John Evans (bowls)

For other people named John Evans, see John Evans (disambiguation).

John Evans

Personal information
Born	(1947-03-24) 24 March 1947 (age 78) Torquay, England
Sport
Sport	Football bowls
Position	Winger
Club	Torquay United Torquay BC
Medal record Representing Bowls World Outdoor Championships 1976 Johannesburg fours 1976 Johannesburg team Commonwealth Games 1974 Christchurch pairs

John Charles Evans (born 24 March 1947 in Torquay) is an English former professional footballer and an international bowls player. ^[1]

Football career

Evans began his footballing career as an apprentice with Torquay United, turning professional in April 1965. ^[2] He made six league appearances as a winger, scoring once, before leaving Plainmoor. ^[3] But his football career took second place to bowls. ^[4]

Bowls career

He later became a regular member of the England bowls team, first capped in 1973, ^[5] then winning a silver medal in the 1974 British Commonwealth Games pairs competition, with Peter Line. ^{[6] [7]}

He won a bronze medal in the fours with Bill Irish, Tommy Armstrong and Peter Line at the 1976 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Johannesburg in addition to a silver medal in the team event (Leonard Cup). ^[8] He also won a silver in the pairs at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games. ^[9] He reached the quarter-finals of the World Indoor Bowls Championships singles competition in 1991 and won the national triples in 1994, while bowling for the Torquay bowls club. ^[10]

In April 2001 he played in a trial to return to the England team for the first time since the 1982–83 bowling season, and later that year qualified to play in the 2002 World Indoor Championships. ^[11]

Personal life

He ran a bowls tour company which ceased trading in 2008. ^[12]

References

1. "John Evans Profile". Bowls tawa. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
2. Hugman, Barry J (1989). the PFA Premier & Football League Player's Records 1946-1998. Queen Anne Press. ISBN   1-85291-585-4.
3. "Torquay United : 1946/47–2006/07". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
4. Woods, Jon (27 July 2000). "Bowls: Elder statesmen to lead the challenge". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
5. Newby, Donald (1989). Bowls Yearbook. Telegraph Publications. ISBN   0-330-31093-3.
6. "Commonwealth Games Medallists - Bowls". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
7. "Young England hopes for Games" . Daily Mirror. 27 July 1973. p. 23. Retrieved 3 January 2026– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "World Bowls Champions". Burnside Bowling Club.
9. "COMMONWEALTH GAMES MEDALLISTS - BOWLS". GBR Athletics.
10. "Bowls" . Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette. 5 September 1994. Retrieved 25 August 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
11. Dunwoodie, Gordon (8 January 2008). "Hurry vows to return to the world stage" (reprint). Evening News. Edinburgh: FindArticles. Retrieved 1 December 2009.^{[ dead link ]}
12. "Bowls star files for bankruptcy". Herald Express. Torquay. 29 September 2008. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2009.