Man United’s Jonny Evans calls time on glittering career | OneFootball

Manchester United’s Jonny Evans bid farewell to football on a rainy evening in Hong Kong, as he played the first 45 minutes of United’s 3-1 victory over the national side.

A rain soaked exhibition match in Asia at the end of the season was a strange setting to bring the curtain down on Evans’ career but it has been a weird campaign for most connected to the club.

It had already been announced that Evans was leaving United but journalist Andy Mitten posted after the match on X that the Northern Irishman would in fact also be hanging up his boots.

After 537 club games, including 241 for Manchester United, the academy product has called it a day.

The defender broke onto the scene for Northern Ireland in 2006 in a monumental 3-2 victory over Spain’s star-studded side of the time. The then 18 year old impressed at left back as his nation pulled off one of their most cherished results in history.

He would later go on to represent his country 107 times and is without a doubt one of the most celebrated players in the history of the nation. He would score a total of six goals and was one of the core members of the much-celebrated Euro 2016 side that were a whisker away from reaching the quarter-final stage.

Evans broke into the United side in the 2008-2009 season, competing with the likes of a prime Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. He would spend nine seasons at the club in his first spell, winning the league three times.

Sir Alex Ferguson even labelled him “the best defender in the country” in April 2012, such was his contribution to England’s finest team at the time.

Evans certainly was ahead of his time as he could not only get involved in the physical side of defending but was classy on the ball. His former international teammate Keith Gillespie described him as a “Rolls Royce type of player.”

For that reason, it came as a shock to many when he was sold to West Bromwich Albion in 2015 under the management of Louis van Gaal.

Evans went on to impress for the Baggies and win an FA Cup with Leicester City in 2021, rebuilding his career after being let go by his boyhood team.

Then 2023 came and Erik ten Hag made the shock choice to bring the free agent home, a decision that was met with much ridicule at the time.

It would be Evans who was laughing by the end of the season though as he won yet another trophy in a glittering career as United beat Manchester City 2-1 in the FA Cup final of 2024.

The Northern Irishman managed 30 matches in all competitions and put in some fine displays keeping together an injury-riddled defence.

Personal highlights included a world-class assist for Bruno Fernandes against Burnley and 11 clearances from the bench against Luton Town.

This season, like so many, has not gone to plan, as injury prevented him from making any real impact on the team. He did make 13 appearances and scored his first and only goal on his return to the club in a 3-4 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao cup.

With the departure of Evans, the last remaining link to the Ferguson era has left the club. This upcoming season will be the first time since 1973-74 that there is not a member of the United squad who played under Ferguson.

Now the Ulsterman must decide what is next in his glittering career. Both Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim have praised his leadership and ability to work with younger members of the squad.

He has subsequently been linked to a future coaching role at the club. His former international teammate David Healy certainly agrees and claimed recently that “he has all the attributes to be a manager.”

Whatever he decides to do, he leaves a fan favourite and all Manchester United and Northern Ireland supporters will wish him a happy retirement.

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