Barry (Wales) - Welsh professional footballer Evan Press (24) had to stand trial for drug dealing and was found guilty. The 24-year-old kicker was still on the pitch until the verdict was announced - due to the ignorance of his club.

Until the day of the guilty verdict, domestic first division club Barry Town were unaware of their own player's serious offense.

"To be honest, we only found out about it on the day he was sentenced. He never told us about it," a club spokesman was quoted as saying by the news platformWalesOnline.

"We only knew about it half an hour after the verdict was announced on March 19, when we were contacted by a family member," the statement continued.

"It's a real shock," said the club, stunned after learning that the midfielder and vice-captain had been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for drug trafficking.

"Evan is a wonderful young man. He's been with our club for seven years. He made a mistake and as far as I know it happened some time ago. We are a family club and we want our players to be role models. This was new for us," concluded the club, for whom Press has played 187 competitive matches to date.

The court found Press, who joined Barry Town in 2018, guilty last Wednesday of dealing cocaine between February 2021 and November 2023.

Press played his last game for his club on March 11 against Aberystwyth, playing the full 90 minutes in the First Division clash with the university town.