Ian Ross Evatt was born on 19 November 1981 and is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Bolton Wanderers.
33 Facts About Ian Evatt
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Ian Evatt began his professional career in 1999 at Derby County, and he played for Northampton Town, Chesterfield, Queens Park Rangers and Blackpool.
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Ian Evatt attended Caludon Castle School for his secondary education.
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When he was ten years old, Ian Evatt played for the district side in his hometown and was scouted by Derby County.
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Ian Evatt started with them from the age of 11 years.
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Ian Evatt signed his first professional contract on his seventeenth birthday in 1998.
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Derby were relegated and the following season, under new manager John Gregory, Ian Evatt was a regular starter in the side.
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Ian Evatt started out as a centre-midfielder, before being moved to central defence.
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Ian Evatt signed for Division Two club Chesterfield in July 2003, with Spireites manager Roy McFarland saying that Ian Evatt was his number-one target to take to the club.
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On 26 August 2004, Ian Evatt signed a contract extension with the club to the summer of 2007, saying that it took him just five minutes to make the decision to sign, as he felt the club were "going in the right direction".
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Ian Evatt was attracting interest from other clubs, including Leicester City.
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Ian Evatt made a total of 84 league appearances, scoring nine goals for the Spireites.
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On 3 December 2005, during an away match against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, Ian Evatt was assaulted by a Stoke fan.
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Ian Evatt was banned from attending football matches for three years and at trial pleaded guilty to assault.
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Ian Evatt made 26 appearances for the Bloomfield Road club.
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QPR terminated Ian Evatt's contract, enabling him to join Blackpool on a permanent basis on 5 January 2007, during the transfer window.
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Ian Evatt signed an 18-month contract, with the League One club having an option for a further year.
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Ian Evatt scored his first goal for the Seasiders in the fourth round of the FA Cup against Norwich City on 27 January 2007.
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Ian Evatt's equaliser took the tie to a replay at Carrow Road.
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On 19 March 2007, Ian Evatt was named in the Press Association's League One "Team of the Week".
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On 2 April 2009, Ian Evatt signed a new two-year contract with Blackpool, with an option for a further year.
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Ian Evatt was named in the "Team of the Week" for week fourteen of the campaign, sharing the centre-back role with Aston Villa's Ciaran Clark.
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Ian Evatt scored his first goal in his second spell for the club against Fleetwood Town in the Football League Trophy Northern Area final on 4 February 2014.
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On 23 April 2018, following the departure of Jack Lester, Ian Evatt was appointed caretaker manager for the remainder of the season, which ended in Chesterfield's relegation to the National League.
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On 15 June 2018, Ian Evatt was unveiled as the new manager of National League side Barrow.
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Ian Evatt officially retired from playing after coming on as a forward late in a friendly at home to his former club Blackpool on 20 July 2019.
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The appearance was prompted by Barrow's social-media manager, who announced that, should their tweet be retweeted one thousand times, Ian Evatt would come on for the last few minutes.
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Bolton's form soon turned around and after winning five matches in a row, Ian Evatt was named EFL League Two Manager of the Month for November 2020.
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On 28 May 2021, Ian Evatt signed a new three-year contract with the club.
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On 2 February 2023, it was revealed that Ian Evatt had been given shares in Football Ventures Ltd, the company that own Bolton Wanderers, making him one of minority owners of the club itself.
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On 22 January 2025, the club announced that Ian Evatt had left the club by mutual consent following a string of poor results with Bolton ninth in the table.
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Ian Evatt prefers to play attacking possession-based football, with his Barrow team nicknamed "Barrowcelona" due to the attacking football they played.
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Ian Evatt frequently decides against naming a substitute goalkeeper on the bench, preferring to have more attacking options and has had outfield players do goalkeeping training, just in case.