Ched Evans

[bobby1]

I'd like to hear opinions on the subject of Ched Evans returning to football after his release from prison.

Should footballers and sportsmen be judged differently to other professions when it comes to rehabilitating into society after serving a sentence. Given he is still maintaining he is innocent and is pushing for the case to be looked at again should he be allowed to play football when he is deemed fit or should he not be allowed to play again until any appeal is heard?

I've been away so only just reading stuff from this week, seems to have been some controversy on TV shows with differences of opinion and politicians also adding their opinions too. Can the guy ever be given a fair chance to rehabilitate now or does he not deserve to be given another chance given his crime is one of the worst crimes I and I am sure others can imagine?

[exstream]

should be allowed to work

[arbboy]

why are professional footballers role models any more than i am a role model to children i have never met as a professional gambler?

They are deemed to be rolemodels because they earn fortunes.  Jealously from others makes them role models.  The best netball and hockey players in the UK are not role models because they don't earn £20k a week.  Your parents should be your role models, not some low IQ sportsman who you have never met and probably will never meet.

[bergeroo]

I don't see why he shouldn't be allowed to play if a team wants to sign him. He was convicted of a crime and served the sentence given to him. Market forces dictate that as he was quite a decent player, there will be a team in the football league who will sign him I would expect. Tricky thing is for the fans of that team who know they will be cheering on a convicted rapist every week. I don't see how you can say people can commit some crimes and then go back to the sport afterwards but not others, you would have to do a list of bad crimes and very bad crimes.

If he was a plumber would he be alright to return to work and would he actually be obliged to tell his plumbing clients of his past? I understand this is different because he is a role model for young people and so on. But it is no secret what he was convicted for, so everyone knows. I believe the key part of the whole debate is that he has always denied it and showed no contrition.

Birmingham signed Marlon King and I always felt a bit awkward cheering one of his goals because of his unsavoury past.

In the casino in Berlin I know a guy who is involved with Babelsberg FC (then a third division team, now in the 4th tier). They had a player called Süleyman Koç who was imprisoned for a violent robbery and they kept him on contract. He trained in prison and then when he was moved to an open prison he was allowed out for the afternoon to play fixtures in the German Third Division. Shortly after he was released he signed for Paderborn and is now playing in the top division and doing pretty well for them. I wonder if anyone has ever played for a league club in England whilst still in prison.

It is interesting that Sheff Utd didn't fire him but ran down his contract. That would indicate to me that they plan to re-sign him.

[arbboy]

I don't see why he shouldn't be allowed to play if a team wants to sign him. He was convicted of a crime and served the sentence given to him. Market forces dictate that as he was quite a decent player, there will be a team in the football league who will sign him I would expect. Tricky thing is for the fans of that team who know they will be cheering on a convicted rapist every week. I don't see how you can say people can commit some crimes and then go back to the sport afterwards but not others, you would have to do a list of bad crimes and very bad crimes.

If he was a plumber would he be alright to return to work and would he actually be obliged to tell his plumbing clients of his past? I understand this is different because he is a role model for young people and so on. But it is no secret what he was convicted for, so everyone knows. I believe the key part of the whole debate is that he has always denied it and showed no contrition.

Birmingham signed Marlon King and I always felt a bit awkward cheering one of his goals because of his unsavoury past.

In the casino in Berlin I know a guy who is involved with Babelsberg FC (then a third division team, now in the 4th tier). They had a player called Süleyman Koç who was imprisoned for a violent robbery and they kept him on contract. He trained in prison and then when he was moved to an open prison he was allowed out for the afternoon to play fixtures in the German Third Division. Shortly after he was released he signed for Paderborn and is now playing in the top division and doing pretty well for them. I wonder if anyone has ever played for a league club in England whilst still in prison.

It is interesting that Sheff Utd didn't fire him but ran down his contract. That would indicate to me that they plan to re-sign him.

J Pennant played whilst on tag (with a tag around his ankle under his sock) for Birmingham in the EPL.  Don't think anyone has actually played whilst in prison in the UK.

