Born in Perth, to Richard and Kate, Lisa Evans played as a youth with local team St Johnstone Women (where she played alongside future international teammate Lana Clelland).[2]
Club career
Glasgow City
Evans joined Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) powerhouse side Glasgow City in August 2008.[3] She originally started to play for the club's reserve team which won the second division with a 100% record, making her first team debut in 2009.[3] Evans was also among the first scholarship recipients to the Scottish FA's National Women's Football Academy at the University of Stirling,[4] where she studied Sports Science.[5]
During her time at Glasgow City, the club won the Scottish Women's Premier League four times (2009 to 2012), the SWPL Cup twice (2009 and 2012) and the Scottish Women's Cup twice (2009 and 2011). Evans also won the Glasgow City 2011 Young Player of the Year award.[6] She was also part of the Glasgow side which reached the last sixteen stage of the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time, which provided an idea of her talents to a wider audience.[7] Evans left Glasgow having scored 46 goals in 39 regular season games.[citation needed]
Turbine Potsdam
In February 2012, German Frauen-Bundesliga champions Turbine Potsdam invited Evans for a trial, after spotting her in their 17–0 UEFA Women's Champions League aggregate win over Glasgow City.[8][9] On 12 June 2012, it was revealed that she had signed a professional contract with Potsdam.[3][10] In December 2012 Evans's contract was extended by a further two years;[11] at the time of the extension, Turbine's veteran coach Bernd Schröder described being impressed by the start Evans had made: "It means we're able to secure the long-term services of a player who has developed a lot over the last few weeks and months. Lisa has fitted in really well to the philosophy of the club as a footballer and as a person, and is an enormous benefit to the team."[12] During her first year at Potsdam in 2012–13, Evans was part of a team that was runner-up in both the league and the DFB-Pokal Frauen, and they were Pokal finalists again in 2014–15. She left Potsdam having played 41 regular season games, scoring 7 goals in the process.
Bayern Munich
Evans with Bayern Munich in 2016
In April 2015, Evans announced that she had signed a three-year contract with Turbine's Frauen-Bundesliga rivals FC Bayern Munich, to begin the following season.[11][13][14] Evans went on to win the 2015–16 Frauen-Bundesliga with Bayern, as well as finishing runners-up the following year. The team also reached the Round of 32 in the 2015–16 UEFA Women's Champions League and the quarter-finals of the 2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League.[15] During her time at Bayern, Evans made 32 regular season appearances, scoring twice.
Arsenal
On 29 June 2017, Evans signed for Arsenal.[16] Due to injuries and competition for places in her usual playing position, coach Joe Montemurro sometimes deployed Evans as a full-back: "One week I find myself on the left wing and then the other I find myself at right-back but it's something I've really enjoyed. It's made me an all-around better player."[17] She extended her contract with the FA WSL club in December 2018.[18] During her first season with Arsenal in 2017–18, Evans played 18 regular season games, scoring two goals, went on to win the WSL Cup and was a Women's FA Cup finalist. Her second season with the club saw her play another 18 regular season games and help Arsenal to a runner-up position in the WSL Cup and finish as champions in the FA WSL. Evans played her 50th match with the club overall on 31 March 2019 against Birmingham City;[19] Arsenal won the game 1–0 and as a result qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 2014.
Evans with Arsenal in 2020
On 12 September 2019, Evans scored in the first-leg of a Champions League tie against Fiorentina.[20]
On 26 September 2020, Evans scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup against North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.[21]
Evans signed for West Ham United permanently on 17 June 2022.[23]
On 25 January 2024, she signed for Bristol City.[23] Intended to run until May 2025, the deal was cut short and she returned to Scotland and Glasgow City in July 2024.[24]
In Scotland's opening World Cup match against rivals England, Evans provided the assist to Claire Emslie, who scored Scotland's first World Cup goal.[30]
Personal life
Evans was in a relationship with former Bayern Munich and Arsenal teammate Vivianne Miedema, a international with Netherlands, for six years.[31][32]
In November 2021, Evans joined the charity movement Common Goal, committing 1% of her salary to community organisations working with young people. Evans said she and Miedema "want to be happy and constructive human beings off the pitch. Common Goal is the perfect platform to create change through football in a collective, sustainable way."[33]
In 2021 on the We Play Strong Channel, she said that she was studying part-time in Sport, Health and Fitness via an online course.
Scottish FA Girls Soccer Centres
The Scottish FA launched dedicated Girls' Soccer Centres across Scotland before Euro 2017 to increase participation in football among primary school-aged girls across Scotland. Evans was appointed as an ambassador for the East Region covering Angus, Dundee, Fife, and her hometown area of Perth & Kinross.
[34]
We Play Strong
Evans is one of UEFA's official ambassadors for #WePlayStrong, a social media and vlogging campaign which was launched in 2018. The campaign's "...aim is to promote women's football as much as we can and to make people aware of women's football, really," Evans explains. "The ultimate goal is to make football the most played sport by females by 2020. So it's a UEFA initiative to get more women and girls playing football, whether they want to be professional or not."[35] The series, which also originally included professional footballers Sarah Zadrazil, Eunice Beckmann, Laura Feiersinger and now also includes Petronella Ekroth, Shanice van de Sanden and Beth Mead, follows the daily lives of female professional footballers.[36]
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