. He struggled to keep a first team place in the 2001–02 season due to injury and joined Oswestry Town on

. After six appearances for Oswestry Town, he returned to TNS and played in the title winning sides of

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and the 2005

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...

with victory over Carmarthen Town. He won the Welsh Premier player of the season award for 2004–05. Evans played two games against the then-European champions

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 ...

in the summer of 2005; TNS lost both legs 3–0 but he and the rest of the side were praised for their performances against a side containing the likes of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

midfielder

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He was most recently the manager of La Liga club RC Celta de Vigo, Celta Vigo. Beníte ...

saying, ''"TNS were well organised and they did well. We saw them on videos before the tie and we knew that they would be prepared."''. Evans was inducted as a Saints legend in May 2008. In February 2006, Evans impressed for the Saints in an

FAW Premier Cup The FAW Premier Cup (until 1998 the FAW Invitation Cup) was a Wales, Welsh association football, football cup competition, organised annually by the Football Association of Wales from 1997 to 2008. Since the FAW excluded clubs playing in English fo ...

semi-final against League Two side

, scoring an equaliser in

extra-time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

to force the game into penalties,

Wrexham

He joined Wrexham on a two-year deal in June 2006. He had made over 150 league and cup appearances for TNS. Wrexham manager, Denis Smith, said of him, ''"He can be as good as he wants to be – maybe he could even do a good job 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 ...

. Steve's good in the air, can pass well and reads the game. He's older and wiser and benefits from experience."'' After joining the

Racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

club, he scored on his home debut against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

in a 3–0 win. He was sent-off for two bookings in the cross-border derby against rivals Chester City at the

Deva Stadium Deva Stadium is an association football stadium which is the home of Chester F.C., the effective successor club to the liquidated Chester City. The stadium straddles the England–Wales border at Sealand, on the outskirts of Chester. The ...

in August 2006; Denis Smith, however, said that he had ''"...been outstanding for me since coming into

the League ''The League'' is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...

. He was looking a bit 'leggy', he's finding full-time football a bit different, but he'll learn from this."'' In spite of that setback, Evans made a seamless transition from the largely

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

Welsh Premier League to the fully professional League Two, making 40 league and cup appearances for Wrexham in the 2006–07 season, which was interrupted by a five-match ban during March 2007 for having been sent off three times in the season, and 32 league and cup appearances in the 2007–08 season. Following Wrexham's

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

to the

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

at the end of the 2007–08 season, he was out of contract and was considering his options. He signed a new one-year deal with Wrexham in June 2008, with an option for a further twelve months. However Evans fell out of favour during the season and was released by the club, along with Shaun Pejic, on 2 February.

The New Saints

Evans then rejoined his former club TNS, by now named The New Saints, the next day. In October 2010 he was fined and stripped of the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

cy of the team as part of The New Saints' actions following his arrest in September 2010 on a

public order offence In criminology, public-order crime is defined by Siegel (2004) as "crime which involves acts that interfere with the operations of society and the ability of people to function efficiently", i.e., it is behaviour that has been labelled criminal ...

. He was also given extensive additional community work for the club, to play an active role in the coaching and development of young players at the club, assisting the academy and scholarship coaching programmes as well as becoming a player ambassador for the club's Football in the Community programme, working with local schools and junior clubs. In November it was announced that after failing to comply with some of the additional responsibilities set out by the club, that his contract had been terminated. After a long running contractual dispute with his former club, in May 2011 an independent

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; ) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, its Wales women's national football team, correspo ...

tribunal in favour of Evans and decided that the player had been unfairly dismissed. The club announced that he had therefore returned to training with the club and was still contracted to the team. Whilst as the New Saints he completed his

UEFA B Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of managers/ coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for football in Europe mandates several licences, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro ...

coaching qualification. In May 2012 he signed a new contract with the club. In September 2014, after two serious injuries he joined Connah's Quay Nomads on loan to get playing time.

Caernarfon Town

In August 2021 he returned to his playing career, when he signed for Caernarfon Town, at the age of 42.

International career

Evans made nine appearances for the Welsh semi-professional side during his first spell at TNS, between the 2002–03 and 2004–05 seasons. Whilst at Wrexham, he also impressed

manager

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...

and made his international debut for Wales in a friendly against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

in November 2006. He was called up again for Wales' 0–0 draw against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in February 2007 when he was praised by John Toshack who said, ''"Steve's in a difficult situation at the bottom of the league with Wrexham, but he's come into our last two games and not put a foot wrong. He handled all the aerial stuff and has shown he can step up a level."'' Evans would make four more appearances in Welsh colours in 2007: against

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

and

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2008 finals tournament took place between August 2006 and November 2007. Fifty teams were divided into seven groups. In a Round-robin tournament, double round-robin system, each team played against each of the others ...

, and friendlies against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. In September 2008, with Wrexham relegated to the

, Evans became the first

non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

player to represent Wales for 76 years as a second-half substitute in Wales' 2–1 defeat away to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

. , he is also the most recent to do so. The Russia match was Evans' most recent international appearance; he has made a total of seven appearances for his country.

Managerial career

The New Saints

Evans joined The New Saints' first team coaching team in 2017 and was assistant manager at the club until April 2020 when Scott Roscoe, the then manager departed.

Colwyn Bay

In January 2022 he was appointed as manager of

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay () is a town, Community (Wales), community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (h ...

. He guided the club to the

Cymru North The Cymru North is a regional association football, football league in Wales, covering the northern half of the country. It initially had clubs with semi-professional status. Together with the Cymru South, it forms the second tier of the Welsh fo ...

title in 2023 and promotion to the

Cymru Premier The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. It was found ...

for the first time in the club's history. On 21 April 2024, Evans was sacked by Colwyn Bay following their relegation from the

Flint Town

The following month he joined Flint Town United as their assistant manager.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. It was found ...

: Winners medal 2011–12 with The New Saints *

Winners medal 2011–12 with The New Saints Individual *

Player of the Season: 2004–05 * Welsh Premier League Team of the Year: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10 2011–12

References

External links

*
Welsh Premier Players
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Steve 1979 births Living people Welsh men's footballers 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Wales men's international footballers Wales men's semi-pro international footballers Wrexham A.F.C. players Cymru Premier players The New Saints F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Oswestry Town F.C. players Footballers from Wrexham Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. players Men's association football defenders Caernarfon Town F.C. players Colwyn Bay F.C. managers Cymru Premier managers Welsh football managers The New Saints F.C. non-playing staff