Icons: Patrice Evra

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 It's time to explore another football icon. This time it's Patrice Evra

A brief summary

He is a French football coach and former professional player. Originally a forward, he mainly played as a left-back.Evra served as captain for both Manchester United and the France national team. His former manager Sir Alex Ferguson praised Evra for his leadership, also describing him as one of the best left-backs in Europe.

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The start of Evra's career

Evra was born in Senegal and arrived in Europe when he was a year old. Evra started his career with the Italian club Marsala. The following season, he joined Monza but returned to France a year later to play for Nice where he was converted into a full-back. In 2002, he joined Monaco and was part of the team that reached the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final. 

Becoming a Manchester United legend

Evra's performances for Monaco culminated in a move to English club Manchester United in January 2006. Georgie, a Monaco fan, told us: "I was very sad when Evra left our club. However, I am so proud of what he achieved throughout his wonderful career. He deserved all that future success."

In those first few matches, Evra did get a lot of criticism with a lot of United fans doubting the judgement of those that signed him, including the manager. However, things would get a lot better.

In his first full season as a Manchester United player, he struggled to consistently appear as a starter early on in the season as Ferguson preferred Evra's compatriot Mikaël Silvestre. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 league win over Everton in December 2006, also contributing an assist. By this point, Evra began featuring as a regular in the starting 11. 

This would represent the start of a glorious period for Evra. Following the conclusion of the Premier League season, which Manchester United won by a six-point margin, Evra was named to the PFA Team of the Year, despite only appearing in 24 league matches.

Evra managed a goal un United's iconic 7-1 thrashing of Roma. From the archives: Manchester United 7 - 1 A.S. Roma (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com)

The next season was even better for Evra as United retained the Premier League. They would also win the Champions League. Further Premier League titles would follow in 2009, 2011 and 2013. He would also win the League Cup twice and the FIFA World Club Cup in 2008. 

As we have already said, he became an icon for United fans during this time. Pamela, a United fan from Glossop, told us: "I just loved him. What a player."

This video from Classic Man Utd Videos and Clips - YouTube describes him as one of Manchester United's greatest ever defenders. 

Liam, a Manchester United fan, told us: "He was a fantastic player for us. He always tried so hard for the club and became a legend to so many fans."

Peter, another fan, spoke about Evra's history for the club: "His first game for United wasn't the best but he quickly grew as a player. He was incredible for a few seasons. Only Irwin was a better left back for us."

Post-Old Trafford career

In 2014, he joined the Italian side Juventus before moving to Marseille in January 2017; however, he was released in November 2017 after being banned from UEFA competition for seven months for kicking a fan before a UEFA Europa League match. Following a short-term contract with West Ham United in February 2018, Evra retired from football in July 2019.

We spoke with Marluigi, a Jventus fan that now lives in Manchester. He said: "He clearly wasn't the same player that he was at Manchester United, but he was still a useful player for Juventus. I have happy memories of his time with us."

Evra the French international

Evra is also a France international. He participated in five major international tournaments for France: the 2008, 2012 and 2016 UEFA European Championships, winning a runners-up medal at Euro 2016; and both the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. 

Personal accolades

Evra was named to the PFA Team of the Year on three occasions and the FIFPro World XI and the UEFA Team of the Year. In France, he was named Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year and included in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year. In September 2019, while completing his professional coaching badges, Evra returned to his former club Manchester United as a trainee coach at the club's academy.

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