Neil Ryan Edwards (born 5 December 1970) is a Welsh former

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 as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

, before retiring in 2006. He also played for Wales's under 21s. After his retirement, he has since been coaching

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

and

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

goalkeepers. He is coaching

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

's U-18 goalkeepers as of the 2012–13 season.

Playing career

Edwards started his career as a reserve goalkeeper at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, playing one

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

match, a

Full Members' Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

game against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. He also went on loan to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

, but failed to play a first team match. On 3 September 1991 Edwards joined

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

for £5,000, where he played over 200 games for the

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

club, but first team opportunities were restricted due to the team's elevated position in 1996–97. On 3 November 1997 Edwards joined

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

, where he found himself a fans' favourite, and played his part in one of the best defensive records in Division 3. In the

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

of the 2001–02 season, Edwards was named the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of Rochdale, but injury made him miss the majority of the season due to injury. In the latter seasons, injuries and the impressive performances of

Matthew Gilks Matthew Gilks (born 4 June 1982) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Blackpool, Burnley, Norwich City, Rochdale, Rangers, Wigan Athletic, Shrewsbury Town, Scunthorpe United, Lincoln City, Fleetwood Tow ...

forced Edwards out of the first team picture at

Spotland Spotland ( ) is a district of Rochdale in Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseysi ...

. In total, he played 279 League and Cup games at Rochdale. Edwards then had two contracts offered to him, by Rochdale and Bury, and on 2 July 2005, he joined Bury on a one-year contract, with the guarantee of first-team football as well as a slightly higher wage. He played 24 League games for the Mancunian

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gi ...

club, before an injury ended his season, and he decided to retire at the end of season.

Coaching career

In summer 2006 Edwards joined new

manager Neil McDonald's backroom team as goalkeeping coach, but left to

to become their assistant goalkeeping coach to

Fred Barber Frederick Barber (born 26 August 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper and made nearly 400 Football League appearances. His most successful stints came early in his career with Darlington and Walsall, playing in over ...

. In August 2009 he appeared in a Bolton Legends game for long serving goalkeeper

Jussi Jääskeläinen Jussi Albert Jääskeläinen (; born 19 April 1975) is a Finnish professional football coach and a former Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He is currently working as a goalkeeping c ...

in what was a warm up event prior to the main game against

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

Sources

* *
Leeds United fans profilefootball.co.uk profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Neil 1970 births Living people Footballers from Aberdare Welsh men's footballers Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Leeds United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Bury F.C. players English Football League players Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff