Dean Edwards (footballer)

Dean Edwards

Personal information
Full name	Dean Stephen Edwards
Date of birth	25 February 1962 (1962-02-25) (age 49)
Place of birth	Wolverhampton, England
Playing position	Forward
Number	Manager
Youth career
1980	Shrewsbury Town
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1980–1982	Shrewsbury Town	13	(1)
1982	KuPS	3	(0)
1982-1984	VPS Vaasa	?	(42)
1983–1985	Telford United
1985–1987	Wolverhampton Wanderers	31	(9)
1987–1988	Exeter City	54	(17)
1988–1991	Torquay United	116	(26)
1991–1992	Exeter City	4	(0)
1992	Northampton Town	7	(0)
1992	Sliema Wanderers
1992–1993	Yeovil Town
1993–199x	Stafford Rangers	2	(0)
199x–1996	Barnstaple Town
Teams managed
1996–1998	Bideford (player/manager)
2004	Pelsall Villa (player/manager)
2007–2008	Willenhall Town (player/manager)
2008–2009	Hednesford Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Dean Stephen Edwards (born 25 February 1962) who played as a forward. He scored for Torquay United in two different Wembley appearances.

Playing career

Edwards was born in Wolverhampton and began his career as an apprentice with Shrewsbury Town, turning professional in February 1980. He played only 13 times, scoring once for the Shrews before joining Finnish side Kuopion Palloseura. From there he moved to Vaasan Palloseura. He subsequently moved to Telford United from where he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in October 1985, playing for Wolves as they fell into Division Four for the first time in their history.

He left Molineux in March 1987, having scored 10 times in 34 games, joining Exeter City. He became a regular both on the teamsheet and the scoresheet at Exeter, hitting the net 17 times in 54 league games before moving to Torquay United in August 1988.

He became an integral part of Cyril Knowles' side, scoring Torquay's goal at Wembley in the Sherpa Van Trophy Final defeat against Bolton Wanderers, and scored again at Wembley two years later as Torquay won promotion via the play-offs.

In December 1991 he moved back to Exeter City on a free transfer, having played 116 league games and scored 26 league goals for the Gulls. He stayed only a few months at Exeter before another short spell at Northampton Town to finish his league career. He played in Hong Kong, Malta with Sliema Wanderers, and played a couple of games for Stafford Rangers the following season. He later returned to Devon to play for Barnstaple Town.

Managerial career

In Autumn 1996 he became player-manager of Bideford in the Western League, but resigned on 30 July 1998 out of despair at the lack of commitment to pre-season training amongst his squad. Shortly prior to his resignation he had become the licensee of a pub close to Plainmoor in Torquay, but in August 2000, the Torquay based Herald Express reported that he was running a social club in his native Wolverhampton.

In January 2004, Edwards was appointed as player-manager of non-league side Pelsall Villa, but was unable to prevent the club's relegation and left at the end of the season.

In March 2006 he became assistant manager, under former Wolves teammate Mel Eves, at Willenhall Town^[1] and in September 2006, at the age of 44, was still registered as a player for Willenhall.^[2] After Eves departed in October 2007, Edwards took over as manager.

Edwards resigned as Willenhall manager in April 2008 and was appointed manager of Northern Premier League side Hednesford Town the following month.^[3] After a strong start took them to the top of the table, a dramatic dip in form saw the Pitmen eventually finish outside the play-offs, despite spending the majority of the season in the top five

The 2009-2010 season saw Hednesford return to the Southern League, after the league restructured, with Edwards bringing in a number of experienced names in a bid to push the club back into the Conference North. Shortly after being dumped out of the FA Cup by Hellenic League minnows Pegasus Juniors at the first qualifying round stage, Edwards departed the club on 15 September 2009. He is currently commercial manager at his former club, Torquay United.

References

1. ^ Willenhall turn to former Wolves' favourite
2. ^ Reds sign new player -aged 44!
3. ^ Edwards quits as lockmen boss

• Matthews, Tony (2001). The Wolves Who's Who. West Midlands: Britespot. p. 47. ISBN 1-904103-01-4. 

Persondata
Name	Edwards, Dean
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 February 1962
Place of birth	Wolverhampton, England
Date of death
Place of death