Henry Roby Edwards (26 September 18723 October 1940) 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 ...

who played 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 ...

for

Small Heath Small Heath is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman t ...

Life and career

Henry Roby Edwards was born on 26 September 1872 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

. He began his

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

career with

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

club Singer's, for whom he scored in the 1891–92 Birmingham Junior Cup final against Willenhall Pickwick; his team lost two men to injury in the first ten minutes before scoring twice in the second to retain their title. An

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

, he attracted the attention of the

club, whose scout went to watch him playing for Singer's; they signed him, together with his more impressive team-mate Frank Mobley, who went on to score 64 goals in four seasons for Small Heath. Edwards played in the first five games of the 1892–93 Second Division seasonSmall Heath's first in

and scored on his and their debut, in a 5–1 defeat of

Burslem Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

, but could not compete with established inside forwards

Billy Walton William Howard T. Walton (6 August 1871 – 10 February 1963) was an English footballer who played for Small Heath (now Birmingham City) for fourteen years. He made 232 appearances and scored 70 goals in all competitions. Biography Walton was ...

and the prolific

Fred Wheldon George Frederick Wheldon (1 November 1869 – 13 January 1924) was an English sportsman. In football, he was an inside-forward with good footwork and an eye for goal who played for England and several Football League clubs, in particular for Sm ...

. After a spell with Ryton Rovers, Edwards signed for

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

club

Leicester Fosse Leicester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the city of Leicester, East Midlands, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English f ...

in October 1893. He again scored on debut, completing a 4–0 win at home to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

, and continued as a regular in the side until the following March, a leg injury keeping him out of the last few matches of the season as Leicester confirmed their runners-up spot and successful application for admission to the Football League. Edwards apparently spent much of his season "in a pay dispute with the club committee", and, having helped them reach the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

(last 16) of the

1893–94 FA Cup The 1893–94 FA Cup was the 23rd edition of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. The cup was won by Notts County of the Football League Second Division, who defeated Bolton Wandere ...

, in which they lost to

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

club

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

only after a replay, he signed for Derby in May 1894. After a year without playing for the first team, he joined Southern League Second Division club Wolverton L&NWR. Edwards settled well at Wolverton, playing as an attacking

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, and helped them gain promotion to the Southern League First Division via the test match system. He stayed a further two years with Wolverton, making 43 league appearances, before turning down their offer of terms for the 1898–99 season. After a spell without a club, he signed for fellow Southern League club

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

in December 1898. He made seven appearances in all competitions in the first three months of his two years with the club, and moved on to Bedford Queen's Works of the Northamptonshire League. He captained the team, and remained until at least the 1902–03 season when they moved into the South Eastern League. After football, Edwards worked as a steam engine fitter in the

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

area. He died in Bedford on 3 October 1940 at the age of 68. Edwards' younger brother

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

was also a professional footballer who played for Small Heath.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Harry 1872 births 1940 deaths Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers Men's association football inside forwards Coventry City F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Wolverton A.F.C. players Watford F.C. players Bedford Queens Works F.C. players Midland Football League players English Football League players Southern Football League players