Lee Evans (footballer)
Lee Evans (born 24 July 1994) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Championship club Wigan Athletic and the Wales national football team.
![]() Evans playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2014 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Lee Evans[1] | ||
Date of birth | 24 July 1994 | ||
Place of birth | Newport, Wales | ||
Playing position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Wigan Athletic | ||
Number | 8 | ||
Youth career | |||
Malpas FC | |||
Bristol Rovers | |||
Newport County | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2012–2013 | Newport County | 25 | (3) |
2013–2018 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 59 | (3) |
2015–2016 | → Bradford City (loan) | 37 | (4) |
2017–2018 | → Wigan Athletic (loan) | 20 | (1) |
2018–2019 | Sheffield United | 21 | (2) |
2018 | → Wigan Athletic (loan) | 21 | (0) |
2019– | Wigan Athletic | 38 | (2) |
National team‡ | |||
2012 | Wales Semi-Pro | 2 | (0) |
2013–2016 | Wales U21 | 13 | (2) |
2017– | Wales | 4 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:47, 8 March 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:53, 20 March 2019 (UTC) |
Club career
Newport County
Having been released by Bristol Rovers as a 15-year-old,[2] Evans began his professional career at his hometown club Newport County, for whom he made his senior debut aged 17 on 20 March 2012 in a 1–1 draw at Cambridge United.[3] After only three Conference Premier appearances, he ended the season playing in the FA Trophy Final on 12 May at Wembley Stadium, where Newport lost 0–2 to York City.[4]
During the following season, in which the club would ultimately regain its Football League status after a 25-year absence,[5] Evans became a regular starting player in the Newport team.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
In January 2013, Evans signed a 2 1⁄2-year deal with Wolverhampton Wanderers, then of the Championship, for an undisclosed transfer fee (reported to be £200,000).[6][7] Having spent the remainder of the 2012–13 season that saw Wolves relegated to League One as part of their youth development squad, he was identified over the summer by new manager Kenny Jackett to become part of his plans for the first team.[8]
The midfielder made his club and Football League debut on 3 August 2013 in a goalless draw against Preston North End.[9] He scored his first goal for the club a week later when he netted against Gillingham,[10] as the team went on to win the League One title.
He signed a three-year contact extension in 2017 at Molineux.[11]
Bradford City (loan)
On 20 August 2015, Evans signed for Bradford City on loan from Wolves initially until 9 January 2016.[12]
Wigan Athletic (loan)
On 31 July 2017, Evans completed a season-long loan to League One side Wigan Athletic.[13] He scored his first goal for Wigan in a 4–1 win against Bury on 13 August 2017.[14] He went on to score a further 2 goals before being recalled from his loan spell by his parent club Wolverhampton Wanderers at the beginning of the January transfer window.
Sheffield United
On 10 January 2018, Evans joined Championship club Sheffield United for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £750,000[15] On 10 August 2018, Evans joined fellow Championship club Wigan Athletic on loan. The deal was made permanent on 1 January 2019.[16]
International career
Evans made his debut for the Wales under-21 team on 6 September 2013 versus San Marino.[17] On 5 September 2014, Evans scored his first goal for Wales under-21 in a 2–2 draw with Finland.[18] On 1 October 2014 Evans received his first call-up from the Wales senior national team with 5 other uncapped players.[19] He made his debut for the senior side on 14 November 2017 as a second-half substitute during a 1–1 draw with Panama.[20]
Career statistics
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Newport County | 2011–12 | Conference Premier | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
2012–13 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 25 | 3 | |||
Total | 25 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 3 | ||
Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2013–14[23] | League One | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 28 | 2 | |
2014–15[24] | Championship | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 21 | 1 | ||
2015–16[25] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |||
2016–17[26] | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 18 | 0 | |||
Total | 59 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 67 | 3 | |||
Bradford City (loan) | 2015–16[25] | League One | 37 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 41 | 4 |
Wigan Athletic (loan) | 2017–18[27] | League One | 20 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 1 | 23 | 3 |
Sheffield United | 2017–18[27] | Championship | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 |
2017–18[27] | Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
Total | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 21 | 2 | |||
Career total | 161 | 13 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 181 | 15 |
- Appearance in FA Trophy
- One appearance in the Football League Trophy
- One appearance in the Football League Trophy
Honours
Wigan Athletic
References
- "Club list of registered players: As at 20th May 2017" (PDF). The Football League. p. 41. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- "First Person: Up and coming Newport football talent, Lee Evans". South Wales Argus. 13 February 2013.
- "Cambridge 1–1 Newport". BBC Sport. 20 March 2012.
- "Wrexham 0–2 Newport". BBC Sport. 5 May 2013.
- "FA Trophy: Newport County 0–2 York City". BBC Sport. 12 May 2012.
- "Wolves sign Newport County youngster Lee Evans". BBC Sport. 31 January 2013.
- "The Potential of Youth". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 18 June 2014.
- "Evans aims to impress". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 9 July 2013.
- "Preston 0–0 Wolves". BBC Sport. 3 August 2013.
- "Wolves v Gillingham". BBC Sport. 10 August 2013.
- "Lee Evans: Wolves midfielder signs new three-and-a-half year deal until 2020". BBC Sport. 13 February 2017.
- "Evans arrives at City". Bradford City. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
- "Wolves' Lee Evans and Leicester's Callum Elder join Wigan on season-long loans". BBC Sport. 31 July 2017.
- "Wigan 4–1 Bury". BBC. 13 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- "Double Swoop: Evans and Wilson". Sheffield United Football Club. 10 January 2018.
- "Lee Evans: Wigan Athletic sign Sheffield United's Wales midfielder on loan". BBC Sport. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- Evans Wales under-21 debut
- "Finland & Wales Draw 2–2". FAW. 5 September 2014.
- Evans Wales Senior call-up
- "Wales 1–1 Panama". BBC Sport. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
- Lee Evans at Soccerway. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
- "Soccerbase: Lee Evans". Soccerbase.
- "Games played by Lee Evans in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
- "Games played by Lee Evans in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
- "Games played by Lee Evans in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
- "Games played by Lee Evans in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
- "Games played by Lee Evans in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
- Anderson, John, ed. (2018). Football Yearbook 2018–2019. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 382–383. ISBN 978-1-4722-6106-9.
External links
- Official Wolves profile
- Lee Evans at Soccerbase
- Lee Evans – UEFA competition record