Michael James "Mickey" Evans (born 1 January 1973) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent most of his career with Plymouth Argyle, for whom he scored 73 goals in 384 appearances in the Football League. He also played in the Premier League for Southampton and the Football League for West Bromwich Albion, Bristol Rovers and Torquay United. Born in England, Evans earned one cap for the Republic of Ireland at full international level. Club career Plymouth Argyle Evans originally joined Plymouth Argyle in December 1987 as an associate schoolboy. He made his first team debut in December 1990 at the age of 17, and signed his first professional contract in March 1991. He was a member of Neil Warnock's Plymouth side which won promotion from the Third Division via the play-offs in 1996. Following that success, in March 1997 he was signed by Graeme Souness at Southampton for £650,000. Southampton Souness signed Evans to add a bit of muscle to the forward line as Southampton entered the final lap of a desperate fight to avoid relegation from the Premier League in the 1996–97 season. He was a big and brave striker and scored four crucial goals as Saints beat the drop, finishing in 16th position. His greatest game in a Saints shirt came at Nottingham Forest's City Ground, where he scored a brace. For the second goal, he sprinted from the half-way line, taking a pass from Eyal Berkovic to beat goalkeeper Mark Crossley who could only half block the shot. He followed this up with two more goals against West Ham United and Coventry City, and his form in April 1997 was such that he was awarded the Premiership Player-of-the-Month Trophy. Evans became somewhat of a cult figure amongst Southampton fans which many of them making a tongue-in-cheek reference to his West Country roots by wearing straw hats and having straw hanging from their mouths as well as donning fake versions of Evans' then trademark bushy sideburns. Saints fans attributed their Premier League survival solely to Evans' goals and performances during that period. The following season, Souness had been replaced as Saints' manager by Dave Jones and Evans lost his place to Kevin Davies. Although he was to make a handful of appearances in the 1997–98 season, his career at The Dell only lasted just over six months and in October 1997 he moved