Andy Edwards (footballer, born 1971)

Andrew David Edwards (born 17 September 1971) is an English former professional footballer and manager, currently working as an assistant coach of the England youth teams with the Football Association.

During his playing career he achieved six promotions and played for a number of clubs, including Southend United, Birmingham City, Peterborough United, Rushden & Diamonds, Grays Athletic and Aldershot Town. He was manager of Leyton Orient before joining the FA in 2017.

Playing career
Edwards started his career as a schoolboy at West Ham United before signing scholarship forms at Southend United in 1988. He made his debut as a 17-year-old against Wigan Athletic in the same year.

After signing as a professional with the "Shrimpers" in 1989, Edwards enjoyed successive promotions to the second tier of English football and enjoyed five years at that level before being transferred to Birmingham City in July 1995 for a fee of £450,000.

At Birmingham, Edwards was part of the side that reached a League Cup semi-final before being transferred in November 1996 to Peterborough United. Edwards went on to captain the side to promotion at Wembley in 2000.

He joined Rushden & Diamonds in March 2003 and played a part in their promotion to the Second Division as champions. Edwards scored the goal against Carlisle United that saw the club seal promotion.

After leaving Nene Park in the summer of 2004, Edwards re-joined Southend United and again enjoyed successive promotions as the club went from League Two to the Championship. After a loan spell with Conference club Grays Athletic, where he was on the bench as they won the 2005-06 FA Trophy, he left Roots Hall in 2006 and joined Aldershot Town, but injury ended his career in January 2007.

Coaching career
Following his retirement, Edwards moved into coaching, with spells as assistant manager at St Albans City and as a coach within the Arsenal Academy. He joined Leyton Orient as youth team manager in 2009, which "evolved into the role of academy director" in 2011. He and Kevin Dearden assisted Kevin Nugent during Nugent's brief tenure as manager. Edwards was appointed permanent manager on 23 November 2016 following the departure of Alberto Cavasin.

Edwards left Orient for a role with the Football Association on 29 January 2017 as an out-of-possession coach working with England's development teams. He was a staff member with the England under-20 team that won the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea, and went on to work with the U19s in preparation for the 2018 European Championships.

On 26 August 2021, Edwards was appointed as head coach of England U20s for the forthcoming autumn internationals. He was succeeded by Ian Foster on 16 August 2022.

Honours
Southend United
 * Football League Trophy runner-up: 2004–05