Paul Heaton, former singer of the Housemartins & The Beautiful South is not one to shy away from a controversial subject, so when it concerned his beloved Sheffield United it was not going to be any different.
Heaton who has recently returned to the charts after a lengthy absence has like several other high profile Sheffield United fans made a statement that makes his position completely clear, it was probably not a happy hour when he decided that he could no longer be a patron of Sheffield United and is the fourth patron to do so over the Club's decision to allow Ched Evans recently released from prison to train with the Club.
This case seems to be black & white amongst football fans and indeed across the country as a whole, you are either of the ilk that as a convicted rapist Evans should never be allowed to work again in football or otherwise for his crime, or it seems you feel that he is a victim of circumstance and should never have been convicted in the first place.
Two extremist views, but until Heaton's statement, no one has seemed to tackle the reality of the situation. yes Evans is a convicted rapist and his crime is heinious, but there is a point where he has to be encouraged to rehabilitate and never offend again rather than being cast out from society.
Paul Heaton has made his position very clear.
"It is with great regret that I announce my resignation as patron of Sheffield United Community Foundation.
I would firstly like to salute the bravery of my fellow Blades and patrons in resigning their positions and in particular Charlie Webster, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Lindsay Graham, in standing up for victims of rape everywhere.
I firmly believe that Ched Evans has the right to rebuild his career in football but rebuilding a career should not involve walking straight out of prison and into the shirt of the club he so badly let down.
I believe he needs to move away and move on, and the club itself needs to lift its reputation out of the gutter.
As a way of showing a lead to others involved in this torrid affair, I will be donating my fee from this month's Sheffield City Hall gig to Sheffield Rape Crisis Centre.
Finally, I would like to thank the Foundation for its continued hard work in the Sheffield community and wish them the very best for the future."
A reasoned view from the singer who is also going to donate the proceeds of a forthcoming gig in Sheffield to Sheffield rape Crisis Centre.
But his statement tackles deeper issues and that is of offender rehabilitation, our society is based on the theory anyway that it is better to try and rehabilitate than just punishment alone, Evan's crime is indeed heinious and from a society point of view far more serious than robbery, however there is a point where any convicted criminal has to be let back into society and try to rebuild their lives and before anyone screams at me im well aware that the victim has also had to rebuild hers.
Yes Evans is a man in the public eye, but in the eyes of the law people are meant to be equal, if that is the case then we would not stop a bricklayer convicted of rape picking up his trowel after his release so why should it be different for a footballer.
I am playing devils advocate here, but the law cannot be applied to suit public opinion, it has to be applied equally and although I am in no doubt that Ched Evans is a thouroughly nasty character who has let relative fame and fortune go to his head leading him to the opinion that he is above the law as sadly so many footballers seem to do these days, he is still entitled to step back into society. Perhaps the way he is trying to step back into it is telling us something about his character, a more humble man would try to move on quietly and with a more sensitive approach.
But Paul Heaton hits the spot here, he should not be doing it back in Sheffield where he has let not just the Club down but the entire community, he should move elsewhere and rebuild his own life quietly.
Mr Evans of course has maintained his innocence throughout the sorry saga, I am of course basing my opinion on the fact that a jury has heard all the facts and found him guilty, I don't know enough of the details to debate whether he is a victim of a miscarriage of justice or otherwise, so i can't comment on the case only on what is happening now.
However it is good to hear an opinion that tackles the deeper issue rather than just call for draconian measures, perhaps Ched Evans should never play again, perhaps football itself should shun him, but certainly this is not the worst case of a footballer committing a crime, going to jail and then resuming his playing career, taking a life has far more serious repercsiions than rape (im not belittling rape here merely stating a fact, a fact that in the case of Lee Hughes meritted twice the sentence handed out to Evans)
Lee Hughes a far more public figure than Evans and he caused death by dangerous driving whilst at West Brom, he served half of a six year sentence and then resumed his football career and continues to play in the Football Conference for Forest Green Rovers at age 38.
Jordan Robertson ironically a Sheffield United player was on loan with Saints when he caused death by dangerous driving on Christmas day 2008 being sentenced to 32 months.
More recently Manchester City player Courtney Meppen Walter was convicted of the same offence as Hughes and Robertson and has quietly rebuilt his career at Carlisle since being released from prison late last year.
To finish I am not trying to justify anything here, Im certainly not attempting to stand up for Ched Evans, Im merely pointing out a few facts and figures, justice in the UK is based on reasoned debate over the evidence and thankfully is not based on witch hunts anymore