Nigel Edwards (born 31 December 1950) is a Welsh former footballer who played as a
full back. He made more than 400
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 ...
appearances for
Chester City and
Aldershot.
Playing career
Born
Wrexham, Edwards was signed by
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 ...
as a youngster in September 1968 after being at
Blackburn Rovers on amateur terms. After impressing in the reserve side,
Edwards made his
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 ...
debut on 23 April 1969 against
Lincoln City, alongside fellow youngster
Grenville Millington.
The pair would go on to make more than 500 league appearances for the club between them.
By
1971–72, Edwards was first-choice right-back at Chester and the subject of constant transfer speculation,
having been involved in a tour of
New Zealand and the Far East with
Wales the previous summer. Although he had a brief loan spell at
Rotherham United in the first half of
1973–1974 while out of Chester's first team, Edwards returned to Chester without appearing for the Millers and soon regained his place in the side.
In
1974–1975, Edwards missed just four games as Chester were promoted from
Division Four and reached the
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 ...
semi-finals. Despite playing at full back, Edwards scored seven times during the season.
Two years later he helped Chester reach the fifth round of the
FA Cup and win the spin-off
Debenhams Cup competition at the end of the season. He remained with the club until he joined
Aldershot in July 1978.
After four seasons with Aldershot, Edwards returned to Chester in June 1982 with funds raised by supporters through the Seals Player Appeal Fund.
He marked his first league game back with the winning goal against
Crewe Alexandra,
but he made just seven more league appearances and moved on to
Oswestry Town
Oswestry Town Football Club was a football club from Shropshire, playing at Victoria Road. They joined the Birmingham League in 1924 and switched to the Cheshire County League in 1959. In 1975 they made the move to the Southern League before ...
the following year.
In May 2004, 53-year-old Edwards played in Chester goalkeeper
Wayne Brown's testimonial at
Deva Stadium.
Honours
Chester
*
Football League Fourth Division
The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...
promotion as fourth placed team:
1974–1975.
*
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 ...
semi-finalists:
1974–1975.
*
Debenhams Cup winners:
1976–1977.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Nigel
1950 births
Living people
Footballers from Wrexham
Welsh men's footballers
Wales men's under-23 international footballers
Men's association football fullbacks
English Football League players
Chester City F.C. players
Aldershot F.C. players
Rotherham United F.C. players
Oswestry Town F.C. players
People educated at Ruabon Grammar School