Willis Edwards (28 April 1903 – 27 September 1988) was an English professional football player and manager.

Biography

Edwards was born in the mining village of Newton, North East

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, not far from Chesterfield and

Alfreton Alfreton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ir ...

. Like many boys in the area, he left school to go down the pit but he was soon spotted by Chesterfield as a teenager, playing for the village football team Newton Rangers.

Chesterfield

Having been close to joining

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, he instead signed for Chesterfield, where he made his debut in 1919 at the age of just 16. He went on to play 70 league games for the ''Spireites'' before joining

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 ...

towards the end of the 1924–25 season.

Leeds United

Edwards played for the Elland Road club for 18 years, during which time he was never booked or sent off. He went on to make 444 appearances. Edwards continued turning out for Leeds during the war years and remained at the club after the war. On retiring as a player, he became assistant and he took over the managerial reins when Billy Hampson was dismissed in May 1947. His time as manager was relatively unsuccessful and he resumed his place in the backroom staff in April 1948, where he acted as a scout for the club. He only ended his association with Leeds in 1960, after serving the club for 35 years.

England

Edwards was capped by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 16 occasions. His first cap was against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

on 1 March 1926. He captained England in his last five internationals, with his final appearance on 20 November 1929.

After football

In his later working years, he was employed at a jam factory. He died in Leeds on 27 September 1988.

References

External links

Full Managerial Stats for Leeds United from WAFLL
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Willis 1903 births 1988 deaths English footballers England international footballers Chesterfield F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Leeds United F.C. managers English Football League players English Football League managers English football managers Association football defenders