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Harry Edwards (English footballer)

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Harry Edwards
Personal information
Full name Henry Roby Edwards
Date of birth (1872-09-26)26 September 1872
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Date of death 3 October 1940(1940-10-03) (aged 68)
Place of death Bedford, England
Position(s) Inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1891–1892 Singer's
1892–1893 Small Heath 5 (1)
1893 Ryton Rovers
1893–1894 Leicester Fosse 12 (2)
1894–1895 Derby County 0 (0)
1895–1898 Wolverton L&NWR
1898–1900 Watford 7 (0)
1900–190? Bedford Queens Works
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Henry Roby Edwards (26 September 1872 – 3 October 1940) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Small Heath.[1]

Life and career

[edit]

Henry Roby Edwards was born on 26 September 1872 in Birmingham, Warwickshire.[2] He began his football career with Coventry club Singer's,[3] for whom he scored in the 1891–92 Birmingham Junior Cup final against Willenhall Pickwick; his team lost two men to injury in the first ten minutes before scoring twice in the second to retain their title.[4] An inside forward,[5] he attracted the attention of the Small Heath club, whose scout went to watch him playing for Singer's; they signed him, together with his more impressive team-mate Frank Mobley, who went on to score 64 goals in four seasons for Small Heath.[6] Edwards played in the first five games of the 1892–93 Second Division season – Small Heath's first in the Football League – and scored on his and their debut, in a 5–1 defeat of Burslem Port Vale,[7] but could not compete with established inside forwards Billy Walton and the prolific Fred Wheldon.[5]

After a spell with Ryton Rovers, Edwards signed for Midland League club Leicester Fosse in October 1893.[3] He again scored on debut, completing a 4–0 win at home to Mansfield Town,[8][9] and continued as a regular in the side until the following March, a leg injury keeping him out of the last few matches of the season[8][10] as Leicester confirmed their runners-up spot and successful application for admission to the Football League.[11]

Edwards apparently spent much of his season "in a pay dispute with the club committee",[12] and, having helped them reach the second round (last 16) of the 1893–94 FA Cup, in which they lost to Football League First Division club Derby County only after a replay,[13] he signed for Derby in May 1894.[14] After a year without playing for the first team, he joined Southern League Second Division club Wolverton L&NWR.[2][3] Edwards settled well at Wolverton, playing as an attacking centre half,[5] and helped them gain promotion to the Southern League First Division via the test match system.[15] He stayed a further two years with Wolverton, making 43 league appearances, before turning down their offer of terms for the 1898–99 season.[3]

After a spell without a club, he signed for fellow Southern League club Watford in December 1898.[3] He made seven appearances in all competitions in the first three months of his two years with the club, and moved on to Bedford Queen's Works of the Northamptonshire League. He captained the team, and remained until at least the 1902–03 season when they moved into the South Eastern League.[3][16]

After football, Edwards worked as a steam engine fitter in the Bedford area.[17] He died in Bedford on 3 October 1940 at the age of 68.[3]

Edwards' younger brother Bill was also a professional footballer who played for Small Heath.[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Joyce (2004), p. 82.
  2. ^ a b "Player search: Edwards, HR (Harry)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Jones, Trefor. "Players: Digweed to Elkes" (PDF). Watford FC Archive. p. 39. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  4. ^ Dribbler (21 March 1892). "Association Notes". Midland Daily Telegraph. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
    "Birmingham and District Junior Cup. The Final. Singers (holders) v. Willenhall Pickwick". Coventry Times. 23 March 1892. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c d Matthews (1995), p. 85.
  6. ^ Matthews (1995), p. 111.
  7. ^ Matthews (1995), p. 141.
  8. ^ a b "Harry Edwards". 11v11. Association of Football Statisticians. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Leicester Fosse v. Mansfield Town". Nottingham Evening Post. 21 October 1893. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Leicester Fosse v. Newark". Leicester Daily Mercury. 17 March 1894. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com. Dorrell having had his "rest", the committee thought it advisable now to give Edwards a short holiday. A change will doubtless be beneficial to the inside right man, who last Saturday, handicapped as he was by an injured leg, was played almost to a standstill.
  11. ^ "LCFC Men – Potted History". Leicester City Football Club. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  12. ^ Smith & Taylor (2001), p. 401.
  13. ^ "Derby County v. Leicester Fosse". Derby Daily Telegraph. 19 February 1894. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com. Among the Leicester forwards, Dorrell and Edwards were about the best, but, as we said before, the sodden state of the ground prevented the players from appearing at their best.
  14. ^ "Derby County Football Club. Annual Meeting of Guarantors. The Signing of Players". Derby Mercury. 7 June 1894. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Wolverton London & North Western Railway". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  16. ^ "Mr Charlie Chester looks back". Bedford Record. 13 December 1932 – via Bedford Old Eagles.
  17. ^ "Players: Harry Edwards". FoxesTalk. Retrieved 4 October 2024.

Sources

[edit]
  • Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.</ref>
  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Smith, Dave; Taylor, Paul (2001). Of Fossils and Foxes. Leicester: Polar. ISBN 978-1-899538-21-8.
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