The vice-captain of a Welsh football team has been jailed for dealing cocaine – but his club only found out after he’d already been sentenced.
Evan Press has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for dealing cocaine, but despite facing a prison sentence he kept on playing for Barry Town FC every week.
24-year-old Press admitted dealing the class A drug for two years between 2021 and 2023 – but he still played every game this season, captaining the team in 19 out of 33 matches for the Cymru Premier team.
Last week he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison at Newport crown court – but Barry Town FC only found out after a family member got in touch with them.
A club spokesman said: ‘Being brutally honest we only heard about this on the day he was sentenced.
‘He had never told us. We were unaware until half an hour after the sentencing on March 19 when we were contacted by a family member.
‘Since the sentencing we’ve heard bits about the case but we don’t have all the information.
‘We have been processing the news. It is a real shock. Evan is a wonderful young man. He’s been part of our club for seven years.
‘He has made a mistake and my understanding is it happened some time ago.
‘We are a family club who want our players to be role models. This was news to us.’
On top of Press’s prison sentence, he was also handed a £190 victim surcharge, and the iPhone he used for drug dealing will be destroyed.
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