Welsh football club Barry Town have been left reeling after the shocking revelation that their vice-captain Evan Press was jailed for drug offences without their knowledge. The Cymru Premier side only learned of his conviction on the day of sentencing with the 24-year-old receiving a two-and-a-half-year sentence at Newport Crown Court, having admitted to involvement in distributing the Class A substance cocaine.

Despite facing legal troubles, Barry were unaware and Press played in every game for the club this season before his sentencing and even led the team as captain in 19 out of his 33 appearances. With an impressive tally of 11 goals in 187 outings since signing with the club in 2018, Press has been a cornerstone player for Barry Town. However, the revelation of his clandestine activities away from the pitch, which involve trafficking cocaine throughout Cardiff from February 2021 to November 2023, came as an utter bombshell to the club.

A club spokesperson admitted: "Being brutally honest we only heard about this on the day he was sentenced. He had never told us. Since the sentencing we've heard bits about the case but we don't have all the information. We have been processing the news. It is a real shock."

Barry will be confronting the remainder of the season without Press due to his conviction, whilst still trying to come to terms with the recent developments.

The spokesperson added: "Evan is a wonderful young man. He's been part of our club for seven years. He has made a mistake and my understanding is it happened some time ago. We are a family club who want our players to be role models. This was news to us."

In addition to receiving a prison sentence, Press, from Railway Street in Splott, was ordered to pay a £190 victim services surcharge, while an iPhone he used for drug dealing was destroyed.

He started his career at the Newport County academy but has been a key player for Barry for the past seven years. Barry will attempt to move forward from his imprisonment when they face Flint Town United on Saturday afternoon.

"The boys are playing tomorrow and they'll carry on as normal," the spokesperson added. "It is what it is. The reality is when a player leaves our care we can't control what they do outside of football.

"We're just coming close to European play-offs but in reality the timing of the season is irrelevant. We didn't want this and we can't control it sadly."

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