[2] He soon took the place of James Welford – coincidentally another Barnard Castle man –and played a total of 206 games for Villa,[3] achieving major success as the club won three Football League championships in his time, including a 'double' with the FA Cup in 1896–97.
[6] In 1907 Evans signed for West Bromwich Albion, but remained there only until December 1908 when a broken leg – one of many that he had suffered in his career – forced him to retire from the professional game.
[2] When Harry Pollitt departed as manager of Coventry City in the summer of 1920, the club appointed Evans as his replacement.
[7] Evans signed some exciting new players such as Jerry Best and Jimmy Dougall but the 1920–21 season, City's second in the Football League, was largely unsuccessful.
It looked for a while as if they would stage another dramatic escape, climbing out of the relegation zone in March,[7] but the form was not sustained and they slipped back to last place.