Ellacombe and Wales

I guess that's what I would have expected. There was far more geographical mobility at that time than is often appreciated and Torquay, already a sizeable town, was continuing to grow. Many a young man would have moved to the town and continued his sporting activities. You imagine Crad would have known he could carry on his football - cricket too by all accounts - and he turned out to be good enough to quickly rise to local prominence. It's also possible that, amongst a greater array of players around Wrexham, he realised he wasn't quite talented enough to make it as a professional. Consequently it wasn't as if he was missing out on a promising football career by moving to Torquay. That's speculation but, at the very least, he turned out to be a fair old "catch" for football in the town. Do we know if he spent the rest of his life in Torquay? Does he have descendants in the area? John Evans the footballing bowls player? That would be a cracking story but I'm sure it would have emerged by now.

How Crad was selected for the Welsh Amateur XI is another intriguing question. I'm doubtful he was scouted although the idea of a couple of selectors wrangling a weekend in Torquay isn't entirely implausible. Maybe it was by word of mouth; through a network of players and officials; or even as a result of Crad putting his name forward on a trip home. The captain played for Llandrindod. There would have been plenty of piano tuners there.

We don't actually know much about the Welsh Amateur XI. Maybe it was class-based and slightly old-school tie. Perhaps it wasn't like that at all and selection was purely on the basis of those players known not to be professionally contracted. What we do know is that the team wasn't very good and didn't play that often. The team was northern dominated - but there were occasional players from South Wales - and changed greatly between seasons. Crad wouldn't have been alone as a "one cap wonder". But what's important is that Crad didn't arrive in Torquay as a Welsh amateur international; he became one when he was there. That must have ensured his status as something of a local hero.

1901 Wales Census about Peter Evans
Name: Peter Evans
Age in 1901: 17
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1884
Relation: Son
Father's Name: John Evans
Mother's name: Annie Evans
Gender: Male
Where born: Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales
Civil Parish: Wrexham
Ecclesiastical parish: St Giles and St Mark
Town: Wrexham
County/Island: Denbighshire
Country: Wales
Street address: 17 Earle Street, Wrexham
Condition as to marriage: single
Employment status: worker
Occupation: pianoforte tuner
Registration district: Wrexham
Sub-registration district: Wrexham
ED, institution, or vessel: 33
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 17A
Piece: 5224
Folio: 80
Page Number: 3
Household Members:
Name Age
John Evans 55
Annie Evans 48
Thomas Evans 26
David Evans 23
John Lloyd Evans 19
Robert Evans 21
Peter Evans 17
Crystal Jane 9

England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007 about Peter C Evans
Name: Peter C Evans
Birth Date: abt 1884
Date of Registration: Jun 1949
Age at Death: 65
Registration district: Totnes
Inferred County: Devon
Volume: 7a
Page: 784

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Good Evans!

There's a piano tuner operating from Stoke Gabriel called Nick Evans.

Did Crad end his days running a boarding house in Paignton?

The 1935 Kelly's Devon Directory has a Peter Evans running a boarding house at 18 Norman Road, Paignton. A later edition amends this to 8 Norman Road as do post-war editions of Kelly's Torquay and Paignton directory.

For 1946 and 1948/49 the reference is to Mr and Mrs P.C.Evans; by 1951 it's P.C.Evans (Mrs). We know Crad died in 1949.

Do we know if Crad's death was acknowledged by the club or the local press? If he died in 1949 that would be twenty-five years after the end of his time as manager of Torquay United. I guess, by then, that is how he'd chiefly be remembered. A sort of Mike Green figure to modern eyes (but with an association going deeper and further back).

I can't remember any of us commenting upon the announcement of Crad's death in any of Timbo's programmes featured on this site. That may be because it might have happened during the summer months but, quickly checking through several of Timbo's gems, I can see no mention of Crad's passing.

Times have changed. It would be sad and unfortunate if Crad did pass unremembered. Nowadays there's a greater tendency towards commemoration. Recently I was at a game where there was a minute's applause (I prefer silence myself) for a player who'd played sixty times for the local club sixty years ago. He was born in the area so may have had relatives who'd informed the club. I churlishly wasn't sure he was "worthy" and cynically pondered whether it was stage-managed to add piquancy to an already big occasion. I'm sure that's unfair of me; cast me unto the wilderness for daring to think such thoughts. You may, of course, contend that it was a simple, laudable recognition of an unsung player from a half-forgotten era.