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Salford matador's comeback kill

Frank in 2002

SALFORD matador Frank Evans, 67, has stepped back into the bullring.

More than 1,000 spectators cheered one of the greatest comebacks as he defied the advice of doctors by fighting and killing a bull.

And after the contest, Evans pledged to carry on `until I drop dead, possibly in the ring. That'd be a good way to go'.

He added: "People say I'm too old to carry on and it's too dangerous at my age, but you're only as old as you feel.

"There's a 98-year-old man who runs marathons. If he can do that, I can fight a bull."

The fight was a charity event at Almaha de Granada, a large village outside Granada, where Frank, known as `El Ingles' took part with three other bullfighters, including a woman, Christina Hernandez, who was making her debut.

Frank said: "When I first started as a bullfighter back in the mid-60s it was unheard of for women to fight bulls.

"Now it's not so uncommon and you do see one or two coming through."

Each fighter fought one two-year-old bull each and Frank said: "It was a good fight. I killed my bull first time and was awarded two ears."

Frank's life story, which is about to be told in a book The Last British Bullfighter due out in August, is attracting the attention of Hollywood filmmakers.

He added: "I've been approached about a film with the lead played by Harvey Keitel. We'll have to wait and see on that one.

"In the meantime, I'm looking forward to the book coming out."

His book charts his journey from his dad's butchers shop in Salford, where he worked as an eight-year-old, to the bullrings of Spain, Mexico and Venezuela.



Comments

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A man recently was prosecuted by the RSPCA for stringing up a dog making sure the dog's back legs were just touching the ground so that it died after exhaustion. The man proving he was more clever than the dog? Don't see the difference here.

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Hope one of them catches you Frank and does some real damage.

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M.E.N...... Instead of appearing to promote his book, why don't you run a hate campaign against this sick individual like you did against the BNP???

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lets see this clown tackle a bull which isnt half dead before it enters the ring, minus his sword, a pathetic excuse for a human being, in all sense of the word!!! were in the 21st century!!!

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With any luck, one of the bulls will pay him back soon enough.

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I know someone who won't ever go again to a bullfight. They paid £3 for a can of coke, £6 for a ham sandwich, after a £25 ticket fee. And they were put so far back, they couldn't get a good view of the bull getting stabbed. My cynical comments (taken from Viz Letters) just about sums up this form of 'entertainment'.

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Brutal sport should be banned in this day and age.

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Put him in the MEN arena against Hazel Blears... now that's a contest I'd pay good money to see.

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Bull 'fighting' is a brutal, inhuman and deeply unattractive spectacle. The activity disgraces the Spanish nation. People who are happy to watch butchery for entertainment are sick individuals. Bull fighters are not brave. They are idiotic and inhuman. Frank is not a hero, he's a cruel animal killer. I sincerely hope that the bull gets his own back. The bull will be killed anyway so he may as well take Brave Frank down with him. His book 'The Last British Bullfighter' is one we should all avoided at all costs. It will be a self-agrandising, narcissistic load of poop. Don't buy it. I'm disappointed at the MEN writing this article with no comment on the cruel nature of killing bulls in public for fun. The MEN has miscalculated the view of the bulk of its readers - as it did with the Con TAx and assorted other topics.

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I hope Frank and others in his profession come back as a bull in the next life so they can experience the same as the poor bulls they torture and kill. Karma will get them all.

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MEN instaed of promoting the sick indivduals killing spree story maybe you should be a bit more tactful, especially as every comment made on this story is against this idiot!!1 SHAME ON YOU M.E.N

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animals are to do with as we please. so let's kill them all for our pleasure. he could have a homecoming fight in the Willows with a cow, and the MEN can be there to glory in another sucessful killing, bring back cock fighting and bear baiting. how about a glorious fight with a pit bull, a young one of course, drugged up and neutered. KILL THEM ALL FOR OUR PLEASURE. where's the next door's cat, here kitty kitty, let me show you how brave I am.

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I hope he doesn't drop dead in the ring. I'd prefer a nasty goring with him losing bowel control permanently. Mark,Radcliffe. I suspect that Hazel Blears would win seeing the amount of bull she's been coming out with lately!

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Frank - Your an idiot

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BBQ anyone?

