Ched Evans - should he play again ?

Wednesday 13th August 2014

Almost 60,000 people have signed an online petition urging Sheffield United not to re-employ disgraced footballer Ched Evans.

The striker is due to be released from prison in the autumn after serving a sentence for raping a 19-year-old woman.

Campaigners say his return to Sheffield would send out a damaging message about rape.

Speaking exclusively to Sky News his girlfriend says he should be allowed to return to professional football.

Jurors found Evans guilty following a two week trial in 2012.

The Prosecution argued that when Evans had sex with his victim in a hotel bedroom she was too drunk to consent.

His friend and fellow footballer Clayton MacDonald was cleared of the same charge, but Evans was given a five-year sentence following a unanimous guilty verdict.

He will be released in October after serving half of his term.

Alan Smith, who is a member of the Sheffield United Supporters Club executive, told Sky News that he's been given an assurance that Evans will be returning to Bramall Lane.

He believes that most fans will welcome the club's former top goal-scorer back.

"He has served his time, he has served his sentence and we would have him back. Good players like that have got to carry on playing and if not for Sheffield United it would be for someone else, and we would regret that," he said.

But Rape Crisis England and Wales say they are seriously concerned about reports of Evans' possible return.

The organisation does not usually comment on specific cases, but has made a rare exception in appealing to the Sheffield club.

Director of communications Katie Russell said: "It is of course any convicted criminal's right to serve their sentence and then go back into employment. We absolutely stand by that.

"But at the same time we would urge Sheffield United to think very carefully about the message that they send when they immediately re-employ someone who's been convicted of such a very serious crime.

"If they choose to do that, which is their right, we urge them to seriously consider the impact that will have on huge numbers of their supporters and we urge them to make a very strong statement condemning sexual violence, condemning violence against women and girls and making it clear that misogyny, sexism, violence and sexual violence in particular won't be tolerated within football."

Ched Evans' girlfriend Natasha Massey told Sky News that he is determined to clear his name and rejected the possibility of being "in denial" about his guilt.

"At the time I was devastated. I was heartbroken, but the fact that Ched got charged with this crime, that kind of took over the fact that he had cheated so I dealt with that myself," she said.

"It wasn't nice for the whole world to know what happened. My boyfriend had sex with another woman and that wasn't nice for the world to see, but I stood by Ched and still do.

"If Ched wasn't a professional footballer we wouldn't be having this conversation, because that was his job before he went to prison.

"That's part of the whole rehabilitation process when you leave the prison and you go back to work. All Ched wants to do is go back to work, do the job that he loves, play football, score goals and then just come home and have a family life."

Ched Evans' attempts to overturn his conviction have twice been rejected, but his legal team has now referred his case to the independent Criminal Cases Review Commission in another effort to clear his name.

Sheffield United have refused to comment on reports that manager Nigel Clough has been to visit Evans in prison but has confirmed that the club was in contact with him "subsequent to his conviction".

Although some Blades fans at the club's Bramall Lane ground said they did not want the player back the majority - both men and women - said his return would be welcomed.

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No, he should not. Absolutely disgraceful what he did, thing is, his GF is backing him to get a contract!

He raped a 19 year old girl and his GF stuck with him... Awful.

he has been found guilty of a despicable crime second only to paedophilia .......so for me he has no place in a career being supported by cheering fans......

he has been found guilty of a despicable crime second only to paedophilia .......so for me he has no place in a career being supported by cheering fans......

His crime is despicable and should not be worshipped by football fans.

Thing is rightly or wrongly some team will give him a contract ,plenty of others have ,marlon king got contracts when he came out ,lee hughes after killing someone did and so to luke mccormick plymouth keeper after he killed 2 kids !!

I've been following this case and he was very unlucky all were very drunk and the women went back to his hotel room of her own free will

I've been following this case and he was very unlucky all were very drunk and the women went back to his hotel room of her own free will

I read the same Wez and Ched Evans still denies it to this day.

I've been following this case and he was very unlucky all were very drunk and the women went back to his hotel room of her own free will

I read the same Wez and Ched Evans still denies it to this day.

If he wasn't a footballer I think it wouldn't of gone to court

I've been following this case and he was very unlucky all were very drunk and the women went back to his hotel room of her own free will

I read the same Wez and Ched Evans still denies it to this day.

If he wasn't a footballer I think it wouldn't of gone to court

I thought the same after reading the trial.

I've been following this case and he was very unlucky all were very drunk and the women went back to his hotel room of her own free will

Ched Evans went home to his mums house after that night out and then went back to Clayton Macdonalds hotel room by taxi after getting a call from him. That's why Macdonald got off and Ched didn't. He shagged ghr when she was pretty much asleep as I read it!

As long as he doesn't play for wales again I couldn't care whether the blades take him back or not.

Yes he should play again, nobody should judge what went on that night as we were not there. It became a Police matter and was dealt with. Now he needs to rebuild his life and career.

Yes he should play again, nobody should judge what went on that night as we were not there. It became a Police matter and was dealt with. Now he needs to rebuild his life and career.

This

Hes done the time for the crime. Leave him carry on i say

If he really is guilty then no way should he be allowed back, but, strange case! one is found not guilty and the other is, the lady in question was too drunk to give consent, therefore they should both have gone down if she truly was too drunk

Why shouldn't be? He'll have served his time. It's a profession like anything else and needs to earn money like the rest of us? Plus the court case is a farce, the girl cried wolf for a bit of £££

On Media Wales today

The question of whether ex-Wales striker and convicted rapist Ched Evans has a future in football has stirred up a fervent debate since it emerged his former club Sheffield United are considering re-signing him after the end of his jail term.

