Monday 17 November 2014 23:55, UK
Musician Paul Heaton has become the latest Sheffield United patron to resign over the club’s decision to allow convicted rapist Ched Evans to return to training.
The Yorkshire club confirmed last week it had allowed Evans to train following a request from the Professional Footballers' Association.
But TV presenter Charlie Webster, 1960s pop star Dave Berry and Sheffield businesswoman Lindsay Graham have all since resigned as patrons of the Sheffield United Community Foundation in protest, while Olympic athlete Jessica Ennis-Hill has asked for her name to removed from a Bramall Lane stand if Evans returns full-time.
Former Beautiful South singer Heaton described his decision as one made “with great regret” but said the League One club needed to lift its reputation "out of the gutter”.
Speaking later on Sky Sports News HQ, Heaton said: "I made it clear that I felt he should rebuild his career by all means but not in the shirt of the team he let down so badly.
I made it clear that I felt he should rebuild his career by all means but not in the shirt of the team he let down so badly.
"I do believe in rehabilitation but I believe to do that, you have to move on and move away.
"I think it would be good, first and foremost, for the victim but, secondly, for Mr Evans himself and the club because the club's reputation is so clearly in the gutter at the moment.
"It's not up to me to go around and say he can never work in football again, it's up to the clubs to take those decisions.
“I'm saying that, as a Sheffield United patron, he can't be at my club. If he's at my club then I really can't stay there."
Despite the mounting pressure, Blades manager Nigel Clough told Sky Sports News HQ that discussions over Evans' future are still ongoing.
But Clough joined the club in condemning social media abuse directed at those who have spoken out against the decision to allow Evans back to training.
"We've got nothing further to say about (Evans) at this time," Clough said. "We're having discussions all the time; it's an ongoing situation.
"I wholeheartedly agree with everything that the club said (about the abuse). Everyone at the club is appalled at abuse people have received on social media, whichever opinion they express."
