Lessons have to be learnt. Not just in football but the wider world. For the last two years, this Ched Evans case has been nothing but disgusting.

From the way his side have handled this case, creating a website which painted him as a saint and the woman as something you would scrape off your shoe, to the public who have chanted Evans’s name and laughed about rape, we have truly seen how people feel about not only footballers treating women, but how men and society view rape.

When I first wrote about Evans returning to football, I made myself clear; I didn’t want him anywhere near the game. Not while he was adamant that he did nothing wrong despite being sentenced to five years in prison for rape.

I called for the clubs who wanted to sign him to wait. Wait until the retrial. Wait to see what the court and judge said. Wait for him to at least apologise for his actions.

But they didn’t. And it took the actions of Jean Hatchett and those opposed to having a then-convicted rapist playing football to keep him out of the game until he cleared his name.

And he did. Evans is now an innocent man following the retrial. Regardless of what I feel about him, and I will get to that later, who am I to call for him not to earn a living in the sport?

I wouldn’t sign him as a player if I was the chair of a professional football club as I don’t agree with what he did on May 30 2011 but in the eyes of the law, the Welsh striker did nothing wrong in that hotel and is free to live his life as a footballer or whatever he decides to do.

This has led to people saying that the woman is a liar and she should be sent to jail. Did I miss the part where the the judge said the woman lied about the events that night? I didn’t think so.

She has never even alleged that she was raped. She claims her drink was spiked and she woke up in the hotel room naked.

It was her friends who told her to go to the police and from there, charges were brought against Evans and Clayton McDonald, who was found innocent.

She hasn’t lied and though found innocent of rape, that doesn’t mean Evans didn’t do anything wrong.

He admitted that he lied to get the key for the hotel room that night and did not speak to the woman before, during or after sex. Where he got consent then is a question I can’t answer but that alone says to me that Evans is not a nice man, to put it gently and there are plenty of people out there who share that opinion.

I’ve had plenty of people telling me to be careful about smearing his name. You don’t have to agree with me but you can’t tell me that you are comfortable with how this verdict was reached.

It wasn’t Evans who ended up on trial, it was the woman, the victim. When I say victim, I don’t mean of rape as a court has established that she wasn’t, but of the way she has been treated.

Her private life was dragged through the mud.

It was her ex-partners who were called upon to give evidence about her sex life and to discredit her as a woman and as the victim of rape.

She was made to give evidence about what her favourite sex positions were and who she had sex with in the past.

Why is that relevant to this case? Her previous sexual behaviour was irrelevant to whether she was raped.

This will set an extremely dangerous and disturbing precedent going forward.

Women’s groups are right in saying that this will stop women reporting rape.

I remember speaking to a woman’s rape charity last year who told me off the record that she was amazed an appeal was going ahead because of the new evidence.

She couldn’t tell me what that was but now the details have been released, I am shocked that a retrial was allowed.

Women who have been raped or fear that they have won’t want to go to the police because facets of their life will be placed under a microscope.

What were they wearing? How much had they drunk? Had they ever had sex before?

Don’t get me wrong, accusing someone of rape is something that should not be done lightly.

I expect the police to take the accusation seriously and, should it get to court, for there to be a fair trial with all evidence thoroughly considered.

In no way do I want a man accused of rape to be locked up immediately, which is what some people think I want.

But to brand a potential victim of rape a liar because she was really drunk or had no recollection honestly has me lost for words.

To claim that there are no winners from this ordeal is a lie. Evans won. Not just in court but in general. Yes, he was found not guilty and his reputation has been damaged, possibly for good but he has walked back into his old life.

I have no problem with that, again, regardless of what other people may think. But his life returned to normal months ago.

He has been playing for Chesterfield and had the chance to return to the sport last year had it not been for protests outside stadiums. So let’s not paint him as the victim.

As said previously, the girl who has had to change her identity on numerous occasions and is now seeking a move to Australia in order to try to put this behind her is the victim.

People claim that she did this for the attention and money so that she could buy her friends cars and holidays, something she allegedly tweeted.

But those claims are shut down when you realise that she has in no way profited from this.

She hasn’t sold her story and has pretty much tried her best to stay out of the public eye. Her life has been ruined.

So what happens next? Football has been vilified for its sexist culture yet some clubs have come out of this in better shape.

Brighton started a course for their youngsters in 2015 about rape and sexual offences and to teach them about consent.

Manchester City took down an image of Evans from their academy wall as they don’t want to be associated with him, despite him being found innocent in a court of law last Friday.

Football needs to teach its youngsters that not only do you need to be good on the pitch but you also need to be good humans. Evans admitted that he acted stupidly and wants clubs to learn from this case.

But it’s not just football that needs a lesson in how to raise better humans, society does as well because you only have to look at people’s reactions over the past 48 months to know that people have different views on what is consent and what isn’t.

No means No. Not saying anything means No. This needs to drummed into men.

I expected a host of people to be pleased with Friday’s verdict and for them to tell the world that they knew Evans was innocent all along. It’s been that way ever since Evans was originally convicted.

But what I didn’t expect was the response from people that I knew and considered friends. I had one person tell me that “there isn’t a single man having sex tonight who will verbally request permission to engage in intercourse.”

This person went on to say that “If [I’ve] ever slept with someone who doesn’t speak a word of English [I] will know that giving consent has nothing to do with talking. I guess with this one life experience plays a huge role.”

What I took from those comments is that is the mentality of some men. That you don’t need consent anymore, that if you find a woman drunk enough that she can’t say no then that’s fair game. And it isn’t.

I’ve been told that “I talk as though [I] am out of touch with reality.” Is that the reality? If so then I am glad I am out of touch and that my life experiences don’t include raping women.

I’ve seen people write on Twitter that because Evans was found not guilty, he is owed one free rape.

This verdict has given some men out there newfound belief that they can get away with whatever they want.

I believe that there are men out there who wanted Evans to be found not guilty not because they care about him and his career but because they have done similar things and had he been found guilty again, it would raise questions about their own behaviour.

I’m done with Evans. I was months ago to the point where I didn’t even realise he was back in court a few weeks ago.

This entire ordeal has opened my eyes to the dark and twisted minds of people and how they view women. Not to mention how football deals with players accused of rape.

Going forward, it would be naive to think no footballer will ever be accused of rape. If they are, there should be clear guidelines in place so we don’t get another sorry mess like this.

Take that player out of the public eye for a starter. Until the charges are dropped or the court case is over, I don’t think it is smart to play a player with a rape case hanging over them.

I’m not saying don’t pay them and deny them the right to earn a living, just take them out of the firing line.

For Evans, he has been given a second chance. Don’t ruin it.

Some Sheffield United fans have been singing chants about him, that he “rapes who he wants” among other vile songs.

Condemn them. He may feel that he has no power over what people choose to sing about him but he does to an extent.

Let the public see that there is an ounce of remorse in him. Evans may not want to apologise to his accuser because he has been found innocent, that doesn’t surprise me though it speaks volumes about him as an individual, but it is time for him to stop playing the victim.

Evans never was.