Neil Ryan Edwards (born 5 December 1970) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

former footballer who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, before retiring in 2006. He also played for Wales's under 21s. After his retirement, he has since been coaching Carlisle United and Bolton Wanderers goalkeepers. He is coaching Liverpool's U-18 goalkeepers as of the 2012–13 season.

Playing career

Edwards started his career as a reserve goalkeeper at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

, playing one first team match, a

Full Members Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

game against Barnsley. He also went on loan to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

, but failed to play a first team match. On 3 September 1991 Edwards joined

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

for £5,000, where he played over 200 games for the Cheshire club, but first team opportunities were restricted due to the team's elevated position in 1996–97. On 3 November 1997 Edwards joined

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, where he found himself a fans' favourite, and played his part in one of the best defensive records in Division 3. In the

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

of the 2001–02 season, Edwards was named the captain of Rochdale, but injury made him miss the majority of the season due to injury. In the latter seasons, injuries and the impressive performances of

Matthew Gilks Matthew Gilks (born 4 June 1982) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the goalkeeping coach for Bolton Wanderers, the last team he played for. He played for Blackpool, Burnley, Norwich City, Rochdale, Rangers, ...

forced Edwards out of the first team picture at

Spotland Spotland ( ) is a district of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. The Rochdale ward name is Spotland and Falinge. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 10,805. It lies on the River Spodden, and is the home of Spotland Stadium ...

. In total, he played 279 League and Cup games at Rochdale. Edwards then had two contracts offered to him, by Rochdale and

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, and on 2 July 2005, he joined Bury on a one-year contract, with the guarantee of first-team football as well as a slightly higher wage. "Taff" played 24 League games for the Mancunian

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, G ...

club, before an injury ended his season, and he decided to retire at the end of season.

Coaching career

In summer 2006 Edwards joined new Carlisle United manager Neil McDonald's backroom team as goalkeeping coach, but left to Bolton Wanderers to become their assistant goalkeeping coach to

Fred Barber Frederick Barber (born 26 August 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper and made nearly 400 Football League appearances. His most successful stints came early in his career with Darlington and Walsall, playing in over ...

. In August 2009 he appeared in a Bolton Legend's game for long serving goalkeeper

Jussi Jääskeläinen Jussi Albert Jääskeläinen (; born 19 April 1975) is a Finnish football coach and retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During his career, Jääskeläinen most notably represented Bolton Wanderers from 1997 until 2012, making 530 app ...

in what was a warm up event prior to the main game against Hibernian.

Sources

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Leeds United fans profilefootball.co.uk profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Neil 1970 births Living people Footballers from Aberdare Welsh footballers Wales youth international footballers Wales under-21 international footballers Association football goalkeepers Leeds United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Bury F.C. players English Football League players Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff