Jonny Evans Bio from Contacttheplayers.com
Jonny Evans is a defender for Northern Ireland and Manchester United in the English Premier League. Whilst still only young, Jonny has proven that he has the ability and temperament to make it to the very top as a centre-back – he is already playing in the first team of the World Champions on a regular basis! He made his first appearance for Northern Ireland before he had even been a sub at Old Trafford, and has high hopes of reaching a Major Finals with them in the future.
Jonny Evans was born on 2nd January 1988, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has a younger brother (Corry Evans – in the Man United Academy) and grew up as a Manchester United fan. He joined up with his local football team Greenisland FC at the age of 12, and was scouted by United when he was 14. Jonny spent a number of summers in the Man United training camps, and was relocated to Manchester after taking his GCSEs.
Jonny signed his first professional contract for Manchester United at the age of 17, and joined the first-team squad. He made his debut in the famous red shirt in the team’s pre-season tour in South Africa, but played his first competitive league game for Royal Antwerp – United’s partner-club in Belgium.
Having expanded his horizons abroad, Evans returned to Old Trafford. With Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Nemanja Vidic, Mikael Silvestre and Gerard Pique fighting for a place in the centre of defence, Jonny was sent on loan to Roy Keane’s Sunderland, and helped them gain promotion. Keane tried to sign Evans on a permanent basis, but Sir Alex Ferguson refused, intimating that he wanted Evans to stay and learn from Rio and Vidic in training. Evans was on loan for the latter half of the 07/08 season, helping Sunderland to establish themselves in the Premier League.
In June 2008 there was speculation that Evans would be moving on, but Sir Alex Ferguson had other plans. Gerard Pique and Mikael Silvestre left the club, and with Wes Brown being used mainly as a right-back, Evans became the substitute centre-back. With Ferdinand and Vidic suffering from minor injuries and suspensions, Evans found himself in the United first team far more than he expected, and impressed the fans with his maturity and composure on the ball. Evans will be United’s centre-back for many years to come.