Former Wolves man and promotion specialist Lee Evans eyeing next challenge

It is now a decade since Lee Evans finished his first season at Wolves as part of the record-breaking team which stormed to the League One title and not only righted the shipwreck of back-to-back relegations, but sparked the good ship Molineux back into life.

That wasn’t his first promotion, nor was it his last. Good Evans, indeed!

He had already played half a season with Newport County prior to joining Wolves in January 2013, moving on when they were top of the Conference enroute to winning the play-offs to return to the Football League.

He did the same as a mainstay for the first half of the 2017/18 campaign with Wigan to land his second League One title-winners’ medal, and similar again for the opening segment of Ipswich’s recent fairytale as they finished League One runners-up in 2022/23.

And in the season just gone? Even though it has been seriously affected by injury, Evans made a handful of appearances again with Ipswich, now promoted from the Championship, and then with Portsmouth, who won League One.

“You're squeezing it a bit if you're including the Ipswich one this year!” he laughs.

Evans, who turns 30 in July, certainly isn’t trying to claim this season’s successes to make it six of the best, but to be associated with squads which are upwardly mobile is a very good habit to have. And now, out of contract, the stylish midfielder is ready for his next port of call, and potentially another promotion port of call!

“I’m feeling fresh, ready to go and looking forward to seeing what the summer brings and hopefully another exciting new challenge,” he says.

“The injury I had this season to my knee is one which has niggled me for a few years but, having had surgery, that problem has gone which is a real positive.

“I’m still only 29, and probably around my prime for a midfield player, and over my time at Ipswich I’ve worked with a manager in Kieran McKenna who has improved my game massively.

“I definitely feel I’ve got so much still to offer and can’t wait to get an opportunity to get going again and play a big part somewhere next season.”

It only needs a cursory glance at the Evans CV to note that he has played for a host of big clubs already during his career.

Wolves, Ipswich, Portsmouth, Wigan, Bradford and Sheffield United all have present or recent Premier League history, and have helped provide a plethora of different experiences for the Newport-born midfielder.

But Newport, his hometown club, is where it all began for Evans, and in pretty spectacular fashion.

Justin Edinburgh, who has since sadly passed away, was the manager who gave him his senior debut at the age of 17, in a 1-1 draw at Cambridge.

Just three appearances later, Evans was turning out at Wembley, starting in a 2-0 defeat against York in the final of the FA Trophy. Quite an introduction.

“Imagine that, in your fourth game of football, at 17, playing at Wembley,” he recalls.

“What an incredible memory to have so early in my career.”

And then came Wolves.

A key figure in that promotion-heading Newport side, interest came late in the window, but it was an opportunity which was too good to turn down, even though his first half season was spent learning the ropes in Wolves’ development side.

Kenny Jackett’s arrival, heralding the changing of the guard and the need for a new direction after a season of turmoil and vitriol, offered a blank page for those young talents wanting to make a breakthrough into the challenge of League One.

Evans was among those to write his own chapter.

There was a big-day feel to the first game of the season at Preston, Ron Flowers leading Wolves out on the 125th anniversary of the Football League, and 5,000 vociferous Wolves fans, ready to forgive their club, packed behind the goal.

That was Evans’ debut, a goalless draw, but the following weekend, at a sun-drenched Molineux, he both scored and won a penalty in the 4-0 win against Gillingham which set the season alight.

All this when he had only just turned 19.

“Kenny hadn’t said anything specific to me that summer but, with had happened over the previous couple of seasons, as young lads we knew there might be a chance if we could impress,” Evans recalls.

“A lot of big players had moved on and I remember just focusing on working as hard as I could in that pre-season and trying to catch the gaffer’s eye.

“He told me on the Friday before the Preston game that I would be starting and I was a bundle of nerves to be honest.

“I’d had half a season in the Conference and a couple of Development games so was very much unproven, but mixed in with the nerves was a lot of excitement.

“It was a completely different experience to anything I had been through before, and while I’d been to some first team games after signing so I knew Wolves were a massive club, seeing all the fans there that day just reinforced it.

“It wasn’t the best of games and finished goalless but it’s one I will always remember.

“And then to mark my home debut with a goal in front of a big crowd at Molineux, with my Mum and Dad there watching, that was unbelievable.”

The dream debut turned into a dream season for Evans and company.

Wolves stormed to the League One title in a record-breaking blaze of goalscoring at the one end and defensive solidity at the other.

Although he lost his place for a spell, Evans was back in for some of the memorable end-of-season fixtures, including the promotion-clincher at Crewe, making 28 appearances in all competitions across an exhilarating campaign.

“At the time, being so young, I just took it all in my stride and lived in the moment, and didn’t think too much about anything apart from playing my football.

“But when I look back, obviously there is a lot of pride.

“I think the style Kenny wanted to play, trying to play football, that really suited me, but going into a team with such quality doesn’t half help!

“To have an attack with the likes of Bakary Sako and then James Henry, Michael Jacobs and Nouha Dicko, and Kev Mac (Kevin McDonald) who must be the best midfielder League One has ever seen, that certainly makes a difference.

