Barry Town United admit it was a ‘real shock’ to hear that their captain, Evan Press, has been jailed for two and a half years, as they only heard about the case after he was sentenced.
The 24-year-old was sentenced at Newport Crown Court last week after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drug cocaine.
The midfielder has been with Barry Town since he joined from Newport County in 2018 and has played for the semi-professional side 33 times this season.
He initially pleaded guilty at a court appearance on February 11 and has played three times for Barry Town since then, but the club say they knew nothing about the case until after he was sentenced.
A spokesperson told WalesOnline: ‘Being brutally honest we only heard about this on the day he was sentenced. He had never told us.
‘We were unaware until half an hour after the sentencing on March 19 when we were contacted by a family member.
‘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. 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.’
Press, who has captained Barry Town on 19 of his 33 appearances this season, admitted dealing cocaine between February 2021 and November 2023.
As well as the jail term, he was ordered to pay a £190 victim services surcharge.
His contract with Barry Town is due to expire at the end of the season and the deal was structured on a pay-as-you-play basis, so the club will not be hit financially by his unexpected departure.
The Barry Town spokesperson continued: ‘The boys are playing [on Saturday] and they’ll carry on as normal. 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.’
