Antony Evans is Huddersfield Town’s fourth summer signing, having joined from Bristol Rovers for an unknown price. He joins Lasse Sorensen, Mickel Miller, and Herbie Kane as the club continues to assemble a roster that they think will give Michael Duff the weapons he needs to mount a promotion bid in the next season. And, it must be stated, the quality of the acquisitions, along with the fact that they arrive relatively early in preseason, bodes well for Town.
Evans is Bristol Rovers’ reigning Player of the Season and is well-liked by their fans. So it looks like we have a very talented player on our hands. In this piece, I’ll go a little further into our new boy.
What is Antony Evans’ history? Evans progressed through Everton’s youth systems, joining the Under 21s at the age of 16, before signing his first professional deal with them. His first taste of men’s football came on loan to Morecambe in January 2017, when he appeared in 13 League Two games during the second half of the season. Then, in January 2019, he spent the second half of the season on loan at League One club Blackpool, where he appeared in 12 games.
He then made the rather uncommon move from Everton’s academy to SC Paderborn in January 2020. He wasn’t getting opportunities to play. games at Everton, it appears he took the opportunity to play regular football for a relegation-threatened Bundesliga club instead. It didn’t work out for him, as he only played 7 games for them before being loaned out to Crewe in League One in January 2021 and having his contract terminated a year early in the summer of 2021. His career took off after he joined Bristol Rovers on a free transfer in August 2021, scoring 10 and assisting 12 goals in 35 games during their promotion season from League Two. The following season, he scored five goals and assisted three in 43 games for Bristol Rovers in their first season back in League One. He played 43 games this past season. Again, he played in League One, scoring five goals and assisting five others, and he was named player of the season. What do Bristol Rovers fans think about Antony Evans?
After doing some research online, it appears that practically all Bristol Rovers fans are unhappy to see Evans leave and consider the alleged £450k cost as a bargain for Town, albeit they are pleased to get something for a player in his final year of contract. Based on the remarks I’ve read about him, he appears to be a versatile midfielder who can pass, tackle, shoot, and take free kicks. He is not blessed with pace, but he did receive good ratings for covering. He
covers a lot of ground when jogging. While he is an all-rounder, it appears that he is more attack-oriented and would most likely play in front of a defensive midfielder. On the GasChat forums, there was an interesting message from a fan who stated that they sat near Evans’ family for home games, and it is likely that moving closer to Merseyside played a significant role in making Huddersfield Town an appealing choice. Along with working with Michael Duff, “The Project” and, of course, the fact that we will have provided him a respectable salary. However, after playing in Germany for a while and then a few years in Bristol, I can understand how moving a very short trip from the location you call home would be enticing despite other circumstances. After all the talk about character and bad eggs in the dressing room, it’s nice to know that none of the Bristol Rovers fans I saw commenting on Evans had anything unpleasant to say about him personally. He comes across as a kind and hardworking young man. The one notable drawback was a remark that he can sometimes get lost in games and be caught in possession. Others disagreed, claiming that it was his teammates’ failure to provide him with choices that caused him to be closed down before he could release the ball. And I doubt he was lost in too many games if he was their Player of the Season.
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