RAPE CASE: Girlfriend of rapist footballer Ched Evans pleads for him to be allowed to play again

Loyal: Natasha has stuck by Evans since his conviction
The girlfriend of rapist footballer Ched Evans has pleaded for him to be allowed to play again when he is released from prison next month. Former Sheffield United and Wales striker Evans was sentenced to five years in jail after being convicted of raping a 19 year-old woman at a hotel in North Wales in May 2011. More than 65,000 people have signed a petition calling on the League One side not to re-sign him.
But Evans' girlfriend of four-and-a-half years, Natasha Massey, who believes he will be cleared on appeal, says he should be allowed to play again after serving two and a half years of a five year sentence.

 Happier times: Natasha's father has written an open letter in support of Evan



She said: "If he was a builder or a bank worker we wouldn't be having this conversation. "He's a professional footballer and he just wants to get on the pitch and score goals. It think he should be allowed to do that." Natasha, aged 26, said she and Evans have 'worked through' their relationship since his conviction for rape in April 2012. Evans, 25, admits having sex with the woman in a hotel room, in Rhyl, North Wales, straight after his friend and former Port Vale defender Clayton McDonald, but insisted it was consensual. The woman told police she had no memory of the incident and was too drunk to consent. McDonald was cleared of rape.

Ambition: Natasha says Evans just wants to play football again



He said: "We have new evidence now that wasn't available when he was convicted, or at the first appeal. I am confident Ched will be exonerated.

Sentence: Evans arrives at Caernafon Crown Court during trial

He added: "For any other profession, bar footballer, there would not be any fuss about him going back to work. As part of the rehabilitation process there is encouragement to go back. If he was a builder or plumber or kitchen fitter, he would able to. "But Ched's public image has been destroyed, and the only thing that will rebuild it is when he is exonerated, when we are successful in overturning the conviction."

Natasha said: "Knowing everything I know about the case in detail, I am 110 per cent confident we will clear his name."