Ched Evans signs for Chesterfield

League One club Chesterfield have given Evans, 27, a one-year contract. He will join Danny Wilson's side for pre-season training on July 1.

It will make the player's return to the professional game after four years out.

"I am very excited and privileged to be resuming my career at Chesterfield and I hope to make a valuable contribution both on and off the pitch for the football club, the fans and the community," said Evans, a former Wales international.

Chesterfield chairman Dave Allen said: "Danny Wilson knows Ched very well, having previously managed him at Sheffield United. Chris Morgan, our first team coach, also speaks highly of him from their time together at Bramall Lane.

"Chesterfield Football Club have given a great deal of thought to this signing and following the court’s decision, we are in no doubt that Ched Evans should be welcomed back into his profession as a professional footballer."

His last club, Sheffield United, released him at the end of the 2011-12 season in the wake of his conviction on April 20.

Evans was given a five-year prison sentence, of which he served just under two and a half years before his release in October 2014.

He kept fighting against his conviction after his release, leading to the decision on April 21, 2016, in which the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction and ordered a retrial.

The retrial will begin on October 4.