Michael Edwards (born 25 April 1980) is an English former 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 ...

who played as a defender. Edwards played professionally between 1997 and 2018 and most notably played for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

, where he spent eleven years over two spells which yielded 311 League appearances and 26 goals. He also played for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

and Carlisle United. In his final season with County, he doubled up his playing duties with being the clubs strength and conditioning coach.

Playing career

Hull City

Edwards was born in Hessle,

Humberside Humberside () was a Non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber Estuary, create ...

, and began his football career as a trainee with

. Primarily a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

, he made his debut on 28 December 1997 in the

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 fo ...

game away to

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 ...

which Hull lost 5–4, but did not turn professional until the end of the 1997–98 season. By the time he left the club in March 2003, he was their longest-serving player, though still only 22 years old, and had played 208 games in all first-team competitions.

Colchester United

Edwards joined

until the end of the season, but was then released, and then after had a trial for

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

Grimsby Town

Following another trial for

, Edwards signed a one-year deal with Grimsby. He spent the season rotating in the team in the centre half position, partnering

Tony Crane Anthony Steven Crane (born 8 September 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender, midfielder and makeshift centre forward from 1999 to 2009. He notably played as a professional for Sheffield Wednesday and ...

, Paul Groves and

Simon Ford Simon Gary Ford (born 17 November 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender from 2001 to 2013. Having started his career with Charlton Athletic as a youngster, he transferred to Grimsby Town in 2001. He moved on to Bri ...

. Following the club's relegation from the Second Division he was not offered a fresh contract and departed the club in May 2004.

Notts County

Edwards was signed by

in May 2004 on a free transfer from Grimsby Town by Gary Mills. He played just 10 games until

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...

damage sustained during a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

first round tie away against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

ruled him out for the rest of the season. Under new manager Gudjon Thordarson, Edwards made a remarkable comeback to play in all 50 league and cup games in the 2005–06 campaign, demonstrating his versatility by operating in central midfield for most of that season. He slotted back into defence after the departure of

Kelvin Wilson Kelvin James Wilson (born 3 September 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Ilkeston Town. He started his career with Notts County, before moving to Preston North End in 2006. Nottingham Forest signed him ...

towards the end of the season putting in consistent and impressive performances. Edwards scored seven times proving a menace to the opposition at set plays. Edwards signed a new contract in May 2006 taking him through until May 2008. He won the club's Player of the Season award for 2006–07, and before the following season was made

club captain The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...

. Only weeks later, in a pre-season fixture against St Blazey, he suffered a badly-broken leg and was out of the side until January 2008. He renewed his contract for a further two years in June 2008. He was a regular in the Notts County starting 11 in 2010–2011 season. He made his 300th appearance for the club in the 2011–12 season in a 0–0 draw against Scunthorpe United.

Carlisle United

On 11 June 2012, he signed a two-year deal with Carlisle United. Edwards was limited to 24 appearances in two seasons with the club, this eventually led to his release at the end of the 2013–14 season. In July 2014 he returned to

and played in their pre-season warm up match with Carlton Town, however this was only done as a favour to the player to keep up his fitness levels before the new season.

Return to Notts County

In August 2014 Edwards signed a contract at Notts County as a Conditioning Coach and player until January 2015. Edwards scored his first goal since re-signing for Notts against Sheffield United in a 1–1 draw on 28 November. He was released by Notts County at the end of the 2017–18 season and retired shortly after.

Honours

Club

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

Winner (1): 2009–10

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Mike 1980 births Living people People from Hessle Footballers from the East Riding of Yorkshire English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Hull City A.F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players English Football League players