Paul Edmunds (born 2 December 1957) 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 le ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Playing career

A pacy winger, Edmunds trained as a teacher in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and was called into Great Britain's 1979

World Student Games In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

squad. From here he was spotted by

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

and signed as a professional. Edmunds made his debut against

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland A.F.C. from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; ...

, then scored in his first home game against

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

. While playing for Leicester Edmunds broke his wrist in a challenge from

Joey Jones Joseph Patrick Jones (born 4 March 1955) is a Welsh former international football full-back who most notably played for Liverpool, with whom he won two European Cups. Club career Wrexham Jones was born in Llandudno, and joined Wrexham in 19 ...

and was released in 1981 after suffering further injuries. He was signed by

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

but released again after a single season.

Coaching career

In 1983 Edmunds began working at a school alongside

Sheila Stocks Sheila Edmunds (née Stocks) is a former Doncaster Rovers Belles player. Sheila Stocks is the founder of Doncaster Rovers Belles. Sheila Stocks played for Doncaster Rovers Belles for 25 years and retired in 1994. Personal life Sheila Stocks lat ...

, the founder and captain of

Doncaster Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an English women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's administration is based at the Eco Power St ...

. After the pair became an item, Edmunds attended pre-season training with the Belles in 1984. When he criticised their methods, he was challenged to do better and found himself coaching at the club. Edmunds married Sheila in 1986 and took over as Doncaster Belles manager the following year. At the time Doncaster Belles were the pre-eminent women's football team in England, who reached 11

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 ...

finals out of twelve from 1983 to 1994. Edmunds resigned in 1995 after heavily criticising

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

's running of the women's game and the efforts of then-

England women The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Association ...

manager

Ted Copeland Ted Copeland is an English former football coach. He managed the England women's side between 1993 and 1998, leading them to a quarter-final appearance in the 1995 World Cup. Copeland spent 12 years working as a lecturer in physical education a ...

References

External links

Doncaster Rovers Belles Past ManagersPaul Edmunds at Where Are They Now?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmunds, Paul 1957 births Living people Footballers from Doncaster English footballers Leicester City F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Bentley Victoria Welfare F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Goole Town F.C. players Armthorpe Welfare F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. managers Association football midfielders