George William Neville Edmonds (4 April 1893 – 10 December 1989) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for St Albans City, Watford, Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves),

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and

Northfleet United Northfleet United Football Club was a football club based in Northfleet, Kent. Around 1890 organised team football was being played in the town and in 1892 the Northfleet F.C. club was founded. It flourished for a few years in the mid-1890s u ...

. On three occasions he finished as Watford's top scorer, including in 1914–15 when they won the Southern League. He later played in the

1921 FA Cup final The 1921 FA Cup Final was contested by Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers, which at the time was a Football League Second Division club, at Stamford Bridge. Spurs won by a single goal, scored by Jimmy Dimmock, eight minutes into the se ...

for Wolves.

Early career and Watford

Edmonds went to school in the town of Watford, Hertfordshire, and started playing football for his school teams. After leaving school, he played for local clubs St Stephens, Andre & Sleigh and Watford Wednesday, whilst working in Watford's print industry. He then joined St Albans City in 1912, still as an amateur. He joined Watford for 1913–14. Despite signing professional terms at the end of the season, he continued to work as a printer until his departure from the club, and resumed doing so on his return in 1926. The following season, Watford won the Southern League; Edmonds finished as the club's top scorer with 17 goals in 35 appearances. The Southern League was suspended for the next four seasons, as a result of the First World War. During this time (in which he worked in munitions), Edmonds scored 7 goals in 6 Watford wartime matches, and also made guest appearances for Crystal Palace. Upon the resumption of league football in 1919–20, Edmonds again top-scored for Watford with 19 goals in 37 matches. However, he and Watford missed out on a second consecutive league title to Portsmouth on goal average.

Later career

In May 1920, Edmonds moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers for a fee of £1,500. At the same time,

Val Gregory Valentine Francis Gregory (14 February 1888 – 10 March 1940) was an English Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, half back. He won the 1914–15 Watford F.C. season, 1914–15 Southern F ...

made the same move for an identical fee. At Wolves, Edmonds played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for the first time. They finished the season 15th in the Second Division, and Edmonds and Gregory both played for Wolves as they were defeated in the

. Edmonds stayed at Wolves for two further seasons. After their relegation in 1923, he remained a Second Division player by joining

. Fulham finished in the bottom half of the table for three consecutive years, and in 1926 Edmonds rejoined former club Watford for a fee of £250. His final season at the club was a mixed one; Watford finished 21st out of 22 teams in the Third Division South, but for the third time Edmonds scored the most goals of any Watford player, with 12 goals from his 22 appearances. At the end of the season he joined

, and in 1930 he became a coach at Bushey United, near Watford. Edmonds died in Ryde, Isle of Wight on 10 December 1989, aged 96.

Honours

Watford

* Southern League **Winner (1): 1914–15 **Runner up (1): 1919–20 *Watford Football Club top scorer (3): 1914–15, 1919–20, 1926–27

Wolverhampton Wanderers

* FA Cup **Runner up (1):

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonds, George 1893 births 1989 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Haringey People from Finsbury Park English men's footballers Watford F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Northfleet United F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Men's association football forwards