Former Wolves, Sheffield United and Ipswich Town star leaves club after 62 days

Former Wolves title-winning midfielder Lee Evans is on the search for a club again after leaving Portsmouth after two months.

The 29-year-old joined Pompey on a short-term deal until the end of the season and helped the Hampshire club to the League One title. Despite playing four times for them this season including the game in which they won the league, he has been told that his contract will not be extended at Fratton Park.

Explaining his decision to release Evans and the others, head coach John Mousinho said: “It’s always tough to tell players that they’re not going to receive new contracts and the fact this team has been so successful makes it doubly difficult.

“There are guys who certainly deserve to get a deal because of the instrumental role they’ve played in helping us secure the League One title.

“But it’s important that we separate the sentiment from the reality of competing in the Championship next season.

“For that reason we have needed to make some incredibly tough decisions and I get on with all the lads, so I wish them nothing but the best moving forward.”

Evans turns 30 in July and will now be tasked this summer with finding a club that will prolong his football career. It will be third team of the year after being released by Ipswich Town only in February.

The four-time Wales international played for Wolves from 2013 to 2018. He signed from Newport County for an undisclosed fee and made 67 appearances in total, including 26 in the year that they won the League One title. Evans would play 18 times in the Championship but the following season would go out on loan to Bradford City, and then re-entered the fold in 2016 under Paul Lambert after suffering an injury playing under Walter Zenga.

Evans would then depart on loan again this time for Wigan Athletic before joining Sheffield United in the second-half of the 2017/18 campaign. Evans last just six months there before joining Wigan on loan again which was then made in to a permanent deal, and it is at the DW Stadium where he has played most of his football.

The Newport-born footballer joined Ipswich Town in 2021 on the backdrop of financial difficulties at Wigan and he played two-and-a-half seasons there, helping them to promotion before departing on a free transfer. For any club wanting to get out of League One, Evans has won promotion from there three times now, three times as a title winner and once as a runner-up.