Former Crawley boss Evans embroiled in new Bantams row (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Former Crawley boss Steve Evans embroiled in new Bradford City row
7:00am Tuesday 29th May 2012 in Sport
By Simon Parker, Bradford City Reporter
A complaint of alleged indecent behaviour has been lodged against Steve Evans
Controversial manager Steve Evans could face further sanctions as the fall-out from City’s explosive Valley Parade clash with Crawley continues two months on.
Both clubs were hit with Football Association fines for failing to control their players in the March game after five were sent off following a post-match brawl.
Now Evans, who quit Crawley a fortnight later to become Rotherham boss, is set to be investigated for alleged indecent behaviour in front of a female City official.
The Telegraph & Argus understands the alleged incident took place outside the dressing-room area. It happened after referee Iain Williamson had gone in to see both teams and show the red card to the players involved in the melee, including City trio Jon McLaughlin, Andrew Davies and Luke Oliver.
It is also believed that there were other employees from the club nearby who would have seen it take place.
City contacted the Football League, who have since passed on the details to the FA. They are waiting to find out if the matter will be taken further.
Director Roger Owen said: “The football club can confirm that a complaint has been made to the appropriate authorities following an incident at Valley Parade after the game with Crawley Town on March 27.
“We understand that the authorities will determine what action, if any, they are going to take.
“The matter is now out of the hands of Bradford City and we have no further comment to make.” Should the FA decide to take action, Evans could be left facing an uncertain future.
The 49-year-old Glaswegian has a chequered past in the game and was suspended for 20 months in 2003 following an investigation into alleged irregularities in player contracts when he was manager of Boston United.
Then in 2006 he was handed a 12-month suspended jail sentence after admitting tax evasion. Evans has also been fined by the FA because of his behaviour at games.
He took Crawley into the Football League and then steered them towards immediate promotion. But despite his success, Evans was not thought to be a popular character at the club.
A video was released on Youtube shortly after he had left for Rotherham showing a group of players, led by former Bantams winger Scott Neilson, doing a celebration dance.
Several at City pointed the finger at Evans’ touchline antics at Valley Parade for stirring up the situation which led to the fracas in the centre circle.
City were later fined £9,000 by an FA disciplinary panel at Wembley while Crawley’s punishment was doubled because it was their second offence in the space of 12 months.
When contacted yesterday, Crawley said they would not be making any comment. The FA confirmed they are aware of the incident and are looking into it.
Rotherham have also declined to say anything.
Comments(34)
OutOfBradford
says...
8:08am Tue 29 May 12
ynotdunne
says...
8:19am Tue 29 May 12
Delighted the club have reported this alleged incident and lets hope he is kicked out of football and has his coaching badge(s) revoked for the good of the game. Never witnessed such disgraceful behaviour from a so called manager at any level in my life as that night as he was without doubt the catalyst for what followed. He is a convicted criminal and a silly little man
bettyswollocks
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8:39am Tue 29 May 12
Can't we ban him from Valley Parade regardless of what the fa or anyone else decides? If it was a fan they'd be looking at a lifetime ban.
beardedclam
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8:41am Tue 29 May 12
beardedclam
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8:46am Tue 29 May 12
bettyswollocks wrote:No you can't ban the opposing manager or players, nice try though! Only the FA have this power.
If that's the case why aren't the police involved?
Can't we ban him from Valley Parade regardless of what the fa or anyone else decides? If it was a fan they'd be looking at a lifetime ban.
Can you really imagine a team like Chelsea trying to ban Lionel Messi from their stadium if an "alleged incident" occurred, you'd have teams every week doing in in an attempt to ban their most lethal player.
ALEXIMO.56.
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8:54am Tue 29 May 12
beardedclam wrote:No, let's not ban him. Let him come to VP with Rotherham, because the city fans will be ready to give him their punnishment and that will be worse than a ban. He won't need to be sent to the stands because he will volunteer to go upstairs.
bettyswollocks wrote:No you can't ban the opposing manager or players, nice try though! Only the FA have this power.
If that's the case why aren't the police involved?
Can't we ban him from Valley Parade regardless of what the fa or anyone else decides? If it was a fan they'd be looking at a lifetime ban.
