My thought on whether Ched Evans should be once again allowed to play professional football

As a Plymouth Argyle fan I could well be accused of displaying bias when it comes to my views on former prisoners picking up where they left off and returning to their former employment on release.

Back in 2008, our excellent goalkeeper Luke McCormick was sent to prison for causing death by dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol.

McCormick was returning from former teammate David Norris’ wedding when he lost control of his vehicle and collided with a car killing two young boys.

McCormick was reacting to allegation that his girlfriend was having an affair and after having only a few hours of sleep, got in his car and headed north to confront her.

While what he did was inexcusable, he has since served his time and returned to the club he made his name at, via spells at Truro City and Oxford United.

Since returning, McCormick (who reportedly donates some of his salary to charity) has been an outstanding performer and spoken naturally of his regret.

It is clear that he didn’t go out meaning to kill anybody, but he committed a terrible error of judgement that he has to live with every day.

He has since served the sentence handed to him by the courts and I believe that there is no reason as to why he couldn’t resume his career, after all, the whole idea of prison is to rehabilitate offenders.

It’s undoubtedly tragic that these two children lost their lives, but ultimately the sentence has been served and McCormick has every right to return to work, as would a builder or postman.

Not condoning what happened but there’s also an element of bad luck involved. The majority of people that I know have operated a car when they shouldn’t have, but either injured themselves, crashed the car or made it home unscathed.

That said, drink driving is still inexcusable and is against the law for a reason.

Like thousands of others, I sit in the stands and applaud and sing the name of McCormick for his services to Plymouth Argyle Football Club. Watching his appreciation of the support, it is clear how much the second chance issued to him by the fans means to him.

This leads nicely onto the next subject, you guessed it, Ched Evans.

As I’m sure you all know, former Sheffield United and Wales striker Ched Evans was recently released from prison and has announced that he’s looking to get back into football.

Evans has since been linked with several clubs, and at the time of writing all of the clubs have since withdrawn their interest after angry backlashes and petitions from fans.

Personally, the Evans case strikes me as a little odd. He was convicted of raping a drunk girl after a night out, but quite why a good looking professional footballer would have to rape someone is beyond me.

Evans has always disputed the conviction and the fact the court heard she was too drunk to give consent was odd, but that said, they did find enough evidence to convict him and send him to prison.
Fellow footballer and Evans' good friend Clayton McDonald was also on trial but curiously acquitted despite McDonald taking the woman back to a hotel room and both men having sex with the woman, claiming it was consensual.

He is in the midst of an appeal which will go a long way as to proving if his name will be cleared (and awarded a handsome amount of damages) or if the mud will stick.

In the meantime, I believe that Evans has every right to continue his football career as ultimately, he has served the sentence given to him.

It might also be a lot easier for him as opposed to McCormick because as an outfield player he is free to roam the pitch, whereas McCormick stands in the goal with nowhere to run from the fans’ abuse, even if admittedly it has faded to sporadic incidents of late.

What did surprise me is that Evans’ now fiancé stuck by him, as even if he is eventually acquitted or rape, he is at least a cheat.

He has since vowed to clear his name and promised to carry out work in the community if he does get a new club.
It has also been commented that Evans hasn't said sorry, but if he is in the appeal process he clearly believes he is innocent and if true, he shouldn't have to be sorry.

For players and former inmates like Evans and McCormick, and the likes of Lee Hughes and Marlon King (someone who is undoubtedly a nasty piece of work), all they know is football.

If Evans fails to find a route back into football, it is unlikely he will have other qualification to fall back on as Manchester City took him on as a full-time professional straight from school.

If he earns a contract, he will pay his taxes like everyone else, if not it is likely that he will be living off ours.