Ched Evans ‘set to join League One club’, says PFA head Gordon Taylor

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/04/ched-evans-league-one-club-pfa-gordon-taylor

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A League One club will hold a press conference on Monday in relation to the signing of the convicted rapist Ched Evans, the Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Taylor has revealed.

Evans wants to return to football after being released from prison in October. He served two-and-a-half years of a five-year sentence after being found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman in 2011.

Taylor would not name the club but confirmed that the media briefing is scheduled to take place. “The club are due to hold the press conference tomorrow and I’ve made it clear to them that I cannot attend tomorrow,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Justice stepped in to prevent Evans from plying his trade overseas after speculation mounted that the Maltese side Hibernians were hoping to sign the player. The MoJ issued a statement clarifying that, as a convicted sex offender on licence, Evans was barred from working abroad.

Evans had an offer to train with former club Sheffield United retracted in November following strong local opposition, while Tranmere, Oldham and Hartlepool also rejected the opportunity to sign him. He was initially given permission by the Blades to return to train with the club at the request of the PFA. But following a backlash from Blades supporters, sponsors and patrons opposed to Evans’ return - 160,000 people signed a petition against it – the club retracted the offer.

Several Sunday newspapers reported that Evans was poised to join a League One side this week, and Taylor warned that any move for the 26-year-old striker had to be for the right reasons.

Taylor added: “Bearing in mind what happened with his release and then of course the furore that we had at Sheffield United, we feel that any club wishing to sign him needs to be 100% committed to signing him for proper and legitimate football reasons.”

Any move to sign Evans is likely to lead to public outcry, but Taylor is keen to avoid a similar situation to the one that engulfed Sheffield United after they made their offer to the player.

“I don’t want to create a replica-type situation that we had at Sheffield [United],” he said, “I’m a little bit concerned that we need a press conference and that will invite, of course, many antagonists.”

Taylor said the PFA appreciated the situation was “very sensitive”, but reiterated its stance that Evans deserved the chance to resume his career following his release from prison: “We’ve made it clear in our statements that we feel he’s been unable to say much because of the appeals process, but he has served his time and the job of society is to look to rehabilitate.”

The Sun have reported that the club Evans is set to join is Oldham Athletic though they denied any interest in the player in December, saying: “The Board of Directors would like to confirm that we will not be extending an invitation for Ched Evans to train with Oldham Athletic nor will we be offering him a contract. The club will not be making any further comment on this subject.”

The club have not responded to enquiries as to whether they have changed this stance.