As the Premier League celebrates its 30th anniversary, we will now take a closer look at the career of Mickey Evans, Devon's only Premier League player of the month.
After starting out with his hometown club, Plymouth Argyle, in 1991 Mickey Evans enjoyed a successful career which included a spell in the Premiership and international recognition.
A product of Argyle’s youth side, Mickey made his debut for the Pilgrims in the 1990-91 season as a substitute against Port Vale. However, Mickey would have to wait until the 1991-92 campaign to score his first goal for Plymouth, in a Zenith Data Systems Cup tie against Millwall.
During the 1992-93 campaign Mickey joined Blackburn Rovers on loan, but didn’t make an appearance for Kenny Dalglish’s side.
He became a regular member of the Plymouth side during the 1995-96 season following the arrival of Neil Warnock as Argyle manager. He found the back of the net 12 times during the campaign as the Pilgrims won promotion from the Third Division, beating Darlington 1-0 in the Play-Off Final at Wembley.
In March 1997, Graeme Souness paid £750,000 to sign him for Southampton. Mickey made an instant impact in the Premiership, scoring his first goals in their 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest on 5 April 1997. He was later awarded the Carling Premiership Player of the Month award for April 1997.
However, the appointment of Dave Jones as Saints manager saw Mickey fall down the pecking order at the Dell and he left to join West Bromwich Albion in November 1997.
A year later, he won his solitary cap for the Republic of Ireland in a friendly against Romania.
Mickey left the Baggies in August 2000 to join Bristol Rovers. His stay at the Memorial Stadium proved to be a brief one as Paul Sturrock paid £30,000 to bring him back to Home Park in March 2001.
His return to Plymouth coincided with a revival in the Pilgrims fortunes. In the 2001-02 season, he was an integral part of the Plymouth side that clinched the Third Division title with a record 102 points.
He played an influential role in helping Plymouth to return to the second tier of English Football, after a 12-year absence, when they lifted the Second Division Championship in 2004. Mickey scored the Pilgrims’ decisive second goal in the 2-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers which secured them the title. He also won the club’s Player of the Year award in the 2003-04 campaign.
His stay at Home Park lasted for another two seasons as the Pilgrims established themselves in the newly formed Football League Championship. Mickey marked his final appearance for Plymouth by scoring the winning goal in their 2-1 victory over Ipswich Town on last day of the 2005-06 season.
After leaving Plymouth, Mickey joined Torquay United in 2006. He appeared 14 times for the Gulls and scored one goal before retiring from professional football after a bereavement in a friend’s family caused him to re-think his career plans.
In 2008, Mickey is celebrating his testimonial year which will culminate on April 29th 2008 with a testimonial match at Home Park between two team made up of his former teammates, one managed by Mickey himself and the other managed by former Argyle boss Paul Sturrock.
An abridged version of this article appeared in the Scunthorpe United versus Plymouth Argyle programme on March 11th 2008.
