Billy Evans (footballer)

William Emmanuel "Billy" Evans (born Birmingham, 5 September 1921, died Grimsby 1960) was an English professional association football player.

Evans was signed by his boyhood team, Aston Villa, in 1946 after being spotted playing for his works team, Linread. He had spent the Second World War making nuts and bolts and was 25 when he signed professional forms.

He debuted at centre-forward for Aston Villa, scoring in a 2-1 defeat at Villa Park. Principally an inside-left, he was in competition for a place with Johnny Dixon, who went on to become the last Villa captain to lift the FA Cup in 1957. He was unable to hold down a first team place and scored 3 goals in 7 appearances at Villa.

He became Eric Houghton's first signing for Notts County in 1949. In the 1949-50 season, Notts County clinched the Third Division (South) championship with Evans being an ever-present alongside England international, Tommy Lawton. He was sold to Gillingham in 1953 where he enjoyed two seasons scoring 12 goals in 92 appearances. He signed for Grimsby Town in 1955 and won a Third Division (North) championship medal in his first season at the club. He retired as a player in 1957 having scored 28 times in 102 appearances at Blundell Park. He became reserve team coach at Grimsby before he died suddenly of lung cancer in 1960, aged 38. [cite book | first=Roger|last= Triggs | title=The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club| publisher=Tempus Publishing Ltd | year=2001| id=ISBN 0-7524-2243-X|pages=p113–114]

References

Persondata
NAME= Evans, Billy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Evans, William Emmanuel
SHORT DESCRIPTION=association football player
DATE OF BIRTH=1921
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=1960
PLACE OF DEATH=