Ched Evans

The sentencing of Ched Evans has, I must admit, knocked me for six. There are certain types who seem to see the whole incident as a proof of how Sheffield United and all players, staff and fans are just scum and should be abused and made an example of.
I am a long standing Sheffield United fan, and I will not be made to feel ashamed of supporting the club I love, *my* club.
United haven't made a final statement yet, preferring to take in all the facts and make a sensible statement, probably next week sometime. I don't really do 'serious' very well, so here's the best way I could sum up my thoughts to a friend of mine on Twitter yesterday, via a series of Tweets which I've reproduced here.

"As a Sheffield Unitedite who's been singing the praises of our top scorer all season, I'm a bit stunned at the verdict. While I can accept that he's been found guilty, with good reason, and in *no way* condone what has happened, I think it's a case of a group of young men having too much to drink and going too far (exactly like the advert). The case should serve as a warning to young men out 'for a good time'. (Again, without wishing to appear flippant, *like the advert*). I think it's wrong, however, to paint Evans as some kind of animal or predator - he's just been very stupid and ruined a *very* promising career. I suppose, in a sense, I'm biased in his favour, but there's a lot of unwarrented hate from non-SUFC supporting types headed his way, and I think those anti (and pro) United need to remember, as I keep repeating, that this is a criminal case, and has absolutely nothing to do with football. If anyone, for example, suggested that SUFC should be punished (points reduction or Suchlike), that would be ridiculous."