Robert Evans

Robert (Bob) Evans (1939 - 2016) was a Welsh-American soccer player, coach, and referee, author, and research geologist who represented the United States Soccer Federation (now "U.S. Socce r") as an international (FIFA) referee from 1980 to 1988. He also served as U.S. Soccer's National Director of Referee Instruction from 1988 until 1992 and is often credited with being the father of its national referee instruction program.

Professional career Evans worked in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the country's top professional league at the time, first as a linesman (now termed "assistant referee") and then as a referee from 1971 until the demise of the league in 1985.

International career In 1979, U.S. Soccer nominated Evans to serve on its FIFA Panel of Referees, which at that time was limited in number to seven. He was the first referee from U.S. Soccer's Region III to receive that honor. During the time he spent on the international panel, Evans refereed fifteen (15) full international A matches over an eight-year stretch that included games throughout the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and trips to Asia for tournaments. He refereed teams from every F.I.F.A. confederation and officiated FIFA World Cup and Olympic qualifying games Later, Bob would retire from the international panel early so that he could accept the position of National Director of Referee Instruction.

Author Evans authored several books for linesmen (assistant referees), including "Manual for Linesmen" and "Teaching Offside" (with Tony Waiters) and "For the Good of the Game: Modern Techniques and Practical Wisdom for Today's Soccer Referee" (with long-time colleague, retired FIFA referee Edward Bellion, Ph.D.). He was also a frequent contributor to Soccer America and a freelance science journalist with contributions to Smithsonian and American Scientist. Evans was an active blogger on his website, For the Integrity of Soccer.

Playing Evans grew up playing soccer (football) in the local youth soccer leagues. When he entered the University of Nottingham, he played goalkeeper for the University football club. His academic pursuits would later take him to Canada and then to the United States, where he continued to play amateur football as a goalkeeper. In 1994, he received the William Scofield Award after recovering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and continuing to make significant contributions to the game and U.S. referee program. In 2016, the Region III of the United States Adult Soccer Association created the Robert Evans Lifetime Achievement Award to honor the person making the greatest contribution to soccer refereeing in region III.

Research Geologist Evans worked as a research geologist for Mobil Oil Company in Dallas from 1969 to 1988. He specialized in the geology of evaporites, a type of rock that forms the seal above many petroleum evaporites, and published many articles and monographs on the subject.

Personal life The middle child and only boy among three siblings, Evans grew up in Gowerton, near Swansea, the son of Ted Allsopp, an army officer, and Gwladys, a nurse. (When his parents divorced, he and his siblings took their stepfather's surname, Evans.) He attended and earned a degree in geology from Nottingham Universit y, where he was also active in student politics. Subsequently, Evans moved to Canada to study geology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His academic interest then took him to the University of Kansas, where he earned a doctorate of philosophy (Ph.D.), also in geology.