Edmund Shimwell (27 February 1920 – 30 September 1988) was an English 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 lea ...
.
Playing career
Born in
Birchover,
[Matlock Town pen pics](_blank)
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
, Shimwell was a trainee with
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...
in 1939, but failed to break into the first team before the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In 1943–44, he made 15 guest appearances for
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
.
Shimwell began his professional career with
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...
in 1946, but on 20 December he made the move to the club with which he made his name,
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
. ''The Blades'' had refused Shimwell permission to run a
pub
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
— the Plough Inn, in
Two Dales — which prompted him to put in a transfer request.
[Calley, Roy (1992). ''Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992'', p. 114] Blackpool manager
Joe Smith jumped in to sign the full-back for £7,000.
His debut for Blackpool was supposed to be against
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Their home ground is ...
, the day after his signing, but it was put back after his train got stuck in snow, which meant he did not arrive at
The Valley until half-time. His first game came four days later, on Christmas Day, against
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
at
Ewood Park
Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...
. He replaced
Eric Sibley, and from that moment he made the right-back position his own.
Shimwell scored two important
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
goals for Blackpool; the first, against
Chester City on 24 January 1948, was a 60-yard lob, the combination of a following wind and frozen pitch saw it bounce over the goalkeeper's head. Blackpool reached
that year's final, in which they met eventual victors
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
, and Shimwell became the first full-back to score in such a
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 the London Borou ...
event when his 12th-minute penalty gave Blackpool the lead.
Shimwell played in two more
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...
s with Blackpool, firstly in
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...
against
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
(in which they were on the losing side again, thanks to a
Jackie Milburn
John Edward Thompson "Jackie" Milburn (11 May 1924 – 9 October 1988) was an English football player principally associated with Newcastle United and England, though he also spent four seasons at Linfield. He was also known as Wor Jackie (par ...
double), and then in
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
, the famous "Matthews Final" Blackpool victory.
On 13 May 1949, at the age of 29, Shimwell gained his only
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
cap, against
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
.
A dislocated shoulder, suffered in a win over
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
at
Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...
on 17 September 1955, meant Shimwell was out for the rest of the season. Indeed, he made only one more start for the Seasiders, on 19 January 1957, at home to
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
, but it gave the Blackpool faithful amongst the 18,702 present the chance to say farewell to the defender after thirteen years of service. In May, Shimwell was given a
free transfer to
Third Division Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...
. He played only seven games for the club before joining
Burton Albion
Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...
as player-manager. He finished his playing career while at
Matlock Town
Matlock Town Football Club is a association football, football club based in Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock, Derbyshire, England. Nicknamed 'the Gladiators', they are currently members of the and play at Causeway Lane.
History
The club was esta ...
in 1960.
Retirement
After retiring, Shimwell became
licensee
A licensee can mean the holder of a license or, in U.S. tort law, is a person who is on the property of another, despite the fact that the property is not open to the general public, because the owner of the property has allowed the licensee to en ...
at The Royal Volunteer, a pub in
Clay Cross
Clay Cross is a town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. It is a former industrial and mining town, about south of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield.
It is directly ...
, Derbyshire.
He was also the licensee of the Plough Inn, Two Dales, and later of the Duke of Wellington, Matlock.
Shimwell died in 1988 at the age of 68.
Honours
Blackpool
*
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
:
1952–53
*Lancashire Cup: 1954
References
External links
Profile at England FC.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimwell, Eddie
1920 births
1988 deaths
People from Derbyshire Dales (district)
Footballers from Derbyshire
English men's footballers
England men's international footballers
Sheffield United F.C. players
Blackpool F.C. players
Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players
Burton Albion F.C. players
English football managers
English Football League players
Southampton F.C. wartime guest players
Matlock Town F.C. players
Men's association football defenders
20th-century English sportsmen