Joe Edwards (born 26 September 1986) is an English professional

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who was most recently head coach of

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club

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. A former

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youth player, he has also had coaching positions with Chelsea, Everton and England U20s.

Playing career

Edwards is a product of

's youth academy since the age of 8, and worked his way up their youth categories. He was released by the club at the age of 16.

Coaching career

Chelsea

Shortly after being released, Edwards was approached by Neil Bath to join

's staff in 2004 at the age of 17 and started working on his coaching badges. He initially trained the U8s, and from 2006 to 2014 coached various different youth levels for the club. In 2014 he was appointed the manager of the Chelsea U18s and helped them win 2 consecutive

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

s. In 2016, he was appointed as loan player manager, and often went out to other clubs to track the development of different loan players, and also exposed him to different managerial styles. On 6 May 2017, he returned to manage the Chelsea U19s and U23s replacing

Adi Viveash Adrian Lee "Adi" Viveash (born 30 September 1969) is an English former professional footballer. He is currently Assistant Manager at Coventry City. He is most notable for his spells with Reading and Walsall during the 1990s. He played in the Rea ...

. In 2017, he was also part of the

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s), represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in En ...

s backroom staff that helped them win the

2017 Toulon Tournament The 2017 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 45ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 45th edition of the Toulon Tournament. The tournament was named after Maurice Revello, who started the tournament in 1967 a ...

. In June 2017, he earned his pro license. The following season in 2018, he took the Chelsea U23s to the semifinals for the

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, the highest placement so far by a reserve team. For the 2019–20 season, Edwards was appointed as assistant manager for the first time under

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...

. He remained assistant at Chelsea after Lampard was sacked and

Thomas Tuchel Thomas Tuchel (; born 29 August 1973) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Premier League club Chelsea. Born in Krumbach, Tuchel retired at age 25 after a chronic knee cartilage injury; in 2000, he b ...

was appointed, and was part of the backroom staff as they won the

2020–21 UEFA Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defeat ...

Everton, England U20s

In January 2022, he followed Lampard and was assistant manager with him again at Everton, leaving Chelsea after 27 years associated with the club. In April 2023, he once more returned to Chelsea as assistant under Lampard as he filled in as interim manager. In August 2023, he was appointed as the interim manager for the

Millwall

On 6 November 2023, Edwards was appointed as head coach of

club

. In his debut game, he led Millwall to a 4–0 win at

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 ...

, the Lions' largest away win in the second tier since 2017. After a 2–0 home defeat by Sheffield Wednesday, and just four wins in 19 games, Edwards was sacked by Millwall on 21 February 2024.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Chelsea U18 *

: 2014–15, 2015–16

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Matt 1986 births Living people Footballers from Greater London English football managers English men's footballers English Football League managers Chelsea F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Millwall F.C. managers Association football coaches Everton F.C. non-playing staff