Manchester United legend and former Northern Ireland captain Jonny Evans retired his playing boots and begins a new chapter at Old Trafford as Head of Loans and Pathways.Â
The 37-year-old centre-half brings the curtain down on a glorious 20-year career and has been assigned a front-line development role at the club where he built his name.
Man United academy graduate Evans, brought in from their junior ranks, had two prosperous spells at Old Trafford. He made 241 appearances for the club, winning a record crop of three Premier League titles, the Champions’ League, the Club World Cup, the FA Cup, and two League Cups. He then went on to manage Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, and Leicester City, winning the FA Cup in 2021.
As also quoted on the club website, the following is what Evans wrote about being proud of his career: “I want to announce officially my retirement from my playing career, not with sadness, but with pride, gratitude, and excitement for the next chapter ahead.”
He thanks coaches, teammates, and all those involved in the ride along with him during his time in more than two decades of top-class football.
Evans will be tasked in his new position at Manchester United Director of Football Jason Wilcox with developing the youth of the club. He will translate and convey policies of loaning youth players to prepare the ground for the first team.
Evans himself also believes very much in loans experience being of value, and he stated, “Having had things trialled out on loan myself, I can see the positive role they can play in the learning curve of a player. I’m relishing the challenge to bring even more depth to the learning progression through to our first team.”
Wilcox was “brought into being” through being appointed and claimed Evans as a “five-star role model” of players, crunching numbers on his worth in terms of how much it is to be a success at Manchester United.
Globally, Evans was the pillar of Northern Ireland. He won 107 international caps between 2006-2024 for which he scored six goals and 15 team-leads. He began with a thriller 3-2 win over Spain and ended his final match with a win over Spain in 2024. He retired from world football in no time thereafter.
Evans was awarded an MBE in 2023 for services to Northern Irish football and off-pitch achievements.
