Gwion Edwards

Gwion Dafydd Rhys Edwards (born 1 March 1993) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Ipswich Town. He is a former Wales Under-21 international.

Gwion Edwards
Edwards playing for Ipswich Town in 2018
Personal information
Full name Gwion Dafydd Rhys Edwards[1]
Date of birth (1993-03-01) 1 March 1993
Place of birth Lampeter, Wales
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Ipswich Town
Number 7
Youth career
2004–2007 Aberystwyth Town
2007–2011 Swansea City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2014 Swansea City 0 (0)
2013 → St Johnstone (loan) 6 (0)
2013–2014 → St Johnstone (loan) 13 (0)
2014 → Crawley Town (loan) 6 (2)
2014–2016 Crawley Town 79 (12)
2016–2018 Peterborough United 59 (11)
2018– Ipswich Town 75 (13)
National team‡
2011 Wales U19 2 (0)
2012–2014 Wales U21 6 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:16, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11:59, 16 March 2019 (UTC)

Edwards joined the Swansea City academy in 2007, having previously spent three years at Aberystwyth Town. He spent seven years at Swansea, having graduated form the club's academy. During his time at Swansea he spent two spells out on loan at Scottish side St Johnstone and one with English side Crawley Town, before joining the later permanently in 2014. He spent two years at Crawley before joining Peterborough United in 2016, where he spent two seasons. In 2018, Edwards signed for Ipswich Town.

He has represented Wales at youth level, winning caps at U19 and U21 levels. He has been called up to the senior Wales squad in 2014 and 2018.

Club career

Swansea City

After spells with clubs including Aberystwyth Town and Cardiff City, Edwards joined Swansea City Football Club as an U15. Rising up through the Swansea youth system, Edwards signed his first professional contract, a 3-year deal, with Swansea City after a successful 2010–11 season. He went on to help Swansea win the FAW Welsh Youth Cup[2] and was a permanent fixture in Swansea Reserve team, winning Reserve Team Player of the Year in 2011–12.[3]

On 9 May 2012, Edwards signed a new three-year contract with Swansea, keeping him at the club until June 2015.[4] He featured on the bench for the first team on 13 May 2012, in a 1–0 win over Liverpool at the Liberty Stadium. He was called by Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers to be subbed on during stoppage time but did not make it onto the field due to the ball not going out of play before the final whistle.[5]

St Johnstone (loans)

On 31 January 2013, Edwards moved to Scottish Premier League side St Johnstone on loan for the remainder of the 2012–13 season.[6] He made his professional debut by coming off the bench in the 72nd minute in a 2–0 defeat to St Mirren in the Scottish Cup.[7] Edwards made his SPL debut by coming off the bench in a 1–1 draw with Celtic on 19 February.[8]

Edwards made a return to St Johnstone in July 2013, joining on loan until January 2014. Edwards made his Europa League debut in St Johnstone's 1–0 victory away vs Rosenborg on 18 July 2013 coming on in the 66th minute.[9] In the third round of the second leg of the Europa League against Minsk, Edwards was among two players to see their penalty successfully converted, which Minsk won, eliminating St Johnstone from the competition.[10] Edwards then scored his first professional goal in a 3–0 win for St Johnstone against Hamilton Academical in the Scottish League Cup.[11]

By the end of his second loan spell with St Johnstone, Edwards had made a total of 24 appearances in all competitions, scoring 1 goal.[12]

Crawley Town

On 27 March 2014, Edwards joined League One side Crawley Town on a one-month loan.[13] On 15 April 2014, Edwards enjoyed a goalscoring-debut for Crawley as a 76th-minute substitute in their 2–0 win against Tranmere Rovers.[14] In his second appearance, Edwards scored again for Crawley in their 2–1 victory against Leyton Orient.[15] After impressing Crawley manager John Gregory, Edwards' loan was extended to the end of the 2013–14 season.[16]

On 11 July 2014, Edwards signed for Crawley Town on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee.[17] Edwards' first game after signing for the club on a permanent basis came in the opening game of the season, as Crawley Town beat Barnsley 1–0.[18] He went on to make 93 appearances in all competitions over three seasons at the Broadfield Stadium, scoring 15 goals.[19]

Peterborough United

On 24 June 2016, Edwards joined League One side Peterborough United on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[20] He scored the winner on his debut in a 3–2 win over Rochdale on 6 August 2016.[21] He won the club's goal of the season award for the 2016–17 season for an individual effort in a 2–0 win over Charlton Athletic on 17 December.[22] Edwards made 74 appearances for Peterborough during two seasons at the club, scoring 16 goals,[19]

Ipswich Town

On 17 July 2018, he signed a two-year deal (plus an option for a further year) with Ipswich Town, for a reported fee of £700,000.[23] Edwards scored his first goal for the club on his debut in a 2—2 draw with Blackburn Rovers at Portman Road, on the opening day of the season.[24] Edwards went on to score 6 goals in 34 appearances in his debut season at Portman Road, including scoring in the East Anglian Derby at Portman Road on 2 September 2018.[25]

He scored his first goal of the 2019—20 season on 24 August, netting the second goal in a 0—5 away win against Bolton Wanderers at the University of Bolton Stadium.[26] He featured regularly throughout the season, often filling in at right wing-back and right-back due to an injury to Kane Vincent-Young. On 18 May 2020, Ipswich took up the one-year option in his contract, extending his stay at the club until 2021.[27]

