Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Barry Town midfielder and vice-captain Evan Press, 24, has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to dealing cocaine at Newport Crown Court07:23, 22 Mar 2025Updated 07:25, 22 Mar 2025Evan Press pleaded guilty to dealing cocaine (Image: South Wales Police)Barry Town have admitted they had no idea that their vice-captain had been jailed for drug dealing until the day he was sentenced. Midfielder Evan Press was jailed for two years and six months at Newport Crown Court after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drug cocaine.The 24-year-old has played every game this season for semi-professional outfit Barry, captaining the side in 19 of his 33 matches. He is a key player for the Cymru Premier side, having scored 11 goals in 187 appearances since joining the club in 2018.But Barry will now be without Press for the rest of the season after he admitted dealing cocaine in Cardiff between February 2021 and November 2023. Remarkably, Barry Town said they had been left in the dark about the case, with Press playing in all three of their matches since pleading guilty in court on February 11.”Being brutally honest we only heard about this on the day he was sentenced. He had never told us,” a club spokesperson told Wales Online. “We were unaware until half an hour after the sentencing on March 19 when we were contacted by a family member.READ MORE: Arsenal’s Gabriel joins Liverpool star in leaving Brazil squad after injury scareREAD MORE: Mohamed Salah sent stark warning over two of his Liverpool team-mates”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.”As well as being handed a prison sentence, Press, of Railway Street in Splott, was ordered to pay a £190 victim services surcharge, while an iPhone he used for drug dealing was destroyed.Evan Press has played for Barry since 2018(Image: Barry Town FC)He began his career in the Newport County academy, but has been a mainstay for Barry for the last seven years. Barry will try to move on from his imprisonment when they play 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.”Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