Can you really imagine a team like Chelsea trying to ban Lionel Messi from their stadium if an "alleged incident" occurred, you'd have teams every week doing in in an attempt to ban their most lethal player.
Bornagain2him
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9:43am Tue 29 May 12
gspot01
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10:00am Tue 29 May 12
audal
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10:21am Tue 29 May 12
huggy b
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10:30am Tue 29 May 12
audal wrote:Except there won't be any staff manning the police station desk, as reported in yesterday's T&A! :)
An amusing scenario, let the police charge him then the court puts him on probation with the proviso that he reports to his local police station every Saturday afternoon, convicted football hooligans used to have to adhere to this punishment.
BigFigure
says...
10:49am Tue 29 May 12
bettyswollocks wrote:From reports elsewhere, the incident involved a "lewd gesture" which, although distasteful, wasn't a criminal offence,hence no police involvement. Check out Boyzone's TV debut on Youtube for an idea of what he allegedly did....
If that's the case why aren't the police involved?
Can't we ban him from Valley Parade regardless of what the fa or anyone else decides? If it was a fan they'd be looking at a lifetime ban.
KnightMcCall
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11:14am Tue 29 May 12
Looks like the doom-mongers were wrong...as usual.
tyker2
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11:15am Tue 29 May 12
In this era of respect people like Evans may have a very limited life span as managers or coaches.
CVShrimper
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11:32am Tue 29 May 12
The Hump
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1:34pm Tue 29 May 12
Cityman23
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2:05pm Tue 29 May 12
mallorca
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2:50pm Tue 29 May 12
Crawley have allways been a semi decent team with great Family support,they are well best rid of that animal.
TheTruthSetter
says...
3:38pm Tue 29 May 12
"I'm sexy and I know it!
wiggle wiggle wiggle
Prisoner Cell Block A
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3:38pm Tue 29 May 12
BigFigure wrote:Surely mincing about in denim bib and braces IS a criminal offence ;)
bettyswollocks wrote:From reports elsewhere, the incident involved a "lewd gesture" which, although distasteful, wasn't a criminal offence,hence no police involvement. Check out Boyzone's TV debut on Youtube for an idea of what he allegedly did....
If that's the case why aren't the police involved?
Can't we ban him from Valley Parade regardless of what the fa or anyone else decides? If it was a fan they'd be looking at a lifetime ban.
Correctness
says...
3:57pm Tue 29 May 12
BigFigure
says...
4:33pm Tue 29 May 12
Prisoner Cell Block A wrote:Ha ha..with hindsight,not a good example to choose!
BigFigure wrote:Surely mincing about in denim bib and braces IS a criminal offence ;)
bettyswollocks wrote:From reports elsewhere, the incident involved a "lewd gesture" which, although distasteful, wasn't a criminal offence,hence no police involvement. Check out Boyzone's TV debut on Youtube for an idea of what he allegedly did....
If that's the case why aren't the police involved?
Can't we ban him from Valley Parade regardless of what the fa or anyone else decides? If it was a fan they'd be looking at a lifetime ban.
Pablo
says...
5:23pm Tue 29 May 12
KnightMcCall wrote:Sorry, but 50/50 tickets are not classed as a season ticket, I'd have thought you'd have known that. That means we've only sold approx 5,500 cut price season tickets, which includes juniors and OAP's. That won't support any kind of budget, so it's down to Rhodes and Lawn having to dig deep.
More importantly, City have reached the 6500 mark for season ticket sales. Less than 1000 of these are 50/50 tickets so we should still be one of the best supported teams next season. Hopefully we can get another 500 or so shifted and there will be "some" atmosphere at games next year. If we can get over 8000 turning up at the start of the season and we get a few wins then we will have a reasonable amount of cash coming through the gates.
Looks like the doom-mongers were wrong...as usual.
This means the ground will be a quarter full and virtually no atmosphere.
The glass isn't half full, KnightMcCall, it's virtually empty!
eebygum
says...
5:56pm Tue 29 May 12
Pablo
says...
