Ian Evatt

Derby County

When he was ten years old, Evatt played for the district side in his hometown and was scouted by Derby County. He started with them from the age of 11. He signed his first professional contract on his 17th birthday in 1998. His first appearance in the Derby team came in the last match of the 2000–01 season, on 19 May 2001 at Pride Park, when he replaced Þórður Guðjónsson in the 78th minute. In the 2001–02 season, he spent two months on loan with Division Two club Northampton Town, from 10 August to 10 October 2001, playing in eleven Football League games. His next appearance for Derby came in April 2002, when he came on for Rob Lee against Newcastle United, then on the last day of the 2001–02 Premier League season he made his full debut against Sunderland, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–1 draw at the Stadium of Light. Derby were relegated and the following season, under new manager John Gregory; Evatt was a regular starter in the side. On 9 September 2002, Evatt scored The Rams' third goal as they beat Division Two club Mansfield Town 3–1 in the League Cup. In the following round against Oldham Athletic, Evatt found himself having to play in goal when Mart Poom was sent off. Evatt started out as a central midfielder, before being moved to central defence. He said of the move: "I started off my career in midfield. I played a few games in the Premier League and, as I got bigger, I moved backwards but I enjoyed it. They saw the potential for me to be a…

Caretaker spell at Chesterfield

On 23 April 2018, following the departure of Jack Lester, Evatt was appointed caretaker manager for the remainder of the season, which ended in Chesterfield's relegation to the National League.

Barrow

On 15 June 2018, Evatt was unveiled as the new manager of National League side Barrow. 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. The appearance was prompted by Barrow's social-media manager, who announced that, should their tweet be retweeted one thousand times, Evatt would come on for the last few minutes. In his second season in charge, Evatt guided Barrow back to the Football League for the first time in 48 years as champions of the National League. The season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with standings based on a points-per-game basis.

Bolton Wanderers

On 24 June 2020, Bolton Wanderers made an official approach to Barrow for Evatt to become their head coach, and Barrow demanded £250,000 compensation should he make the move. Two days later, Barrow rejected Bolton's bid for his services, stating it was below the £250,000 they had asked for. On 29 June, Bolton and Barrow agreed on compensation and Bolton began discussing personal terms with Evatt. Evatt's appointment at Bolton was confirmed on 1 July 2020. His first action as Bolton head coach was to give a new contract to recently released Ali Crawford,…

Evatt prefers to play attacking possession-based football, with his Barrow team nicknamed "Barrowcelona" due to the attacking football they played. At Barrow he played a 3-4-1-2 formation and used the same system at Bolton Wanderers. He changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Bolton going from 20th to third and achieving promotion to League One. 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. Evatt will sometimes bring on attacking players when winning matches rather than defensive players, preferring to score more goals than defend a lead.

Evatt was born in Coventry, West Midlands. As a child, he supported hometown club Coventry City. He attended Caludon Castle School for his secondary education.