Francis "Frank" Evans is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

-born bullfighter, known as "El Inglés". He is reputed to be the only British bullfighter currently working professionally. He now holds Spanish citizenship.

Early career

The son of a butcher, Evans had started out with ambitions to be a rugby league professional. He was first interested in bullfighting on hearing his father's stories of watching fights when going into Spain from Gibraltar during World War Two. In 1963, aged 19, on his first trip abroad (to attend a wedding in Spain) he witnessed his first bullfight at the Corpus Christi festival in Granada. A subsequent reading of the autobiography of Vincent Hitchcock, the first professional British Bullfighter, persuaded him that it was possible for a Briton to train as a bullfighter. In April 1964 he attended a training school in Valencia.

His first ever fight at a village festival was a disaster, with the bull running away with his cape, which had to be rescued by children. (Evans has described the event as "very Benny Hill"). His first professional fight as a novillero

Novillero

Novillero is a Canadian indie pop band formed in 1999 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Their musical style has been dubbed "mod-pop".Novillero formed in 1999 out of the ashes of Winnipeg lounge pop darlings Transonic, picking up Rod Slaughter , Dave Berthiaume , and Rusty Matyas along the way...

came in Montpellier

Montpellier

-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

 in France in 1966, following a mix-up by the promoter, who believed he had booked another English fighter called Henry Higgins. However, by 1969, and after only three professional fights and struggling to earn a living and pay for equipment, Evans returned to Salford.

Back in Salford, he began a successful kitchen business. He was also an associate of George Best

George Best

George Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...

, at one point being his "unofficial manager".

Resumption of his career

The death of his father in 1976 persuaded him that "life is too short" not to pursue one's dreams, and he returned to Spain. By 1979 he was fighting again professionally.

Noticing that although Evans was not highly ranked, he was drawing large crowds, the owner of the Benalmadena ring began to give Evans regular bookings. By 1991 he achieved matador

Matador

A torero or toureiro is a bullfighter and the main performer in bullfighting, practised in Spain, Colombia, Portugal, Mexico, France and various other countries influenced by Spanish culture. In Spanish, the word torero describes any of the performers who actively participate in the bullfight...

 status. In 2003 he was ranked number 63 in the world, out of some 10,000 bullfighters. In 2005 he announced his retirement, due to arthritis in his knee from a rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 injury. At the time he said he would continue his business interests in property, construction and importing tobacco.

Retirement and return

Subsequent to his retirement, Evans received a replacement titanium knee. On a routine health check in 2007 it was discovered that he had blocked arteries and a leaking heart valve. He underwent a quadruple heart bypass. Evans, having never given up on returning to the ring, has said that he used this as motivation to drive his recovery. As well as fitness training, he practised by attacking a shopping trolley filled with hay with a sword.

In 2009 he announced his return to bullfighting. His first fight was in Benaldema, killing two bulls and receiving the ears of the bulls as an award from the judges. Evans has stated that only old age will stop him from fighting, and that he plans fights in Ecuador, Columbia and Peru, the three bullfighting countries he has yet to perform in.

Injuries

Evans has been gored six times. These include a perforated buttock sustained in 1984 in Ciudad Rodrigo

Ciudad Rodrigo

Ciudad Rodrigo is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population of about 14,000. It is the seat of a judicial district as well....

, and a foot-long gash sustained in a fight in Mexico.

In the media

Evans has been the subject of a Channel 4 documentary entitled The Buspass Matador, and has written a well-received autobiography, The Last British Matador. Both his retirement and return were covered extensively in the British media. He has also been consulted on proposed bans on bullfighting in parts of Spain.

In 2009 it was reported that threats from animal rights activists had lead Waterstones booksellers to abandon booksigning sessions for Evans' autobiography in Liverpool and Manchester. It was also reported that Evans had previously received death threats, and that the post office had intercepted a parcel bomb intended for him.