John Evans
Birthdate: 28 August 1929
Birthplace: Tilbury, Essex, England
Other clubs: Tilbury, Watford (1948-49), Bata Sports (1949), Charlton Athletic (1949-53), Colchester United (1957-59), Romford (1960-62), Ford United (1962-65)
Bought from: Charlton Athletic
Signed for LFC: £12,500, 25.12.1953
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Liverpool debut: 26.12.1953
Last appearance: 02.11.1957
Debut goal: 02.01.1954
Last goal: 02.03.1957
Contract expiry: 21.11.1957
Win ratio: 40.19% W: 43 D: 26 L: 38
Games/goals ratio: 2.02
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 7 / 5
LFC league games/goals: 97 / 49
Total LFC games/goals: 107 / 53
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Player profile
Evans played 90 League matches in three and a half seasons for Charlton Athletic, scoring 38 times in the First Division. He was very prolific against Liverpool, having scored seven goals in five matches, including a brace in a 6-0 Charlton win three months before he was transferred to the Reds. Liverpool were sliding towards relegation after winning only five of their first 24 matches and at least Evans' introduction on Boxing Day 1953 saw a slight improvement with a draw taken from West Bromwich Albion's visit just 24 hours after the Midlanders had triumphed over Liverpool 5-2 at The Hawthorns. That started a run of 16 successive matches, in which Evans scored five times, but the introduction of a number of new players in the second half of the season could not prevent the drop.
Evans only missed four League games in 1954/55 as Liverpool got used to life in the Second Division and scored 29 times. He was the first Liverpool player to score five goals in one game for 52 years, as Bristol Rovers were defeated 5-3 at Anfield on 15 September 1954; a rare feat that only five players have managed in the club‘s history. Evans was one goal shy of repeating his achievement six months later when Bury were beaten at Gigg Lane, failing to add his fifth in the final twenty minutes of the game. Evans wasn't quite as prolific the next season but still managed 13 goals from 31 League appearances maintaining his record of scoring one goal every two games in his Liverpool career. But only a few weeks into the 1956/57 season, he lost his place to a young Jimmy Melia and was eventually transferred to Colchester United in Third Division South in November 1957, where he added another 22 League goals to an already impressive tally.