U.K. Deputy PM and Sheffield MP Nick Clegg said League Championship side Sheffield United should "think really long and hard" before it decides whether to allow convicted rapist Ched Evans to play for it again, according to Mike Collett of REUTERS. Clegg, speaking to LBC Radio the day before Evans was due to be released from prison on Friday, said, "He has done his time but I just don't believe that the owners of a football club can somehow wish away the fact that that has happened." Evans, 25, who has also played for Man City and is a Wales int'l, was convicted in '12 "of raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room" (REUTERS, 10/16). The BBC's Mike Keegan wrote Oldham Athletic Dir Barry Owen -- who was instrumental in bringing a jailed footballer to his side in '07 -- said that clubs thinking of signing Evans "will have to carefully gauge fan opinion." Owen said of the move for Lee Hughes, jailed for six years in '04 for causing death by dangerous driving, "We were very mindful of the fans' thoughts. One of the major points for us was that Lee had shown a lot of repentance for what he had done." The Yorkshire club, which released the player following his conviction but did not sack him, has refused to comment -- although Manager Nigel Clough admitted that "there had been talks." More than 140,000 people "have now signed a petition demanding the club does not re-employ Evans." Professional Footballers' Association CEO Gordon Taylor has backed Evans' return, stating that "there is no law that prevents him from going back to work" (BBC, 10/16).
