Preston Matthew Edwards (born 5 September 1989) is an English

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 ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting ...

for

Cheshunt Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, Waltha ...

Club career

On 4 September 2007, Edwards made his first professional appearance for Millwall when coming on as a sub against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ...

in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

first round. In January 2009, he joined

Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 team ...

club

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1983 ...

on loan after an injury to the club's first-choice goalkeeper, John Whitehouse. He made his debut in a 0–0 draw against local rivals

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to the Census, there was a populatio ...

. Whilst at Dover Athletic, he helped them secure the title and promotion to the

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the ...

. On 22 June 2009, he rejected a new one-year deal from Millwall, and was therefore out of contract and released. At the start of the 2009–10 season, Edwards signed for

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Parkside in nearby Aveley. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former So ...

along with eight other players. On 24 March 2010, Edwards played in a behind closed doors reserve match for Crystal Palace against Millwall. He was released at the end of the 2009–10 season. Edwards signed for

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 from ...

on 28 July 2010, after a successful trial period. He became a YouTube sensation in February 2011, racking up over eight million views (as of late June 2014), after being sent off just ten seconds into a 3–0 defeat to

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a rail ...

. This is believed to be a record for a goalkeeper. Despite this setback, Preston became a fan favourite amongst club fans and a key asset for the club. After promotion, Preston asserted himself as Ebbsfleet number one before an ankle injury cut his season short. Despite the club finishing second bottom of the

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

in the 2012–13 season, Edwards drew praise from many for his performances throughout the season and went on to dominate the club's end of season awards ceremony, winning a large majority of the trophies on offer including the Players player of the year and the Fans player of the year award. Although it was rumoured that his services were wanted by

John Still John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an ...

, the recently appointed manager of

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1 ...

, Edwards signed a new contract with the club, keeping him on for the 2013–14 season. Edwards continued as the club's first-choice goalkeeper for the 2013–14 season and was kept on for the 2014-15 campaign. During that season, his spot as the club's first choice goalkeeper was challenged by Brandon Hall. Manager Jamie Day brought him back into the team for the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

clash with

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

on 10 January in which he helped secure a 1–0 win. Edwards made his 200th appearance for the club in the 2–2 draw with Hemel Hempstead Town in late February. Ahead of the 2015–16 season, Edwards joined newly promoted

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

side Boreham Wood on a season-long loan deal. However the deal was cut short with Edwards making only six league appearances, and he went on to join

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division side

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. ...

on loan on the 20 February 2016 for the remainder of the season. With his contract at Ebbsfleet expiring, Edwards signed for Dulwich Hamlet ahead of the 2016–17 season, going on to make 66 appearances in all competitions in his first full season at the club. In January 2022, Edwards returned to

having spent time with the club on loan in 2020.

International career

In October 2010 Edwards was called up to the

England C The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) is the football team that represents England at non-league level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it f ...

team for the first time.

Family

His sister Steph reached the final of the 2013 series of ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

'' as part of the band Luminites.

Career statistics

Honours

;Ebbsfleet United

play-off winners: 2010–2011

References

External links

*
Preston Edwards
at Dulwich Hamlet F.C. {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Preston 1988 births Living people People from Cheshunt English footballers England men's youth international footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Millwall F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Cheshunt F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Brentwood Town F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players