John Evans

John Charles Evans was born in Torquay, Devon, on 24 March 1947. He grew up playing both football and lawn bowls and, unusually, showed real talent at both, a dual enthusiasm that would shape the first big decision of his life while he was still a teenager.

Evans joined Torquay United as an apprentice and turned professional in April 1965. Aged 17, he scored the opening goal on his first team debut in a 2-1 home win over Tranmere Rovers in March 1965, with Robin Stubbs scoring the winner. He made six league appearances as a winger, eight senior appearances in all according to the Torbay Weekly. When Frank O'Farrell succeeded Eric Webber as manager in the summer of 1965 he demanded complete commitment, and although he sympathised with Evans' wish to keep playing both sports, he eventually asked him to choose. Evans chose bowls.

He was first capped by England in 1973 and the following year won a silver medal in the pairs with Peter Line at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch. At the 1976 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Johannesburg he won bronze in the fours with Bill Irish, Tommy Armstrong and Peter Line, and silver in the team event, the Leonard Cup.

On the domestic circuit he won many honours, including the national triples in 1994 for Torquay Bowls Club. He reached the quarter-finals of the World Indoor Bowls Championships singles in 1991, played an England trial in April 2001, his first chance to return to the national side since the 1982 to 1983 season, and qualified for the 2002 World Indoor Championships. He ran a bowls tour company, which ceased trading in 2008, and coached and mentored many leading Devon bowlers, including Sam and Sophie Tolchard.

Evans remained devoted to both bowls and Torquay United throughout his life. He lived for many years in Marnham Road in Torquay, close to the Torquay United Indoor Bowls Club and to Plainmoor, the football ground where his sporting life began. In 2022, then 75, he was still a respected voice on the game, praising England's bowlers for giving the sport its biggest boost for years at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

John Evans died at the age of 79. His death was reported on 2 November 2026 by the Torbay Weekly, and Torquay United Indoor Bowls Club shared the news with members. The cause of death has not been made public, and funeral arrangements had not been announced at the time of reporting.

Tributes came from across Devon bowls. Sam Tolchard, a world and Commonwealth champion whom Evans had mentored, said: "It is such sad news. John was an absolute legend in so many spheres, irreplaceable."

Evans is remembered as one of the most respected figures in English bowls, a medallist at both the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships, and as the coach and mentor behind a generation of South Devon players who went on to win world and Commonwealth titles of their own. In Torquay he remained a link between the town's football club and its proud bowling tradition.