[Tonibell]

Ricky Otto did four years for going over the pavement and I've fond memories of watching him play for Barry Fry's Southend. Leslie Grantham was a murderer. Is it the 'yeuch' factor at work here - that he as a sportsman committed an 'unmanly' crime?

[horseplayer]

Slightly off topic but I have done a lot of reading on this case

Was amazed he was found guilty

[bobby1]

why are professional footballers role models any more than i am a role model to children i have never met as a professional gambler?

They are deemed to be rolemodels because they earn fortunes.  Jealously from others makes them role models.  The best netball and hockey players in the UK are not role models because they don't earn £20k a week.  Your parents should be your role models, not some low IQ sportsman who you have never met and probably will never meet.

To be honest Arb that was one of the things that sat really badly with me looking thru todays coverage. Nick Clegg has actually said

'''Clegg, MP for Sheffield Hallam, said: "When you take a footballer on, you are not taking just a footballer these days, you are also taking on a role model."'

Other than I can't believe he has ever watched football these days if he thinks they are role models. I'm amazed Nick Clegg can lecture morals to anyone given how he acted once he got in power. That's just a small part of why this sits badly, why do Nick Clegg or other people in media decide they are well placed to dictate opinion here given they seem to have decided he should be a role model?

[redsimon]

should be allowed to work

[arbboy]

Slightly off topic but I have done a lot of reading on this case

Was amazed he was found guilty

Totally agree with that.  I watched the video footage in the hotel lobby (what they based the case on about how drunk the girl was - she didn't look that drunk walking around the hotel lobby collecting a pizza) and the written detail and i was amazed he was found guilty.

[ripple11]

Slightly off topic but I have done a lot of reading on this case

Was amazed he was found guilty

Never followed the case at the time, so likewise I've been reading about his case on the family website.
 Very interesting.

http://www.chedevans.com

[arbboy]

why are professional footballers role models any more than i am a role model to children i have never met as a professional gambler?

They are deemed to be rolemodels because they earn fortunes.  Jealously from others makes them role models.  The best netball and hockey players in the UK are not role models because they don't earn £20k a week.  Your parents should be your role models, not some low IQ sportsman who you have never met and probably will never meet.

To be honest Arb that was one of the things that sat really badly with me looking thru todays coverage. Nick Clegg has actually said

'''Clegg, MP for Sheffield Hallam, said: "When you take a footballer on, you are not taking just a footballer these days, you are also taking on a role model."'

Other than I can't believe he has ever watched football these days if he thinks they are role models. I'm amazed Nick Clegg can lecture morals to anyone given how he acted once he got in power. That's just a small part of why this sits badly, why do Nick Clegg or other people in media decide they are well placed to dictate opinion here given they seem to have decided he should be a role model?

Footballers at the top level are just highly paid employees no different to city boys (brokers/traders) who piss it up the wall every night/do coke/champers/hookers/strippers etc etc.  Why are city traders not role models to young kids studying economics at school?  I just hate all this role model bullshit.  I would hazard a guess at the majority of players in the epl wouldn't even play football if the max wage was capped at a grand a week.  Most don't love the game.  It's a job.  They don't care what fans think of them etc etc.  They got bundles of cash and live the life they choose to do that your average working class lad would if he had bundles as well.  It amazes me more of them don't get caught up in stuff like this given the money involved nowadays.

[The Camel]

Excellent piece by fleetstreetfox in the Mirror today.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/cheer-ched-evans-cant-say-4453578

Innocent or guilty, Ched Evans is a scumbag.

[horseplayer]

I believe for some very naive reason he was told and went along with the feeling he had very little chance of being found guilty.

Because of this he employed a very cheap legal team

[redarmi]

I have no issue with him playing again at all and think it would be unfair if he was prevented from playing but I don't really understand why people think that footballers shouldn't consider themselves to be and behave as role models.  The game (and their big wages) is only viable because the players are hero worshipped and with that commes responsibility.  To compare them to highly paid bankers or other jobs is a very poor example as the other people are offering a service which in itself has an economic value.  Playing footbll is only econoically viable if people want to watch it and as a player you have a responsibility to hold the game and yourself to a higher standard than ordinary people because your job is reliant on it and to not do so lets down a lot of people.