Christian Edwards

Christian Edwards (born 23 November 1975) is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer who was most recently manager of Cymru Premier side Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Christian Edwards
Personal information
Date of birth (1975-11-23) 23 November 1975
Place of birth Caerphilly, Wales
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1998 Swansea City 112 (4)
1998–2003 Nottingham Forest 54 (3)
1998–1999 → Bristol City (loan) 3 (0)
2000 → Oxford United (loan) 5 (1)
2001–2002 → Crystal Palace (loan) 9 (0)
2002 → Tranmere Rovers (loan) 12 (0)
2003 → Oxford United (loan) 6 (0)
2003–2006 Bristol Rovers 99 (3)
2005 → Swansea City (loan) 2 (0)
2006–2007 Forest Green Rovers 9 (0)
2007–2011 Aberystwyth Town 89 (4)
Total 400 (15)
International career
Wales U21 7 (0)
1996 Wales 1 (0)
Managerial career
2009 Aberystwyth Town (Caretaker)
2011–20?? Aberystwyth Town (Director of Football)
20??–2017 Cardiff Metropolitan University
2017–2022 Cardiff Metropolitan University
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:00, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

He played mainly as a centre back but has also played on the right of the defence. Edwards made more than 300 Football League appearances, most prominently for Swansea City, Nottingham Forest and Bristol Rovers. He also made loan appearances for several other clubs before moving into non-league football. He also represented Wales at full international and under-21 levels.

Club career

Swansea City

He began his professional career at Swansea City after joining the club as a youth player (where he got his nickname 'Swanny'). He made 112 appearances for Swansea before he moved to Nottingham Forest.

Nottingham Forest

He cost Forest £300,000 when he arrived there in March 1998 but it was not long until he was on the move again this time on loan to Bristol City where he made 3 appearances. In 2000–2001 he went out on loan twice, first to Oxford United and then to Crystal Palace where he played 9 games for the Londoners.[1] A year later (2002) he went out on loan again this time to Tranmere Rovers where he played 12 games before joining Bristol Rovers. He made 54 appearances for Forest.

Bristol Rovers

His first season as a Rovers player saw him partnering captain Adam Barrett in the centre of the defence. In March, Edwards was placed on to the transfer list following a dip in form. It got worse for him when he fractured his arm on the last day of the 2004–05 season and took all summer to recover. In the summer of 2006 first team coach Paul Trollope announced that Edwards' contract would not be renewed, he was released soon afterwards.

Forest Green Rovers

In July 2006 Edwards announced he would retire from professional football at the age of 30 but later went back on his decision and signed for Forest Green Rovers.[2] Edwards played just nine times for Forest Green before his departure.

Aberystwyth Town

On 4 January 2007, it was announced that Edwards had joined Welsh Premier League club Aberystwyth Town.[3] In September 2009, Edwards took over as caretaker manager of the side following the resignation of Brian Coyne,[4] before moving into an assistant manager role with appointment of former Tranmere teammate Alan Morgan as the club's new permanent manager.[5] In February 2011, Edwards left his role at Aberystwyth after four years with the club.[6]

Coaching career

Edwards served as the manager of Cardiff Metropolitan University, leading the club into the Welsh Premier League before being replaced by Wayne Allison in 2017. Allison stepped down later that year and Edwards took up the role of manager once again.[7]

International career

Edwards has one full Welsh cap which he gained as an 88th-minute substitute for Chris Coleman during a 2–0 defeat to Switzerland on 24 April 1996.[8] He also has two 'B' caps and seven under-21 caps to his name. He was also called up for a friendly against Argentina in February 2002, however he stayed on the bench.[9]

Personal life

He has a degree from the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff[10] where he studied for a degree in sports coaching and obtained a first class degree. He subsequently completed a master's degree and completed a PhD.[11]

Managerial statistics
As of 21 February 2010
Team Country From To Record
GWDLWin %
Aberystwyth Town (caretaker) Wales 28 September 2009 4 November 2009 751171.43
Total 751171.43

Honours

Swansea City

References
  1. "Edwards on the move". BBC Sport. 15 November 2001. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  2. "Forest Green nab defender Edwards". BBC Sport. 1 August 2006. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  3. "Aberystwyth sign defender Edwards". BBC Sport. 4 January 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  4. "Edwards handed temporary charge of Aber". welsh-premier.com. 28 September 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  5. "Morgs the man for Aberystwyth". welsh-premier.com. 4 November 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  6. "Assistant Edwards leaves Aberystwyth". welshpremier.com. 15 February 2011.
  7. "Cardiff Metropolitan University re-appoint Dr Christian Edwards". 19 September 2017.
  8. "Wales – international results 1990–1999 – details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  9. "Giggs shows Veron the way". BBC. 13 February 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  10. "Ex pro-footballer scores goal of a lifetime at UWIC". uwic.ac.uk. 7 July 2009. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
  11. "Edwards returns in Aber role reversal". Welsh Premier League. 15 December 2011. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  12. Fox, Norman (25 May 1997). "Football: Swansea run over by Frain". The Independent. Independent Digital News & Media. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
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