307 Edmund Edwards

Biography

Six foot tall forward Edmund Edwards, also known as Eddie, joined Hull City in May 1936 to add height and power to the forward line available to manager David Menzies. Edwards began the 1936/37 season in City’s first team playing at inside right and scored his first City goal in a September 1936 Division Three North Cup tie against York City. The tragic death of manager Menzies in October 1936 was also bad news for Edwards’ City career, he scored his second goal for the Tigers against Mansfield in mid-October a few days after Menzies died but that proved to be his final senior appearance for the club.

Edmund Clifford Edwards was born in Tudhoe, a colliery village near Spennymoor where his father worked as a coal miner. However while still a child his family moved to Thurcroft, a purpose-built coal mining community to the south of Rotherham in South Yorkshire. Edmund attended Rotherham Grammar School and by the late 1920s was a prominent Bassetlaw League cricketer, his left arm bowling and batting featuring for several club cricket sides in the South Yorkshire area throughout the 1930s.

Edwards appeared to come late to football, turning out as an amateur in the Midland League for Rotherham United’s Reserves in the early 1930s before playing for the Sheffield United A team during the 1933/34 season. He joined Midland League side Worksop Town in the 1934 close season and after scoring nine goals for the Tigers in the opening weeks of the 1934/35 season he was signed by Division Two side Bury in October 1934 – however he did not break into the Shakers’ first team and returned to Worksop Town in early August 1935. Within a few days he had signed for Division Three South side Clapton Orient and Edmund made his senior debut for the London side in their opening League game of the season against Luton, making a second start a month later in a divisional cup tie. He made no further first team starts for Clapton although he did score 27 goals for the reserve side during the 1935/36 season. This form was enough to entice Hull City to claim his signature in May 1936.

Edwards joined Cheshire League side Mossley for the 1937/38 season and in October 1937 he was selected for a Cheshire League select XI to play their Southern League counterparts. In July 1938 Edmund returned to Football League action when he signed for Division Three North side Carlisle United. He started the Cumbrians’ first and last League games of the season, drawing a close to his senior career that involved just 15 starts in five years.

Between 1946 and 1952 Edwards played cricket professionally in the Bradford League for Baildon Green, Farsley, Spen Victoria and Lidget Green cricket clubs. Between 1953 and 1956 Edmund, now into his 40s, played Yorkshire League cricket for Sheffield United CC. By now he was working as a mechanical engineer at Thurcroft Colliery while also running scouting missions for the Tigers, a part time role that extended into the 1970s. He lived in Thurcroft for the rest of his days, dying in Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital in August 1991.

Details

Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 15 November 1909, Tudhoe
Hull City First Game: 29 August 1936, Port Vale A (Division Three North), 26 years, 288 days old
Hull City Final Game: 17 October 1936, Mansfield Town A (Division Three North), 26 years, 337 days old

Clubs

Rotherham United (1931-1933), Sheffield United (1933-1934), Worksop Town (1934), Bury (1934-1935), Worksop Town (1935), Clapton Orient (1935-1936), Hull City (1936-1937), Mossley (1937-1938), Carlisle United (1938-1939)

Hull City Record

Career: 11 apps, 2 goals

Edmund Edwards

Season	LGE App	LGE Gls	FAC App	FAC Gls	FLC App	FLC Gls	EUR App	EUR Gls	OTH App	OTH Gls
1936/37	10	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	1