“We were rock solid at the back with the likes of the skipper Sam Ricketts and Danny Batth, had a great keeper in Carl Ikeme, and were just so strong all the way through.

“I started the season well, but then like any young player had a dip in form so the manager took me out, and I was back in towards the end.

“It was such a great season, both for me and Pricey (Jack Price) who came in when I didn’t play, but obviously mainly for the club as a whole.

“I absolutely loved it.”

Evans also started the following season in the Championship as a first choice, and acquitted himself well, before a gradual dip in form.

And this time, he remembers a bit of frustration as his first team opportunities became limited, again to be expected from a player still soon into his senior career.

“I was trying to build on what had happened in the first season and felt I was doing well, but after I had another dip, I probably took my eye off the ball a little bit,” Evans explains.

“I was playing with a broken hand which was the first time I had played with an injury which probably didn’t help, but I remember a bit of frustration creeping in around Christmas time because I wanted to play football.

“It was probably my first major setback, everything had gone so well for me since breaking into the first team, and there was probably some immaturity, and I was naïve to think that everything would just carry on going in the right direction.

“There are always going to be ups and downs in football, and that was when I realised you have to learn from it.”

Wolves just missed out on the play-offs that season, but Evans didn’t play after early February, and the following season he was despatched a league lower, on loan to Bradford, under manager Phil Parkinson.

His response was positive, chalking up 41 appearances as the Bantams missed out in the play-off semi-finals, which then saw him return to Molineux for the following season.

Once again, the start of a new campaign, this time under Walter Zenga, saw Evans back in the starting eleven, before picking up an injury in the win at Birmingham City which proved the first of the knee problems which has only just been completely resolved.

When back fit, it was in the FA Cup that Paul Lambert called on his services, with a win at Stoke – then in the Premier League with Wolves in the Championship – before an incredible day out at Anfield in the fourth round.

Liverpool, under Jurgen Klopp, who rounds off his spell in a charge at the club with Sunday’s game, 1. Wolverhampton Wanderers 2.

A midfield of Evans and George Saville behind an attacking front four of Helder Costa, Dave Edwards, Andi Weimann and Nouha Dicko, paid dividends.

“I remember someone saying to me ahead of the Stoke game that the fans on Twitter hadn’t been too sure about me and George in midfield,” Evans recalls with a laugh.

“It was my first game back after injury but I loved being out there – and then came Liverpool, which was an incredible day.

“The atmosphere walking out of the tunnel, hearing ‘You’ll never walk alone’, I never thought I’d be able to experience that sort of moment.

“A few of us young lads were playing, Harry (Burgoyne) was in goal, and it was an amazing day for all of us as well as the club.

“Whenever I am asked who the best player I have played against is, I say Philippe Coutinho, who came on at half time that day.

“He was at the peak of his powers back then, incredible, and he just weaved his magic and pushed us back deeper and deeper.

“But we defended unbelievably, and ended up getting a result which no one outside the club would have expected us to get.”

Evans was involved with the first team over the remainder of that season, but in the summer which followed, the arrival of Nuno Espirito Santo as head coach and a string of top quality signings saw a major shift in the landscape.

He will always be that little bit disappointed he didn’t get a chance to prove himself, but completely understands why!

“A few of us didn’t really get the chance to train with the first team and there was disappointment that I didn’t get the chance to show the new manager what I could do,” he explains.

“But then, a couple of weeks later, players like (Ruben) Neves and (Diogo) Jota started arriving and it was like, ‘o-k then, that’s fair enough!’

“That was the direction Wolves were going in and when you are bringing in players of that calibre then who am I to say I think I should be playing!

“Things went great for Wolves from there, and I still look out for their results and will always have fond memories of my time at Molineux.

“They were the team that gave me my first chance in league football, and I will always be thankful for that, as well as to Kenny Jackett, who showed his faith in me by putting me in the team in that first season.”

The end of Wolves proved the beginning of a fresh start for the Welsh international midfielder, who has four caps at senior level for his country.

It also saw him link up with another former Molineux midfielder who loved to pick a pass, Paul Cook.

“Cooky was brilliant to work for, there were some great times at Wigan and then he also took me to Ipswich, where it didn’t quite work out in the same way,” says Evans.

“He’s a great manager and personality, who lets you have your ups and downs but only ever wants the best for his players, and I’m delighted that he has just picked up another promotion with Chesterfield.”

Evans achieved promotions both at Wigan and Ipswich, and, even in an injury-hit season this time around, he captained the Tractor Boys to victory against Wolves in the Carabao Cup.

Hopes of then forcing his way into Ipswich’s league line-up for what has been another incredible season in Suffolk were dashed by the reoccurrence of the knee injury which has now been completely sorted, ready for a new start.

Evans is feeling revitalised, refreshed, and ready for the next step.

“I’m going to keep myself as fit as possible over the summer and be ready for pre-season and hopefully a new challenge,” he says.

“It feels just like Wolves a decade ago, getting ready to try and impress from the first day back to try to be part of another successful squad.”