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This is not brave. It's a form of mental illness. Also the bull is tortured and weakened, has its horns filed and Vaseline rubbed in its eyes. You're not a man.

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How disappointing that the MEN has seen fit to glorify this outdated barbaric sport with this article. If Frank wants to die in the ring, let us all join him in that wish with fervent prayer and hope that the bull takes it's time about it and makes him suffer at least a quarter the amount of pain that he has inflicted over the years.

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greanpeace,paul mccartney and countless other's have campained for year's about the seal hunt of the labrador and newfoundland coast, but this hunt origially fed and clothed the inuit and latter the european settler's, it was only later on that the european wealthy who took a liking for the white fur coats that it became immoral, don't get me wrong I am not for the seal hunt, but i'd like to know ,where the so called animal actavist have been hiding all these years?, when it comes to this barbaric so called sport. I like all comment's on here would like to see the bull's win more often.

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There are many events in different cultures throughout the world that would not suit everyone. The bull would never get to a fight in the UK, it would have been destroyed at birth or if more fortunate or unfortunate put into veal production. Living 12 weeks as opposed to 6 weeks for the average hen.

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Born a red, Canada: Animal activists on bullfighting? - try the World Society for the Protection of Animals: http://www.wspa.org.uk/wspaswork/bullfighting/default.aspx The League Against Cruel Sports (known in the UK for their anti-hunting stance): http://www.league.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=1514 People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals: http://action.peta.org.uk/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=5&ea.campaign.id=1861

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"Evans pledged to carry on `until I drop dead, possibly in the ring. That'd be a good way to go'." Let's hope he gets his wish.

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"I know someone who won't ever go again to a bullfight. They paid £3 for a can of coke, £6 for a ham sandwich, after a £25 ticket fee. And they were put so far back, they couldn't get a good view of the bull getting stabbed. PW, Manchester 29/06/2009 at 10:16" ...but that's still cheaper than OT!

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It is a vile and evil 'sport'! Poor defencless annimal, what a terrible and shameful way to be killed.

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The comments on here echo my views. It is hard to believe that this article has been published without a balancing reference to the evil of bullfighting - "El Inglais" is depicted as a hero, instead of a callous monster. It is even harder to understand why anyone would want to publish a book about Evans, or why a film star would want to portray him. Usually, bulls are first weakened by spears stuck in their side, and heavy weights are attached to their backs before they enter the ring. They also have Vaseline smeared in their eyes. The picadors’ horses get injured by the bull, and are often surgically muted to avoid the spectators being offended by their screams. Most bullrings have a chapel where priests bless the matadors. Spain is a world leader in animal abuse at its religious fiestas. Spaniards light the horns of a bull on fire and laugh at his torment while exploding firecrackers. They wrestle ponies to the ground and cut off their manes and tails. They suspend pigeons and squirrels in pots that they pelt with stones until the animals fall. They bury birds with their heads sticking up in order to decapitate them with swords. They throw ducks with clipped wings into the sea so that swimmers can rip them apart in tug-of-war contests. They grease pigs for catching contests that badly maul the animals. They string geese up by their feet and wrench their heads off. In the goat fiesta of Manganeses de la Polyorosa, villagers throw a goat from a church tower. If it survives, it is drowned in the town fountain. Every year in the village of Villanueve de la Vera, drunken revelers drag a donkey into the streets and beat it to a bloody pulp. The "running of the bulls" in Pamplona is held every July. Each day for a week, six terrified fighting bulls are set loose in the cobbled streets as thousands of mindless daredevils try to dodge their deadly horns. This ends with the brutal killing of the bulls. In the annual Fiesta of San Juan in Coria, Spain, tourists and locals armed with blowpipes shoot bulls with darts until their bodies are a bloody mess, and then they castrate and kill them. Whatever the arguments about meat and slaughter-houses, it is inexcusable to torment and kill an animal for entertainment. If the media does not speak out against such horrors, how will they be stopped?

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I knew Frank Evans very well before I emigrated to South Africa in 1979 . He is not a monster as referred to in one of the comments but a very nice sensible person . My views on bullfighting are personal to me so I will keep them to myself . I have also converted to the Hindu faith of peace and non violence . So , my question to all you who crticise Frank , all you do gooders who should practice what you preach , do you eat meat? If so then keep your comments to yourselves and go and protest outside your local butchers .

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