George Edwards (2 December 1920 – 21 October 2008) was a Welsh international

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 ...

. After making his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut for Swansea Town, his career was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. He turned professional with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

in 1944 before joining

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

four years later. He represented

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

at international level, winning twelve caps.

Football career

Club career

Born in

Treherbert Treherbert () is a village and community (Wales), community situated at the head of the Rhondda Fawr valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Glamorgan. Treherbert is the upper mo ...

, Edwards began his football career at Swansea Town as an amateur and made his debut in

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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

at the end of the 1938–39 season. During the early years of the Second World War, he continued to study for a degree at

Swansea University Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

while still playing for Swansea Town. Called up to serve in the RAF, he was stationed in the Midlands, and guested for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

on a number of occasions. He turned professional with

in 1944, contributing to the club winning the championship of the

Football League South The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created temporarily for the League to continue through the Second World War while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The leagues sta ...

wartime league and reaching the semi-final of the

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 ...

in the 1945–46 season, and winning the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title in the 1947–48 season. In December 1948 he returned to Wales to sign for

for £12,000. He made his debut in a 2–2 draw with

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

before scoring on his home debut in a 6–1 victory over

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...

. He helped the Bluebirds to

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as Second Division runners-up in the 1951–52 season and began forming a partnership with striker

Wilf Grant Wilfred Grant (3 August 1920 – 17 July 1990) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Southampton, Cardiff City and Ipswich Town. Playing career Early career Grant was born in Bedlington and as a youth played for M ...

. He decided to retire in 1955 while still first choice for Cardiff.

International career

Edwards first represented his country as an amateur in 1938, and played for Wales in wartime internationals and for Services representative sides. He made his debut for

in their first post-war international match, a 3–1 victory over

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in October 1946, and won a total of twelve full caps during his career, scoring two goals.

Outside football

Edwards continued his studies while a Birmingham player, completing a thesis on the history of the 'Daucleddau Coalfield', a major part of the

Pembrokeshire Coalfield The Pembrokeshire Coalfield in West Wales is one of the smallest Great Britain, British coalfields, but continuously worked from the 14th to 20th centuries. The main coalfield extends across south Pembrokeshire from Saundersfoot on Carmarthen Bay w ...

, to gain an

MA degree A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

.Connop-Price 2004. ''Pembrokeshire: the forgotten coalfield'' Landmark Publishing, Ashbourne, Derbyshire In his later years as a Cardiff City player, he began a business career, working part-time for an oil company. In 1957 he was invited to join the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of Cardiff City, a directorship which he held for twenty-five years in two spells. He wrote a Sunday newspaper column, reported on Cardiff City matches for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, and was a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

in Cardiff for many years. He was active on the Sports Council for Wales (now Sport Wales) from its establishment in 1972, and within the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; ) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, its Wales women's national football team, correspo ...

. Edwards was married to Pat, and had no children. He died in Llandough Hospital, Cardiff, on 21 October 2008 at the age of 87.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, George 1920 births 2008 deaths Sportspeople from Treherbert Footballers from Rhondda Cynon Taf Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Wales men's wartime international footballers Swansea City A.F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players English Football League players Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Alumni of Swansea University Alumni of the University of Birmingham Cardiff City F.C. directors and chairmen Wales men's amateur international footballers Men's association football outside forwards