5:57pm Tue 29 May 12
Pablo wrote:...before you quote the City Website, please note the official definition of a season ticket is " grants the holder access to all regular season home games, for one season, without additional charge". 50/50 holders have to pay a reduced price, so they are NOT season tickets.
KnightMcCall wrote:Sorry, but 50/50 tickets are not classed as a season ticket, I'd have thought you'd have known that. That means we've only sold approx 5,500 cut price season tickets, which includes juniors and OAP's. That won't support any kind of budget, so it's down to Rhodes and Lawn having to dig deep.
More importantly, City have reached the 6500 mark for season ticket sales. Less than 1000 of these are 50/50 tickets so we should still be one of the best supported teams next season. Hopefully we can get another 500 or so shifted and there will be "some" atmosphere at games next year. If we can get over 8000 turning up at the start of the season and we get a few wins then we will have a reasonable amount of cash coming through the gates.
Looks like the doom-mongers were wrong...as usual.
This means the ground will be a quarter full and virtually no atmosphere.
The glass isn't half full, KnightMcCall, it's virtually empty!
eebygum
says...
6:00pm Tue 29 May 12
Tinybantam
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6:12pm Tue 29 May 12
Nickloza
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6:40pm Tue 29 May 12
Pablo wrote:Pablo he knows the difference he actually states less than a 1000 are 50 -50s so whats your point 5000 adult tickets = £1000000 budget and we will defo sell more before the deadline so I beg to differ the glass is half full
KnightMcCall wrote:Sorry, but 50/50 tickets are not classed as a season ticket, I'd have thought you'd have known that. That means we've only sold approx 5,500 cut price season tickets, which includes juniors and OAP's. That won't support any kind of budget, so it's down to Rhodes and Lawn having to dig deep.
More importantly, City have reached the 6500 mark for season ticket sales. Less than 1000 of these are 50/50 tickets so we should still be one of the best supported teams next season. Hopefully we can get another 500 or so shifted and there will be "some" atmosphere at games next year. If we can get over 8000 turning up at the start of the season and we get a few wins then we will have a reasonable amount of cash coming through the gates.
Looks like the doom-mongers were wrong...as usual.
This means the ground will be a quarter full and virtually no atmosphere.
The glass isn't half full, KnightMcCall, it's virtually empty!
340stopper
says...
7:11pm Tue 29 May 12
Cityman23 wrote:Agreed - and why wait until now to lodge a complaint ?????
Am I alone in thinking, we should let this 'issue' go, regard it as part of a set of incidents we'd prefer to forget/move on from (hopefully learn from) and concentrate on preparing for a 'fresh start' in 2012/13?
tyker2
says...
9:14pm Tue 29 May 12
Cityman23 wrote:looks like you ae flying solo on this one. i know many crawley fans who hate his uncouth guts but were prepared to put up with him as results were good buy they k had a bad name and was getaily. Hence no fight to keep him
Am I alone in thinking, we should let this 'issue' go, regard it as part of a set of incidents we'd prefer to forget/move on from (hopefully learn from) and concentrate on preparing for a 'fresh start' in 2012/13?
eebygum
says...
1:22pm Wed 30 May 12
Tinybantam wrote:Well Said Tiny Amen!!!
I am totally fed up of the Crawley game and all its incidents being brought up again. I watched the play-off finals on the Football League show on sunday evening and at the end of the show, they ran clips of games through out the season. Guess which clip of City was shown? Yep.....the big brawl against Crawley....for cryin out loud, let's put it to bed now and consign it to history.
Colin Allcars
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7:03pm Wed 30 May 12
eebygum
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10:19am Thu 31 May 12
Colin Allcars wrote:Do you mean the riding a motor bike through a glass door? That happened at Manchester City. That's probably why we got him for only £50,000 and a steal.
Careful now, seems to be some city fans have forgotten about Beags 'history' around the time he joined
I'm not one who looks at a players age we have a very good history with older players making good at Bradford City. Along with those mentioned, Roy Mcfarland Trevor Cherry,Terry Yorath, Neil Redfern a born again Stuart McCall. Lets forget about Sumo Southall.
Colin Allcars
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5:43pm Thu 31 May 12
huggy b says...
7:39am Tue 29 May 12