League One club to sign Ched Evans

Striker served two-and-a-half years of five-year sentence after being found guilty of rape

Ched Evans is set to join  a League One club, according to PFA chief Gordon Taylor. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire
Ched Evans is set to join a League One club, according to PFA chief Gordon Taylor. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire

A League One club will hold a press conference on Monday in relation to the signing of convicted rapist Ched Evans, the Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor has revealed.

Evans wants to return to football after being released from prison in October. He served two-and-a-half years of a five-year sentence after being found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman in 2011.

Taylor would not name the club but confirmed that the media briefing is scheduled to take place.

“The club are due to hold the press conference tomorrow and I’ve made it clear to them that I cannot attend tomorrow,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme.

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Evans had an offer to train with former club Sheffield United retracted in November following strong local opposition, while Tranmere, Oldham and Hartlepool also rejected the opportunity to sign him.

He was initially given permission by the Blades to return to train with the club at the request of the PFA.

But following a backlash from Blades supporters, sponsors and patrons opposed to Evans’ return - 160,000 people signed a petition against it - the club retracted the offer.

Several Sunday newspapers reported that Evans was poised to join a League One side this week, and Taylor warned that any move for the 26-year-old striker had to be for the right reasons.

“Bearing in mind what happened with his release and then of course the furore that we had at Sheffield United we feel that any club wishing to sign him needs to be 100 per cent committed to signing him for proper and legitimate football reasons,” Taylor added.