John Joseph Edwards (23 February 1924 – 17 October 1978) was an English

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 ...

who played as an

inside-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

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and Notts County during the 1940s and 1950s.

Football career

Edwards was born in Salford and played his early football for the Adelphi Lads Club. Because of the confusion during the Second World War, Edwards failed to be picked up by either of the Manchester clubs before moving to

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

where he played for Long Eaton United. This brought him to the attention of

whom he joined in May 1944, going on to make his

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

debut in 1946. He soon became noticed by larger clubs and attracted bids of £14,000 from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in 1947. These were rejected by Forest, but two years later they accepted an offer of £10,000 from fellow Second Division club,

. During his three league seasons with Forest, Edwards scored 20 goals from 77 league appearances. He joined the "Saints" in June 1949 and made his debut on 20 August when he scored the consolation goal in a 2–1 defeat by Grimsby Town. Edwards was a regular during the 1949–50 season, when the club missed out on promotion for the third successive season, finishing level on points but with an inferior goal average to second place

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 ...

. Described in the club handbook as "a real box of tricks", Edwards was a clever ball-player and popular with the crowd. In the following season, Edwards only missed six matches with the Saints finishing in a disappointing 12th place, having been top of the table at Christmas. Edwards was again a regular in the 1951–52 season, before losing his place to

Tom Lowder Thomas William Lowder (24 November 1924 – 15 May 1999) was an English footballer who played as an outside-forward in the 1950s, spending most of his career with Boston United as well as playing in the Football League with Rotherham United, S ...

at the beginning of December. Although he made one further appearance in 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 ...

, his Saints career was over and he spent the start of the 1952–53 season on loan to Southern League

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. In November 1952, he was transferred to Notts County as part of the deal that brought Alex Simpson to The Dell. During his Southampton career, he played a total of 85 games, scoring 16 goals. Edwards remained at Meadow Lane until the summer of 1954, although his career never prospered there, scoring just three goals from 25 appearances.

Later career

Edwards dropped back into

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

in 1954, shortly after his 30th birthday when he joined

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

of the Midland League. He was killed in a street mugging in October 1978.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Jack 1924 births Footballers from Salford 1978 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players Southern Football League players Long Eaton United F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players People murdered in England