Jonny Evans

Jonathan Grant "Jonny" Evans (born 3 January 1988) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club West Bromwich Albion and the Northern Ireland national team. Evans was born in Belfast and started his career at Greenisland FC, where he was spotted by Manchester United scouts. He progressed through Manchester United's football Academy to play in several foreign tours in the summer of 2006. He then went on loan to Royal Antwerp and had two spells with Sunderland. He made his Manchester United first team debut in the 2007–08 League Cup, becoming a regular first-team squad member the following season. Despite his young age, Evans is already the second most decorated player in Northern Irish football history with nine major trophies.

Club career

Manchester United

Evans was scouted while playing for Greenisland FC, the same club that his brother Corry and Craig Cathcart played for before moving to Manchester United. At the age of nine, he was invited to attend the Manchester United Centre of Excellence in Belfast, before being invited for a trial in Manchester a year later. Rule changes within The Football Association at the time meant that clubs were limited to players who lived within an hour and a half of the club, so Evans' opportunities were limited. However, the Evans family soon relocated to Manchester, allowing Jonny to train with Manchester United full-time. Evans progressed through Manchester United's Academy, featuring in two of the club's three games during the 2006 summer tour of South Africa, as well as domestic friendlies against Celtic and Preston North End. Evans also made a surprise appearance in the Amsterdam Tournament against Ajax. Evans spent the first half of the 2006–07 season on loan at Manchester United's Belgian feeder club Royal Antwerp, alongside fellow youngsters Darron Gibson, Danny Simpson and Fraizer Campbell.

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.

Manchester United have won 20 league titles, the most of any English club, 11 FA Cups, four League Cups and a record 20 FA Community Shields. The club has also won three European Cups, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 1998–99, the club became the first in the history of English football to achieve the treble of the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League.

The 1958 Munich air disaster claimed the lives of eight players. In 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United became the first English football club to win the European Cup. Alex Ferguson won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles, 5 FA Cups and 2 UEFA Champions Leagues, between 1986 and 2013, when he announced his retirement. Louis van Gaal is the club's current manager after Ferguson's successor David Moyes was sacked after only 10 months in charge.

West Bromwich

Coordinates: 52°31′08″N 1°59′42″W / 52.519°N 1.995°W / 52.519; -1.995

West Bromwich ⁱ/wɛst ˈbrɒmɪtʃ/ or /wɛst ˈbrɒmwɪtʃ/ is a town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically in Staffordshire, it is in the Black Country, 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Birmingham, and had a population of 75,405 at the 2011 census.

History

Origin and etymology

West Bromwich was first mentioned as Bromwic ('broom village') in the Domesday Book of 1086. It is believed that it may have originally been part of the Handsworth parish. A Benedictine priory existed in West Bromwich from the 12th century around which the settlement of Broomwich Heath grew. In 1727, the town became a stop on the coaching road between London and Shrewsbury and its growth began. The prefix 'West' serves to distinguish it from the village of Castle Bromwich, also in the West Midlands.

Development

In the 19th century, coal deposits were discovered, ensuring that the town grew rapidly as an industrial centre, with industries such as spring, gun and nail making developing. Well before the end of the 19th century, West Bromwich had established itself as a prominent area to match older neighbouring towns including Dudley and Walsall.

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion Football Club /ˈbrɒmɪtʃ/, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or simply WBA, is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands. The club was formed in 1878 and has played at its home ground, The Hawthorns, since 1900.

Albion were one of the founding members of the Football League in 1888 and have spent the majority of their existence in the top tier of English football. They have been champions of England once, in 1919–20 and have been runners-up twice but they have had more success in the FA Cup, winning it five times. The first came in 1888, the year the league was founded, and the most recent in 1968, their last major trophy. They also won the Football League Cup at the first attempt in 1966. The club's longest consecutive period in the top division was between 1949 and 1973, and from 1986 to 2002 they spent their longest ever spell out of the top division. The 2015–16 season is now their tenth non consecutive season in the top flight since 2002.

Premier League

The Premier League is an English professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Football League. Welsh clubs that compete in the English football league system can also qualify.

The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders. Seasons run from August to May. Teams play 38 matches each (playing each team in the league twice, home and away), totalling 380 matches in the season. Most games are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons; others during weekday evenings. It is currently sponsored by Barclays Bank and thus officially known as the Barclays Premier League and is colloquially known as the Premiership. Outside the UK it is commonly referred to as the English Premier League (EPL).

The competition formed as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from the Football League, which was originally founded in 1888, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. The deal was worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with BSkyB and BT Group securing the domestic rights to broadcast 116 and 38 games respectively. The league generates €2.2 billion per year in domestic and international television rights. In 2014/15, teams were apportioned revenues of £1.6 billion.