Jack leads off the old boys at Legends Day 2007
It is with great sadness that I have to report the death of
former Coventry City footballer Jack Evans. Jack who was 86 a few weeks ago was
on City’s books between 1942-52 and was a regular in the reserve team for
several seasons and made eight first team appearances between 1949-51. After
leaving City in 1952 he had a long and successful career in local non-league
football, playing at a high standard until the age of 36. He died suddenly
after being taken ill on the golf course at Maxstoke Park last Sunday morning.
Born in Coventry on 11 March 1926, Jack was just too young to
be called up for World War 2 but did his National Service in the army just
after hostilities ended and was an accomplished glider pilot. He was signed by
City after he wrote in asking for a trial and impressed the management staff.
He played centre-forward and wing-half for Modern Machines (City’s Youth team)
and in April 1949 after some good performances for the reserves he got his
first team chance when injury ruled out Ted Roberts. The opponents in a Second
Division match were Fulham at Highfield Road and a few years ago he told me the
story. He was getting changed in the dressing room before the kick-off and the
tannoy announcer gave the team changes. He read out’ “Number 9 – Jack Evans”
only to be greeted by a chorus of boos. Jack however had the last laugh,
scoring the only goal of the game against the side who would be promoted later
that month.
Nemo in the Coventry Evening Telegraph was
complimentary about the new boy:
‘Evans is the nearest thing to (Ted) Roberts on the City
books. Lionhearted, not knowing what it is to be beaten, he did the job
entrusted to him with real credit. It was a joy to observe his 100% enthusiasm
and get a goal’.
The following week, with Roberts fit again, it was back to
the ‘stiffs’ and it was the following season (1949-50) before he got another
opportunity. He made three appearances
that season, two home 0-0 draws (v QPR and Preston) and a 0-1 defeat at
Cardiff. 1950-51 was a good season for Coventry City – they were in the Second
Division promotion hunt until the last few weeks of the season, in fact they
led the table at the turn of the year. Ted Roberts was a virtual ever-present
but when he was injured Jack made four appearances without finding the net:
Leicester (h) won
2-1
Preston (a) drew 1-1
Cardiff (a) lost 1-2
Cardiff (h) won 2-1
Manager Harry Storer signed ace scorer Tommy Briggs the
following week and Jack’s first team days were over.
Jack told me about a friendly game he played in in 1950
against the Turkish side Galatasaray at Highfield Road. They were probably one
of the first Turkish sides to visit England and, according to the Coventry Evening Telegraph report, they
created a wonderful friendly atmosphere at Highfield Road by carrying the Union
Jack on to the pitch and throwing bunches of flowers to the crowd. A crowd of
9,350 saw City win 2-1with goals from Jack and Noel Simpson. Jack told me that
the Turks were extremely sporting on the pitch, and they picked City players up
when they fell down. Then in the second half, when Ken Chisholm was floored, he
was picked up, had his hand shaken and was embraced by the Galatasaray player!
Jack obviously realised he wasn’t going to be a top-class
footballer and whilst on City’s books he worked at Daimler and trained to be a
carpenter, playing football as a part-time professional. Later he worked at
Rolls Royce at Anstey where he was also involved in union duties. He told me
that in those days he could earn more as a skilled carpenter than playing
football full-time.
In May 1952 he was released by City and joined Nuneaton
Borough and the following season had short spells with them and also appeared
for Bedworth and Rugby Town. He was back with Bedworth for the 1953-54 season
but by March 1954 he was appearing for Banbury Spencer and was playing at
outside right.
In 1957 he joined Lockheed Leamington, where his former City
colleague Les Latham was manager, and also a favourite grazing place for
ex-City men. He played alongside several former City colleagues including
Charlie Timmins, Ken Jones, Ken Brown and Mick Lane.
Moving back to wing-half he played his part in Lockheed’s
golden era in the early 1960s and won championship medals in 1961-62 and
1962-63. In 1962 he returned to Highfield Road at centre-forward in the Brakes
team that lifted the Birmingham Senior Cup by defeating Rugby Town 5-1 in what
was my first ever visit to Highfield Road. Jack scored twice and winger Ernie
Ward (a former City apprentice) scored a hat-trick. As a young boy I remember
Jack leading the Brakes’ forward line and winning virtually every ball in the
air with his bald head!
Jack hung up his boots in 1963 at the age of 37 and was
assistant manager at Leamington for a time before being granted a testimonial
against Nottingham Forest in 1964 for his service to the club.
Jack was a keen golfer and played regularly until his death.
After growing up in Cheylesmore he lived in Duncroft Avenue, Coundon for many
years. In 2007 he attended the inaugural Legends Day but told me then that he
was disillusioned by the modern game and had no interest in coming regularly to
City games. According to his old friend John Green, who played with Jack in the
Modern Machines team after the war, Jack didn’t even watch football on the
television.
A date for his funeral has not been announced at the time of
going to press.
Thanks to Paul O’Connor, Paul Vanes and John Green for their
assistance in preparing this obituary.
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