Tony Evans ..

When a player is transferred  it becomes about his value – “did we get enough for him?” – ” was he as good as people say? ” = we sometimes forget about the guy himself- someone with feelings who has dedicated himself to achieving what he has .

I sat alongside Antony Evans family in the stand for much of the promotion season and they were lovely people . His Dad and his grandad travelled down for every match – and “Tony” was their pride and joy. They proudly talked of his hard work and the hours that he spent practicing his free kicks. His grandad tapped me on the shoulder  after his long range goal against Scunthorpe and said – ” thats for you mate” .

Before that game I asked if he would be staying with us for the following season and they said that it was 50/50 as he wanted to be closer to home so that his grandad didn’t have so far to travel. Obviously the 7 goals changed that and he stayed .

As we celebrated the result that day -Tony came straight over to where his family were sitting and looked up towards them – as he was prone to do .. Later on the pitch they all hugged. They must have changed their seats as I haven’t seen them at any games since then but a little bird suggested that he had given up the lease on his home last year as he had been told to expect a move then. It didn’t happen.

So now he has moved an hour away from his Liverpool roots . My brief glance at their family dynamic suggested that it  was never going to be Portsmouth despite what the papers said ..

He played well for us whilst he was here and we should be grateful for the role that he played getting us to where we are today. Now he is getting to reap the rewards of his hard work and to spend time with the family he obviously holds close.

We should wish him well 

The great thing is that he didnt move on when his contract ran out but left us a financial legacy to spend on younger versions of himself stll making their way up the pyramid. It’s time for others to now move us on and hopefully upwards .

So good luck Anthony but go easy when we meet eh? 

All opinions are my own . CC