Michael James Evans (born 1 January 1973) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent most of his career with Plymouth Argyle, for whom he scored 73 goals in 384 appearances in the Football League. He also played in the Premier League for Southampton and the Football League for West Bromwich Albion, Bristol Rovers and Torquay United. Born in England, Evans earned one cap for the Republic of Ireland at full international level.
Club career
Plymouth Argyle
Evans originally joined Plymouth Argyle in December 1987 as an associate schoolboy. He made his first team debut in December 1990 at the age of 17, and scored four crucial goals as Saints beat the drop, finishing in 16th position. His greatest game in a Saints shirt came at Nottingham Forest's City Ground, where he scored a brace. For the second goal, he sprinted from the half-way line, taking a pass from Eyal Berkovic to beat goalkeeper Mark Crossley who could only half block the shot.
He followed this up with two more goals against West Ham United and Coventry City, and his form in April 1997 was such that he was awarded the Premiership Player-of-the-Month Trophy.
Back to Argyle
After an unsuccessful spell at Bristol Rovers, Evans then returned to Plymouth Argyle as one of the first signings of Paul Sturrock, joining on transfer deadline day 2001 for £30,000.
Although not a prolific goalscorer, after the diagnosis of his condition, the now healthier Evans played an important role in the Pilgrims' recent success; in particular his hold-up play and lay-offs created numerous goalscoring opportunities for his teammates. He scored the opening goal in Argyle's 4–1 Third Division Championship match sealing victory at Darlington in the 2001–02 season. where he scored once against Bury. On 24 November 2006, he decided to retire from professional football, a decision coinciding with a period of deep unrest among Torquay United's players.
International career
Evans' only cap for the Republic of Ireland national football team was against Romania in a 1998 World Cup Qualifier at Lansdowne Road on 11 October 1997. He came on in the 85th minute to replace Tony Cascarino.
Personal life
Evans attended St Boniface's Catholic College and played Junior football for Prince Rock Youth during his schools days. He is nicknamed "Trigger" after a character from Only Fools and Horses. During his second spell with his hometown club he set up his building company MJ Evans. In 2007 and 2008, having retired from playing, Evans was involved in a series of testimonial events to raise money for five local charities. In July 2012, the company filed for administration.
Career statistics
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="2"|League
!colspan="2"|FA Cup
!colspan="2"|League Cup
!colspan="2"|Other
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
|-
|rowspan="8"|Plymouth Argyle
|1990–91
|4||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||4||0
|-
|1991–92
|13||0||0||0||0||0||1||1||14||1
|-
|1992–93
|23||1||1||0||3||0||0||0||27||1
|-
|1993–94
|22||9||2||0||1||0||0||0||25||9
|-
|1994–95
|23||4||3||0||2||0||1||0||29||4
|-
|1995–96
|45||13||3||0||1||0||5||1||54||14
|-
|1996–97
|33||12||3||3||2||0||3||0||41||15
|-
!Total
!163!!39!!12!!3!!9!!0!!10!!2!!194!!44
|-
|rowspan="3"|Southampton
|1996–97
|12||4||0||0||0||0||0||0||12||4
|-
|1997–98
|10||0||0||0||3||1||0||0||13||1
|-
!Total
!22!!4!!0!!0!!3!!1!!0!!0!!25!!5
|-
|rowspan="4"|West Bromwich Albion
|1997–98
|10||1||2||0||0||0||0||0||12||1
|-
|1998–99
|20||2||0||0||2||1||0||0||22||3
|-
|1999–2000
|33||3||2||1||4||1||0||0||39||5
|-
!Total
!63||6||4||1||6||2||0||0||73||9
|-
|Bristol Rovers
|2000–01
|21||4||0||0||2||0||3||2||26||6
|-
|rowspan="7"|Plymouth Argyle
|2000–01
|10||4||0||0||0||0||0||0||10||4
|-
|2001–02
|38||7||3||0||1||0||1||0||43||7
|-
|2002–03
|42||4||4||1||1||0||1||1||48||6
|-
|2003–04
|44||11||1||0||1||1||1||1||47||13
|-
|2004–05
|42||4||1||0||1||0||0||0||44||4
|-
|2005–06
|45||4||1||0||1||0||0||0||47||4
|-
!Total
!221!!34!!10!!1!!5!!1!!3!!2!!239!!38
|-
|Torquay United
|2006–07
|14||1||1||0||1||0||1||0||17||1
|-
!colspan="2"|Career total
!504!!88!!27!!5!!26!!4!!17!!6!!574!!103
|}
Honours
Plymouth Argyle
- Football League Second Division: 2003–04
- Football League Third Division: 2001–02; play-offs: 1996
Individual
- Premier League Player of the Month: April 1997
- Plymouth Argyle Player of the Year: 2003–04
See also
- List of Republic of Ireland international footballers born outside the Republic of Ireland