Robert William Edwards (born 1 January 1973 in

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

) is a professional football manager and former player. He played for

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

before retiring in May 2011, and 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 ...

international, being capped on four occasions. In May 2014, he was appointed the manager of

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

. He was sacked from the post in October 2014. In August 2019 Edwards was promoted from Wales Under 17 coach to Wales Under 19 team coach

Playing career

Edwards, a defender, started his career as a trainee with

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

, playing in 56 first team games with the club. On 27 March 1991, Robert completed a £135,000 move to then Division Two side

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. In over eight seasons at Ashton Gate, Edwards made 266 appearances and earned his first cap for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. On 8 August 1999 Edwards moved on a free to then

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, where he played an important role in Preston's title victory, and promotion to the second tier. On 1 July 2004, Edwards moved to League One side

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

where he made 69 appearances before being released on a free at the end of the 2005–06 season by manager

Simon Grayson Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Bengaluru. As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in m ...

. He scored once during his spell at Blackpool, in a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

in August 2004. After playing on trial with his first club

and also

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 ...

side

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 ...

, Edwards was snapped up by

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side

. After signing for the Grecians in 2006, he established himself as a first team regular in the heart of the defence for Exeter City and in December 2007, City manager

Paul Tisdale Paul Robert Tisdale (born 14 January 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Stevenage. As a player, Tisdale represented Southampton, Bristol City, FinnPa, Panionios and Yeov ...

appointed Rob as

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

at Exeter: coaching the reserves, while still being a member of the first team. In fact, he was the only member of the squad to start in all 46 matches of Exeter's 2007–08 campaign. That season culminated in Edwards scoring the winning goal at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

on 18 May 2008 in Exeter's

2008 Conference National play-off Final The 2008 Conference Premier play-off Final, known as the 2008 Blue Square Premier play-off Final for sponsorship purposes, took place on 18 May 2008 at Wembley Stadium, London. It was contested between Cambridge United and Exeter City, with Exete ...

win over

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

securing the club's return to

the 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 ...

. He retired from professional football in May 2011.

Managerial career

After retiring, Edwards worked as first team coach for Exeter City. On 13 May 2014 Edwards quit as assistant manager of

. On 27 May 2014, he was appointed as the new manager of

. Edwards was sacked from his job as manager on 13 October 2014. In February 2015 Edwards, who the previous December had been appointed as assistant to

Paul Buckle Paul John Buckle (born 16 December 1970) is an English football manager. He is currently a technical advisor at Hartford Athletic of the USL and technical advisor to Landon Donovan at San Diego Loyal. Prior to this, he coached the U23s for South ...

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

, left the club (along with Buckle) by mutual consent. In August 2019 Edwards was promoted from Wales Under 17 coach to Wales Under 19 team coach.Edwards appointed under 19 coach
/ref>

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Rob 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Kendal Footballers from Cumbria Welsh footballers Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Wales men's B international footballers Wales men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football utility players Carlisle United F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Welsh football managers Tranmere Rovers F.C. managers English Football League managers Exeter City F.C. non-playing staff Cheltenham Town F.C. non-playing staff Southampton F.C. non-playing staff