AFC Totton
EX-YEOVIL TOWN GOALKEEPER MAX EVANS has joined AFC Totton, following his departure from Gosport Borough.
Having been on the books of Portsmouth as a youngster, the Southampton-born Evans, who grew up in Sholing and played a season for Totton & Eling at Under-14 level, spent several years in Oxford United’s youth academy before joining Yeovil Town.
He went on loan to Frome Town in the 2020/21 season, before returning to Yeovil and keeping a clean sheet on his National League debut in a 1-0 win against Altrincham in May 2021, which he regards as the highlight of his football career to date. He remained within The Glovers’ set-up the following year, before playing for Larkhall Athletic, Bedford Town and Hungerford Town on loan throughout the course of 2022/23.
He had short stays with Bideford and Frome early in the 2023/24 campaign, before settling at Poole Town under the management of Matt Tubbs, going on to make 25 appearances for The Dolphins in league and cup. Although he initially retained the No.1 jersey following the replacement of Tubbs in the Tatnam Ground hot seat by, first, caretaker manager James Ellis and then by the next permanent boss, Steve Tully, an ankle injury sustained during a friendly with Shaftesbury put him out of the team and he was subsequently unable to reclaim his place.
“It was actually a collision with Declan Rose, who was a Poole Town teammate of mine at the time,” explains Evans. “It was a freak accident, really, and he was very apologetic about it, but it wasn’t his fault. There are certainly no hard feelings and he can relax about me bearing a grudge or getting him back in training!”
Evans moved on to Gosport Borough for the start of the current season, and played six times for the Privett Park club, keeping three clean sheets. But when Gosport brought in the highly-rated former Sholing ‘keeper Ryan Gosney on a season-long loan from Salisbury in September, Evans was left surplus to requirements, and left the club by mutual consent.
“The chance to come to AFC Totton was too good to turn down. It’s a big club at this level, and in this area of the country, and we have a real chance to seriously challenge for promotion. It’s a great opportunity for me to come here, work hard and try to get as much playing time as I can. From what I’ve seen in training so far, it’s more like being back in a pro club set-up, like we had at Yeovil, than at a non-league club. Everyone puts in 110% all the time; the standards are very high.”
A regular feature of Match of the Day in recent weeks has been the sight of Premier League defences trying to play out from the back, only to shoot themselves in the foot (especially unwise in this game) by giving the ball away to opponents poised to attack from advanced positions. It’s a result of the rapid development in the modern game towards goalkeepers who must now be talented passers of the ball as well as reliable shot-stoppers. When prompted to reflect upon the shift from one style of goalkeeping to another, Evans adopts a philosophical tone.
“The best teams are those who know when to play it short and when to go more direct, according to the situation. I have always been a goalie since I was a kid; I’ve never played an outfield position for any consistent stretch of games. It is correct to say that we weren’t always coached to do as much work with our feet as we are now, but I’m comfortable with it and I feel that my distribution is one of the stronger points of my game.
“That change in emphasis has resulted in goalkeepers getting more involved with the outfield players during training, rather than always going off on our own with the goalkeeping coach, just doing our own saving drills and working to improve our catching and reflexes. That helps to bring us closer to the rest of the squad, which I think is a positive, and you get a better understanding of the tight situations that defenders can sometimes find themselves in, which can help you to avoid playing them into trouble.”
Evans, who is now 22 years-old, was an unused substitute for AFC Totton’s Southern League Premier Division South match at Bracknell Town a fortnight ago, and then made his debut for the U23s in their 7-1 win at Weymouth’s Bob Lucas Stadium on Wednesday 25 September.
“Our U23s are a very good team for that level. We were head and shoulders above Weymouth on the night and I was looking forward to playing them again at home this past week, so it was disappointing when the game was postponed. I think we’ve got an excellent chance of winning the U23s title this season, as well as hopefully doing likewise at first team level, too.”
With Step 3 clubs entering the Isuzu FA Trophy at the Third Round Qualifying stage, Evans won’t be cup-tied for Saturday’s meeting with Merthyr Town, so both he and Joshua Gould will have to wait and see who their manager decides to select. Speaking of whom, Jimmy Ball said this of his new signing:
“The opportunity to bring Max to the club was one I couldn’t turn down. He’s an experienced goalkeeper at this level and he’s here to challenge Josh Gould for his place. We want competition for places throughout the squad, and I think Max’s arrival puts us in a very strong position with two quality ‘keepers pushing and challenging each other for that No.1 spot.”
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Photography courtesy of Jon Ashworth, Side of the World
