Ray Evans (footballer, born 1949)

{{short description|English footballer}}

{{for|the former Preston North End and Bournemouth player|Ray Evans (footballer, born 1933)}}

{{Use British English|date=July 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Ray Evans

| image = Feyenoord tegen Tottenham Hotspur 2-0, finale UEFA Cup spelmomenten, Bestanddeelnr 927-2234.jpg

| caption = Evans (right) playing for Tottenham Hotspur in 1974

| fullname = Raymond Leslie Evans

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1949|09|20}}

| birth_place = Edmonton, London, England

| height =

| position = Full-back

| years1 = 1967–1974|clubs1 = Tottenham Hotspur |caps1 = 134 |goals1 = 2

| years2 = 1975–1976|clubs2 = Millwall |caps2 = 74 |goals2 = 3

| years3 = 1977 |clubs3 = St. Louis Stars |caps3 = 18 |goals3 = 0

| years4 = 1977–1978|clubs4 = Fulham |caps4 = 86 |goals4 = 6

| years5 = 1978 |clubs5 = California Surf |caps5 = 24 |goals5 = 1

| years6 = 1979–1982|clubs6 = Stoke City |caps6 = 94 |goals6 = 1

| years7 = 1982–1983|clubs7 = Seattle Sounders |caps7 = 60 |goals7 = 15

| years8 = 1983–1986|clubs8 = Tacoma Stars (indoor) |caps8 = 85 |goals8 = 24

| years9 = 1989 |clubs9 = Seattle Storm |caps9 = |goals9 =

| totalcaps = 575 | totalgoals = 52

| manageryears1 = | managerclubs1 = Tacoma Stars (assistant)

| manageryears2 = 2000–2001 | managerclubs2 = Columbia Basin College

}}

Raymond Leslie "Ray" Evans (born 20 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a full-back. He played for Tottenham Hotspur, Millwall, Fulham and Stoke City.{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Tony|title=The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City|year=1994|publisher=Lion Press|isbn=0-9524151-0-0}} He also played for a number of clubs in the United States.

Career

Evans was born in Edmonton, London and joined Tottenham Hotspur as an apprentice in May 1965, and signed as a full professional in 1967, making his league debut in March 1969 at Arsenal. He made 181 appearances, including four as substitute, in all competitions for the club from 1969 to 1974 and scored two goals.Hugman, B. J. (Ed) The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005 (2005) p198 {{ISBN|1-85291-665-6}} Retrieved 17 August 2008 Evans featured in both legs of the 1974 UEFA Cup final against Feyenoord with Spurs losing 4–2 on aggregate.

He joined Millwall for a fee of £35,000 in January 1975. He helped the Lions win promotion to the Second Division in the 1975–76 season and made 91 appearances for the club in three seasons. During the summer of 1977, Evans played for the St. Louis Stars of the North American Soccer League. He transferred to Fulham in March 1977, where he played 91 for the West London side as they posted three seasons of mid-table form in the Second Division. In 1978, he returned to the United States, where he played for the California Surf. He was selected for the First Team All-Star team in 1978.[http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1978.html#NASL The Year in American Soccer – 1978] In August 1979, he returned to England and signed for Stoke City. He played 44 times for Stoke in the 1979–80 season, scoring a penalty against Aston Villa. He played in 36 matches in the 1980–81 season and 26 times in the 1981–82 season. He returned to the United States again, after making 106 appearances for the Potters.

In 1982, he moved permanently to the United States, when he signed with the Seattle Sounders for two seasons.[http://soundercentral.com/gallery/albums/NASLSeattleSoundersStats/1982_G.jpg 1982 Seattle Sounders stats][http://soundercentral.com/gallery/albums/NASLSeattleSoundersStats/1983_G.jpg 1983 Seattle Sounders stats] In the autumn of 1983, he moved to the newly established Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He would play three seasons for Tacoma, before announcing his retirement in May 1986.STARS' RAY EVANS ENDING HIS 21-YEAR PRO SOCCER CAREER Seattle Post-Intelligencer – Friday, 2 May 1986 In 1989, he came out of retirement to play one season in the Western Soccer Alliance with the Seattle Storm.[http://a-leaguearchive.tripod.com/1989/statswsa89.htm#Seattle 1989 Seattle Storm]

Coaching career

While with the Tacoma Stars, Evans also served as an assistant coach. He spent two seasons coaching the soccer team of Columbia Basin College in Washington.[http://www.mehstg.com/whereare.htm#E] Where are they now? Retrieved 18 August 2008 He has also been a coach of the Three Rivers Soccer Club.{{cite web|url=https://www.soundersfc.com/news/former-seattle-and-tottenham-defender-ray-evans-eager-attend-saturdays-friendly|title=Former Seattle and Tottenham defender Ray Evans eager to attend Saturday's friendly|website=soundersfc.com|first=Matt|last=Gaschk|date=July 17, 2014|access-date=11 March 2024}}

Career statistics

Source:{{ENFA}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
rowspan="2"|Club

!rowspan="2"|Season

!colspan="3"|League

!colspan="2"|FA Cup

!colspan="2"|League Cup

!colspan="2"|Europe

!colspan="2"|Total

DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
rowspan="8"|Tottenham Hotspur

|1968–69

|First Division

|6

000000060
1969–70

|First Division

|16

0000000160
1970–71

|First Division

|7

000000070
1971–72

|First Division

|22

0405060370
1972–73

|First Division

|22

0206081381
1973–74

|First Division

|40

21010111533
1974–75

|First Division

|21

0001000220
colspan="2"|Total

!134

2701302521794
rowspan="4"|Millwall

|1974–75

|Second Division

|13

1000000131
1975–76

|Third Division

|32

1502000391
1976–77

|Second Division

|29

1109300394
colspan="2"|Total

!74

36011300916
St. Louis Stars

|1977

|NASL

|18

0colspan="2"|—colspan="2"|—colspan="2"|—180
rowspan="4"|Fulham

|1976–77

|Second Division

|12

0000000120
1977–78

|Second Division

|39

4102000424
1978–79

|Second Division

|35

2200000372
colspan="2"|Total

!86

6302000916
California Surf

|1978

|NASL

|24

1colspan="2"|—colspan="2"|—colspan="2"|—241
rowspan="4"|Stoke City

|1979–80

|First Division

|40

1103000441
1980–81

|First Division

|32

0202000360
1981–82

|First Division

|22

0102100251
colspan="2"|Total

!94

14071001052
rowspan="3"|Seattle Sounders

|1982

|NASL

|31

10colspan="2"|—colspan="2"|—colspan="2"|—3110
1983

|NASL

|29

5colspan="2"|—colspan="2"|—colspan="2"|—295
colspan="2"|Total

!60

15colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||6015
colspan="3"|Career Total

!490

2820033425256834

Honours

; Tottenham Hotspur

  • UEFA Cup: winner: 1971–72{{cite web |url=http://www.mehstg.com/1972.htm|title=uefa cup - 1972|publisher=mehstg.com|accessdate=6 May 2020}} 1973–74; runner-up

; Millwall

References

{{reflist}}