At the age of 28, TERRY EVANS is hardly one of those players who join a non-league club at the tail end of a professional career. And if the defender did not choose to drop out of Third Division football at the end of last season, he believes he is making the best of the situation.
He said: "My mother always wanted me to study for a career, while my dad encouraged me to play football. Now I am playing a good standard of football, and have a career outside the game."
Born in Church Village, Terry's father must have been proud of his son when he completed a two-year spell as a YTS player at Cardiff City and made a breakthrough into their first team. He signed a professional contract and studied to ensure he would have something to fall back on.
Terry said: "Kenny Hibbitt told me he wanted me to go to Barry Town on loan to get some games while telling Barry they could make the move permanent. I was disappointed but decided that if I could play in Europe with Barry, it might prove a stepping stone to getting back into the league."
This eventually proved to be the case but it was not as easy as Terry might have imagined.
Tranmere Rovers, then in the First Division, expressed an interest but Gary Barnett, who was then in charge of Barry decided he could not afford to lose the talented and versatile player.
Terry explained: "It was nice to play in a good footballing side at Barry and we were close to playing in the Champions League which
would have been a big step forward financially. I played at Dinamo Kiev, Porto and in Azerbaijan, I think it was ten European games in total, and I also went to night school to study accountancy."
Terry was a full-time professional with Barry but his ambition was still to resurrect a league career that had been nipped in the bud at Ninian Park after just 14 appearances and three Welsh under-21 caps. The opportunity came when Colin Addison and Peter Nicholas offered him a way back at Swansea City two seasons ago.
The opportunity was accepted: "I thought I would give it one more crack and I have no regrets. I played regularly except when I was injured and stayed in the first team when Nick Cusack and then Brian Flynn took over. But I was injured towards the end of last season and was called into the manager's office and told my contract was not being renewed.
"Brian Flynn would not give me a reason which was again disappointing
because I thought I had played well for him. "
Terry is married to Stacey – they have a four-year-old daughter Lauren - and has lived in Tonyrefail all his life. When he was released by Swansea, he swapped his 35-mile trip westwards for one of a similar distance in the opposite direction by renewing old acquaintances with Peter Nicholas. The move to Newport in the summer was accompanied by the chance to put his accountancy training into practice with club sponsors Acorn securing him employment at the Welsh Assembly. He is continuing to study and hopes to gain professional status within the profession, but his football career is very much alive despite the door closing for him at the Vetch.
"I think I am still capable of playing in league football but I have not regretted coming here.”
He has settled into a right-back role but has also proved his ability to play anywhere in defence. His favourite role is as a right wing back. But wherever he plays Terry has proved a very good acquisition.