Edwards scored in the opening game of the 2020–21 season, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 home win over Wigan Athletic. He continued his goal scoring form through out September and October, scoring 5 goals in the opening 6 games of the season, including a brace in a 4–1 away win over Blackpool on 10 October.[28] In November, Edwards picked up a hamstring injury in training.[29]

International career

Edwards has won 2 caps for the Wales under-19 team, featuring in matches against Scotland and Slovenia in 2011.[30] In September 2012, he made his Wales under-21 debut in a 5–0 defeat by the Czech Republic.[31] He scored his first international goal for the Wales under-21 team on 19 May 2014, in a 3–1 loss to England at the Liberty Stadium.[32] Edwards won 6 caps for Wales' under-21 side between 2012 and 2014, scoring 1 goal.[33]

He received his first senior international call up in October 2014, being called into the Wales senior squad for the Euro-2016 qualifying matches versus Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cyprus. He was an unused substitute in both matches.[34] On 12 October 2018, Edwards was called up by Wales manager Ryan Giggs for the squad to face the Republic of Ireland in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League four days later. He was an unused substitute as Wales emerged 1–0 winners in Dublin.[35]

Career statistics
As of match played 30 January 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Swansea City 2011–12[36] Premier League 000000——00
2012–13[37] Premier League 000000——00
2013–14[37] Premier League 00000000—00
Total 000000000000
St Johnstone (loan) 2012–13[37] Scottish Premier League 60100000—70
2013–14[38] Scottish Premiership 13000113[lower-alpha 1]0—171
Total 19010113000241
Crawley Town (loan) 2013–14[38] League One 620000—0062
Crawley Town 2014–15[39] League One 3741020—2[lower-alpha 2]1425
2015–16[40] League Two 4281010—1[lower-alpha 2]0458
Total 8514203000319315
Peterborough United 2016–17[41] League One 3374220—2[lower-alpha 3]0419
2017–18[42] League One 2643111—3[lower-alpha 3]1337
Total 5911733100517416
Ipswich Town 2018–19[43] Championship 3361000——346
2019–20[44] League One 2723010—4[lower-alpha 3]0352
2020–21[28] League One 1551020—1[lower-alpha 3]0195
Total 7513503000508813
Career total 238381531023013227945
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  3. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). Premier League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  2. "Quartet offered new deals". Swanseacity-mad.co.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  3. "PLAYER PROFILE". swanseacity.com. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  4. "Gwion Edwards signs new three-year Swansea contract". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  5. "Gwion Edwards nearly fulfilled his Premier League dream with Swansea... now he returns with Ipswich". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  6. "Gwion goes out on loan". swanseacity.com. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  7. "St Mirren 2–0 St Johnstone". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  8. "St Johnstone 1–1 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  9. "GWION BACK FOR A SECOND STINT WITH SAINTS". Perth St.Johnstone. 1 July 2013. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  10. "St Johnstone lose to Minsk on penalties". BBC Sport. 8 August 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  11. "Hamilton 0–3 St Johnstone". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  12. "Edwards benefits from loan spell". Swanseacity.net. Archived from the original on 24 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. "Reds sign Premier League winger". Crawley Town FC. 27 March 2014.
  14. "Crawley 2–0 Tranmere". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  15. "Crawley 2–1 Leyton Orient". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  16. "John Gregory is keen to extend Gwion Edwards' loan". Crawley Observer. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  17. "Gwion is back!". Crawley Town F.C. 11 July 2014.
  18. "Barnsley 0 – 1 Crawley Town". BBC Sport. 9 August 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  19. "Gwion Edwards at Soccerbase". Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  20. "Gwion Edwards: Peterborough United sign Crawley Town midfielder". BBC Sport. 24 June 2016.
  21. "Rochdale 2–3 Peterborough". BBC Sport. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  22. "Bostwick Wins Top Honours At End Of Season Awards". Peterborough United F.C. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  23. "Town Confirm Edwards Signing". TWTD. 17 July 2018.
  24. "Ipswich Town 2—2 Blackburn Rovers March Report". Ipswich Town Official Website. 4 August 2018.
  25. "Report Card: Grading Hurst's lower league signings following steep Ipswich Town learning curve". East Anglian Daily Times. 15 May 2019.
  26. "Bolton Wanderers 0–5 Ipswich Town". BBC Sport. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  27. "Gwion Extends Town Stay". Ipswich Town F.C. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  28. "Games played by Gwion Edwards in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  29. "Paul Provides Injury Update". Ipswich Town F.C. 21 November 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  30. "Under-19 – Gwion Edwards". UEFA.com. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  31. "Edwards's debut for under-21s". thisissouthwales.co.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  32. "Wales U21 vs. England U21 1 - 3". Soccerway. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  33. "Gwion Edwards at Soccerway". Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  34. "Euro 2016: Gwion Edwards called up for Wales qualifiers". BBC Sport. 8 October 2014.
  35. Pritchard, Dafydd (12 October 2018). "Ryan Giggs: Wales boss says his side will learn from harsh 'lesson'". BBC Sport Wales. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  36. "Games played by Gwion Edwards in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  37. "Games played by Gwion Edwards in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  38. "Games played by Gwion Edwards in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  39. "Games played by Gwion Edwards in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  40. "Games played by Gwion Edwards in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  41. "Games played by Gwion Edwards in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  42. "Games played by Gwion Edwards in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  43. "Games played by Gwion Edwards in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  44. "Games played by Gwion Edwards in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
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