Officials from his old club are believed to have held discussions with him in jail, while around 60,000 people have now signed a petition protesting against a potential comeback.


' PEOPLES DIFFERENT VIEWS '


So while he ruins a life he can get on with his as if nothing has happened. Strange old world! Joanne Newman


Of course he should. He has done his time. Andrew Lye


What if a police officer, teacher or doctor had been convicted of rape. Would it be ok for them to return to their original job? No! Terean Allen


I can’t see him getting a warm reception if he returns to football. With the opposition (and possibly many of his own team) fans calling him a rapist week in week out, the football pitch might be quite a miserable place for him, and in most people’s eyes it’ll be well deserved. Lewis Bowman



Anyone else would struggle to get their job back. He threw away his career by committing a heinous crime. Throw the b****** on to the streets. Netanya Lasagne Smith




I am afraid in the eyes of the Justice system he has served his punishment. Whether that is sufficient in terms of severity is a different matter. So really he should be allowed to resume his career. Others have after committing crimes. Sarah Mills



He may have served his sentence but as a professional footballer you should be someone the younger generation looks up to. Mandie Davies



He did the crime and now he’s done his time, better he comes out and makes an honest living than end up on the dole and back inside. Dougie Gentles



No. I’m afraid my feeling is: you are in the social light as a footballer. So no. He jumped off that pedestal when he did what he did. Tammy Glick



Football overlooks murder as long as they can play. He’ll be signed up by some club and cheered by their fans. Unbelievable! Keith Thomas


He’s human. He need to survive and, same goes for a lot of footballers, it’s all he probably knows. So how can he earn a living? He’s spent his time. Let the man survive. Toni Davies


Not just as a professional, he has failed in his responsibility as a role model which is just as important as his football talent. Jo Morgan

Yes. Because he has served his sentence and you cant go on punishing people for the same crime.
Yes. Because although him, his friend and the girl in question all acted irresponsibly, I don't think this was a case of rape.

I still can't for the life of me work out why Ched Evans gets 5 years and Clayton MacDonald go's free, they both admitted having sex with her. She says she remembers nothing about going to a hotel where presumably consent was given or not. something is rotten in Denmark about this case, that said, he served his sentence and should be free to go on with his life. Ultimately employers choose if the baggage you carry is too much for them

This wouldn't be an issue if he wasn't a footballer.

Fact is you use your skill set when you get out of prison, footballers go back to football, plumbers go back to plumbing.

Better he pays tax than sponges of the state in my view.

Remember when Lee Hughes was involved in a hit and run incident where the victim actually died? - Not only did he not stop the car... He never even reported the incident.
He served his sentence and was signed by Notts County upon his release. Perhaps these are different scenarios but of course Ched should be allowed to continue playing professional football - He will get stick for the rest of his career no doubt though!

Remember when Lee Hughes was involved in a hit and run incident where the victim actually died? - Not only did he not stop the car... He never even reported the incident.
He served his sentence and was signed by Notts County upon his release. Perhaps these are different scenarios but of course Ched should be allowed to continue playing professional football - He will get stick for the rest of his career no doubt though!

Away fans dream that boy!

Remember when Lee Hughes was involved in a hit and run incident where the victim actually died? - Not only did he not stop the car... He never even reported the incident.
He served his sentence and was signed by Notts County upon his release. Perhaps these are different scenarios but of course Ched should be allowed to continue playing professional football - He will get stick for the rest of his career no doubt though!

maybe it shows how low football and the money men will go....if this was a guy living on an estate in any city and his crime was known his life would made hell....

All very well and good saying "he should be able to work now he's served his time". But thats going on the assumption that being a professional footballer is just like any other profession, the club has a duty to ensure that all the peoples on there staff who are in the public eye project a positive image of the club (and de facto, the residents of the city/town it represents)

its the same as say, tv personallities. if a news reader was convicted of rape and served his sentence then obviously he's entitled to go back to work as a news reader, but i highly doubt any news agency would take him as it reflects badly on the news outlet and the profession as a whole...that's where employer responsibility comes in to it.

Sheffield utd may make that exact same decision. I'm not saying he should or shouldnt play, what i'm saying is: he most certainly should be allowed to play (not banned) but the employers (the club) have every right not to employ him for that reason and that reason alone, and i would encourage them the use that right

Guys a scummy horrible rapist whatever he does following release won't change that.

Good side I guess is that if he becomes a footballer he can pay more in tax and help that way.

This wouldn't be an issue if he wasn't a footballer.

Fact is you use your skill set when you get out of prison, footballers go back to football, plumbers go back to plumbing.

Better he pays tax than sponges of the state in my view.

That's not true. Plenty of professions were a convicted rapist wouldn't be allowed back. If he was a teacher, doctor, lawyer, police officer etc he would be out for life. Being a footballer might actually be to his advantage.

Sign him up Ole. We need a few cunts in our team

http://chedevans.com/judge-for-yourself

Still don't think he did it.

This wouldn't be an issue if he wasn't a footballer.

Fact is you use your skill set when you get out of prison, footballers go back to football, plumbers go back to plumbing.

Better he pays tax than sponges of the state in my view.

That's not true. Plenty of professions were a convicted rapist wouldn't be allowed back. If he was a teacher, doctor, lawyer, police officer etc he would be out for life. Being a footballer might actually be to his advantage.

My point was that his skill set is limited having only ever been a footballer.

Doctors and lawyers are intelligent guys with a broader skillset and could go on to other things, what does a man who was pulled out of school at a young age to play football have other than football?? f**k all.

There is also the rehabilitation of offenders point to consider. Let him play and pay his taxes.

Should never of went to court and the girl was bragging on twitter about the money she received