Huge former Portsmouth favourite reunited with Blues in unfamiliar role - and proves again that he still 'hates' Southampton

The former midfielder established himself as a real fans’ favourite during his five years at the club – a spell that saw him make 218 appearances and score 38 goals, before joining Bradford on a free transfer in 2020.

But it wasn’t on the pitch which saw the now 34-year-old reunite with Pompey.

Instead, it was off the field of play and in the commentary box as Evans swapped his boots for a BBC microphone.

Indeed, he found himself alongside regular Blues commentator Andrew Moon to be the Beeb’s match-day summariser for the game at Port Vale.

And he made quite an impression as Pompey fans, both at Vale Park and online, welcomed him back to the Blues fold.

A rendition of ‘Gareth Evans is a Blue...’ was sung by members of the travelling Fratton faithful as they spotted the League Two-title winner make his way to an unfamiliar seat in the stands.

Meanwhile, a quick piece to camera for Pompey’s Twitter account generated hundreds of likes as fans welcomed the player back with open arms.

There were also plenty of messages for the currently out-of-work and now former Bantams midfielder to digest.

@rhjsmith1984 wrote: ‘Why do I still have so much love for this man? #garethevansisablue’.

@PompeyChimes90 commented: ‘Sign him up will ya?!’

‘Now there’s a man who knows how to take a pen’, was @SidFishus’ reply.

Meanwhile, @Perry_PFC simply wrote: ‘Love that man’.

Evans’ return was accompanied by a 1-0 Pompey win, which sees the Blues retain their unbeaten start to the new League One season – and move to the top of the table.

It also came on the same day that his first club, Manchester United, beat Southampton 1-0 at St Mary’s.

So the man ‘who hates Scummers’ didn’t mind expressing his view when asked by Moon for a response to this afternoon’s Premier League events on the south coast.

‘Delighted’, replied Evans. ‘For two reasons!’