Evans: Baggage too much for Latics to bear

CHED EVANS: The firing line proved too much for Latics

MATTHEW CHAMBERS on Athletic’s withdrawal from Evans deal

ATHLETIC’S final decision not to sign Ched Evans represents the end of an inelegant saga.

SportsDirect.com Park has finally cut adrift the convicted rapist, after a two-and-a-half year deal had been agreed.

In the end, mounting pressure forced the club to admit defeat. While it was hoped the storm would eventually blow over, its ferocity eventually overpowered the strong will to make it happen.

A host of sponsors withdrew support, there were huge misgivings at Council level and a petition was launched which attracted over 69,000 signatures, urging Athletic to think again.

In the end, despite a firm belief that giving Evans a second chance was a just cause, chairman Simon Corney called off a chase that had also been pursued vigorously by fellow board member and Trust chairman Barry Owen, as well as the Professional Footballers’ Association.

Corney felt the intense focus on Evans’ potential move was overblown. In fairness, one man’s attempt to rebuild his career after serving time in jail was perhaps not earth-shattering.

But when opposition leader Ed Milliband commented unfavourably on a club’s potential signing, there was little doubt the issue had become far bigger than Oldham Athletic’s player deals.

Belief in a justice system surely dictates that those returned to liberty — even after as heinous a crime as rape — are entitled to rebuild their lives.

Would a teacher be allowed to return to the classroom after such a crime? No.

But should a man who kicks a football for a living be denied the chance to return to his profession? It’s a huge question and one endlessly debated throughout the world this week.

Certainly, as long as his conviction stands, one instinctively shudders at the thought of a young Athletic fan wearing a shirt with ‘Evans’ emblazoned across the back.

A major difference in the case of Evans (pictured above) as compared to Lee Hughes, who came to Athletic in 2007 after his release from a sentence served for death by dangerous driving, is that Hughes showed contrition for his crime.

Evans has shown none and perhaps it is difficult to do so, given that he protests his innocence. Even so, his actions since leaving jail should surely have included some acknowledgement of his victim, whose life is shattered by constantly having to move from home to home to avoid being hounded, according to reports.

The highly distasteful website set up to put forward Evans’ case does him no favours either.

Athletic’s board were convinced it was right to offer Evans a second chance, just as with ex-convict Hughes in a deal he worked tirelessly on.

But in the end, Evans carried too much baggage for a close-knit family club like Oldham Athletic to bear.