Robert Ian Edwards (born 30 January 1955) is a Welsh former footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He was capped by

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and 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 four clubs.

Playing career

Born in

Rossett Rossett ( cy, Yr Orsedd ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Rossett is served by the A483 road. At the time of the 2001 census, Rossett community (including Rossett itself and the villages of Bur ...

, Edwards began his playing days with non-league side

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

, before joining

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

in February 1973. He marked his league debut two years later by scoring in a 4–0 win over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

.'Where are they Now?', Chester City v. West Brom. matchday programme; 10/4/1993; p. 20 But he found first-team opportunities at West Brom limited and in November 1976 he joined

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

for £18,000. A debut goal against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

followed and Edwards went on to score a hat-trick in the club's 4–0 win at

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

and a last minute winner against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

as Chester reached the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

fifth round. Unfortunately he was injured scoring against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

in March 1977, with a knee injury that was to have lasting repercussions for the player. The 1978–79 season saw Edwards back in regular action, scoring in a

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

giantkilling win over

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

. In October 1978, Edwards made history by becoming only the fourth player to score four times for

in a 7–0 win against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and then followed it up with a hat-trick in his next Chester appearance against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. 12 months later he moved to

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

for £125,000, having scored in his final Chester appearance at

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. His move led to

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level Rush played for Liverpool from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored a to ...

successfully becoming Chester's regular centre-forward. Edwards made his Second Division debut for Wrexham in a 1-0 defeat at West Ham on 3rd November 1979, and went on to spend three years at Wrexham, during which time he was disappointingly plagued with niggling injuries, but he did score a cracking volley at Derby County in September 1980 that was voted the BBC's Match of the Day goal of the month. However, he just missed out on the Goal of the Season to Aston Villa's Tony Morley. Ian played in the Wrexham side that beat FA Cup holders West Ham United in the FA Cup in Third Round in January 1981. It was the first time ever that the FA Cup holders had been knocked out of the competition at the first time of asking to defend the trophy. Ian also played in another memorable FA Cup match when Wrexham beat Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest 3-1 to set up another mouth-watering tie with Chelsea, losing 2-1 in the second replay. Ian's last game for Wrexham, who by then had suffered relegation, was a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace in May 1982 when Ian was sent off. Ironically, he then joined.....

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

under the guidance of new manager

Alan Mullery Alan Patrick Mullery (born 23 November 1941) is an English former footballer and manager. After enjoying a successful career with Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, and the England national team in the 1960s and 1970s, he became a manager working with ...

for a largely unsuccessful spell. However, Edwards struck the decisive winner for Palace in their final game of the season against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

to save them from relegation to

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

with his final touch for the club. This was to also mark the end of his professional career as he retired due to his injuries and he played briefly for Mold Alexandra and

Porthmadog Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffest ...

. Outside of football he worked as a

milkman Milk delivery is a delivery service dedicated to supplying milk. This service typically delivers milk in bottles or cartons directly to customers' homes. This service is performed by a milkman, milkwoman, or milk deliverer. (In contrast, a cow ...

in the

area and then became the owner of a hotel near

Criccieth Criccieth ( cy, Criccieth ) is a town and community on the Llŷn Peninsula in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd in Wales. The town lies west of Porthmadog, east of Pwllheli and south of Caernarfon. It had a population of 1,826 in 2001, reducing ...

. He also had a spell as manager of

before being replaced by Mickey Thomas.

Honours

Chester *

Debenhams Cup The Debenhams Cup was one of several short-lived football competitions introduced in the 1970s and 1980s, along with the Watney Cup, Texaco Cup, Anglo-Scottish Cup, the Super Cup and Full Members' Cup. It lasted for just two seasons ( 1976–77 an ...

winners: 1976–77.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Ian (Footballer) 1955 births Living people Footballers from Wrexham Welsh footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Wales men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Rhyl F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Porthmadog F.C. players English Football League players Welsh football managers Porthmadog F.C. managers Cymru Premier managers Mold Alexandra F.C. players People from Criccieth