Lee Evans (footballer)

Lee Evans (born 24 July 1994) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for League One club Wigan Athletic and the Wales national football team.

Lee Evans
Evans playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2014
Personal information
Full name Lee Evans[1]
Date of birth (1994-07-24) 24 July 1994
Place of birth Newport, Wales
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) 35 (4)
2017–2018 → Wigan Athletic (loan) 20 (1)
2018–2019 Sheffield United 21 (2)
2018 → Wigan Athletic (loan) 20 (0)
2019– Wigan Athletic 55 (4)
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 02:22, 14 January 2021 (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 league 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
As of match played 5 December 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Newport County 2011–12[21] Conference Premier 3000–3[lower-alpha 1]060
2012–13[21] Conference Premier 22320–1[lower-alpha 2]0253
Total 253200040313
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2013–14[22] League One 262101000282
2014–15[23] Championship 1812010–211
2015–16[24] Championship 000000–00
2016–17[25] Championship 1502010–180
2017–18[26] Championship 000000–00
Total 593503000673
Bradford City (loan) 2015–16[24] League One 35430003[lower-alpha 3]0414
Wigan Athletic (loan) 2017–18[26] League One 20121001[lower-alpha 4]1233
Sheffield United 2017–18[26] Championship 1920000–192
2018–19[27] Championship 200000–20
Total 212000000212
Wigan Athletic (loan) 2018–19[27] Championship 2000000–200
Wigan Athletic 2018–19[27] Championship 1411000–151
2019–20[28] Championship 3221000–332
2020–21[29] League One 9100102[lower-alpha 4]0121
Total 754201020804
Career total 235171414010126319
  1. One appearance in FA Trophy, two appearances in Welsh Cup
  2. Appearance in FA Trophy
  3. One appearance in Football League Trophy, two appearances in League One play-offs
  4. Appearances in EFL Trophy

International
As of match played 20 March 2019[30]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Wales 201710
201820
201910
Total40

Honours

Wigan Athletic

References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 20th May 2017" (PDF). The Football League. p. 41. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  2. "First Person: Up and coming Newport football talent, Lee Evans". South Wales Argus. 13 February 2013.
  3. "Cambridge 1–1 Newport". BBC Sport. 20 March 2012.
  4. "Wrexham 0–2 Newport". BBC Sport. 5 May 2013.
  5. "FA Trophy: Newport County 0–2 York City". BBC Sport. 12 May 2012.
  6. "Wolves sign Newport County youngster Lee Evans". BBC Sport. 31 January 2013.
  7. "The Potential of Youth". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 18 June 2014.
  8. "Evans aims to impress". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 9 July 2013.
  9. "Preston 0–0 Wolves". BBC Sport. 3 August 2013.
  10. "Wolves v Gillingham". BBC Sport. 10 August 2013.
  11. "Lee Evans: Wolves midfielder signs new three-and-a-half year deal until 2020". BBC Sport. 13 February 2017.
  12. "Evans arrives at City". Bradford City. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  13. "Wolves' Lee Evans and Leicester's Callum Elder join Wigan on season-long loans". BBC Sport. 31 July 2017.
  14. "Wigan 4–1 Bury". BBC. 13 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  15. "Double Swoop: Evans and Wilson". Sheffield United Football Club. 10 January 2018.
  16. "Lee Evans: Wigan Athletic sign Sheffield United's Wales midfielder on loan". BBC Sport. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  17. Evans Wales under-21 debut
  18. "Finland & Wales Draw 2–2". FAW. 5 September 2014.
  19. Evans Wales Senior call-up
  20. "Wales 1–1 Panama". BBC Sport. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  21. Lee Evans at Soccerway. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  22. "Games played by Lee Evans in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  23. "Games played by Lee Evans in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  24. "Games played by Lee Evans in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  25. "Games played by Lee Evans in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  26. "Games played by Lee Evans in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  27. "Games played by Lee Evans in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  28. "Games played by Lee Evans in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  29. "Games played by Lee Evans in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  30. "Pierre, Aaron". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  31. Anderson, John, ed. (2018). Football Yearbook 2018–2019. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 382–383. ISBN 978-1-4722-6106-9.
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