ALAN EDWARDS
199 APPEARANCES
129 TRIES
29 GOALS
Alan Edwards was born in Glamorgan in 1916, The Welsh flyer was discovered by Lance Todd at only nineteen years old whilst playing Rugby Union for Aberavon. So impressed was Mr Todd he offered Edwards a contract at Salford, which he duly signed, despite the attention of Leeds , joining the Willows Road club in September 1935.
Despite having dreams of joining the police force Edwards was denied his dream career, considered too short in height to cut it with the constabulary. Upon first impressions many thought he wouldn’t make it as a League player,his thin build and skinny legs many claimed weren’t fit for a rough and tough sport like Rugby League.
Edwards had no such reservations , his whippet like build allowed room for his lightning pace and a delightful side step. Considered one of the fastest wingers to ever grace the sport, Edwards settled in at Salford immediately and was rewarded with an international call up only two months after joining the Scarlet Reds. The winger made his Wales debut that same season scoring a try in the 41-7 win over France at Llanelli.
Despite his tender age his pedigree was obvious and he became the youngest ever tourist when he was chosen for the Great Britain side that retained the Ashes against Australia and New Zealand in 1936. Edwards scored 21 tries in 16 matches on the 1936 tour.
Back on home soil the flying winger tasted silverware success with Salford as they won the 1936 Lancashire Cup Final in front of 17,000, defeating Wigan 5-2 , thanks to a try from Osbaldestin and a goal from Gus Risman.
In the 1936-37 season Edwards scored fifteen tries as Salford finished top of the league, top of the Lancashire League,won the championship play-off, and lifted the Lancashire Cup.
Alan continued his rich vein of form and plundered four tries in the opening matches of the 1937-38 season. Edwards was also a member of the Salford side that famously defeated the Australian tourists 11-8 in front of a 12,000 crowd at The Willows.
Lance Todd had continued to build the club roster slowly, and with the addition of Tommy Harrison and Jack Hilton, the 1937-38 season was when Salford gloriously reached the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.
Salford faced a Barrow side that had handed them a heavy 31-0 defeat only three weeks earlier, the worry of a repeat performance was soon dispelled. Despite a tight contest the 51,243 strong crowd witnessed Salford capture the famous trophy in the final minute of the contest thanks to a try from Salford centre Albert Gear, Risman missed the conversion but it mattered little, Salford had finally done it, the 7-4 victory over the shipbuilders from Barrow remains the one and only time Salford have lifted the coveted trophy.
The 1938 Challenge Cup Winning team that day ;
Osbaldestin,Hudson,Gear,Brown,Edwards,Risman,Watkins,Williams,Day,Davies,Dalton,Thomas,Feetham.
Salford were back to their brilliant best in the 1938-39 season , again reaching the Lancashire Cup Final, but were defeated 10-7 by Jim Sullivan’s Wigan in front of 28,000 at Station Road. Edwards was a member of the Salford side that faced Wigan once more, this time it was the Challenge Cup Semi-Final at the Athletics ground in Rochdale. Edwards often recalled the tragedy that was to unfold, a capacity 40,000 crowd could only watch on as one of the stands collapsed under the weight of people on it, tragically many were injured, one fatally. The game was held up for a long period of time as the emergency services dealt with the injured. Despite this the game continued on and Salford won the game by 11-2 to become the first team to appear at Wembley twice in succession.
Edwards and his teammates were back at Wembley on the 6th may to defend their Challenge Cup crown, this time it was against Yorkshire giants Halifax, unfortunately a flu pandemic hit the Lancashire club in the week leaving Salford without half of their squad for the final. Edwards recovered from flu to play but the Reds squad were understandably below par and went down as Halifax won 20-3.
Despite the heartbreak of losing at Wembley, Salford produced a stunning upset a week later, finishing the 1938-39 season in style, the date was may 13th and Edwards scored a stunning try as Salford defeated Castleford 8-6 at Maine Road, in front of a record 69,504 crowd.
The Championship Final win was the crowning glory for Edwards, just reward for a Salford hero who finished the season with 33 tries A season where he scored a hat-trick of tries against Oldham, Barrow, and Batley, whilst touching down in twenty-five of fifty fixtures.
Unfortunately for Salford the Second World War brought an end to the club’s glory years, during the war years Edwards guested for several teams with success, winning the championship with Yorkshire clubs Dewsbury and Bradford Northern,this was in addition to winning the Challenge Cup with Leeds and both the Challenge Cup and Yorkshire Cup with Dewsbury.
Edwards remains the only player to have appear in 7 Challenge Cup Finals with four different clubs. Alan made his final Salford appearance at The Willows on the 11th May 1946 as the reds were defeated by Oldham 8-25. Edwards finished the 1945-46 season with 17 tries and 29 goals .
After 199 appearances and 11 seasons with Salford, he transferred to Bradford Northern for £700. Bradford were overjoyed with such a quality purchase as Edwards continued to be one of the sports greatest wingers.
Tragedy struck after three seasons at Odsal, his career coming to an abrupt end in 1949 after he failed to recover from a broken ankle and after 133 appearances for Bradford Northern he retired from the sport.
A world record crowd of 91,465 saw Bradford Northern lose to Wigan by 8 points to 3 in this 1948 Final at Wembley. Here King George VI is seen being introduced Alan Edwards of the Bradford Northern side.
DEDICATED TO SALFORD RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLUB 