OTD: CARLOS EDWARDS DEBUT
- BY DANIEL McCALLUM
- Jan 6
- 2 min read
On this day in 2007, former Sunderland winger/right-back Carlos Edwards made his debut for the club. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian was a huge hit on Wearside and even has a mural on the side of ALS headquarters!
Edwards began his professional career in the English leagues at Wrexham after impressing in his home country of Trinidad and Tobago with Defence Force. In Wales, Edwards won promotion to the Second Division and was included in the PFA Third Division Team of the Year in the 2002/03 season. He was also awarded Wrexham Player of the Year. Despite being relegated in 2005, Edwards won the Football League Trophy in the same season. When the winger’s contract expired, he joined Luton Town on a free transfer.
Some great form at Luton led to Edwards’ flair and technical ability attracting interest from Sunderland. Roy Keane offered £1.5 million for the winger, which was enough to bring the attacker to the Stadium of Light.
In his first season at the club, Edwards had a huge impact, scoring five times in half a season. The best (and most important) of those five was undoubtedly his rocket from outside the box against Burnley. He picked the ball up on the right-hand side, set himself up with his first touch and absolutely leathered it into the top corner to win the game.
More importantly, the goal put Sunderland back to first place in the Championship and the lads were crowned champions as Derby County failed to defeat Crystal Palace the following day!
Unfortunately for Carlos, and the team as a whole, his first season in the Premier League was hampered by firstly a hamstring injury, then a leg fracture kept him out until the final few months of the season. After Sunderland went on somewhat of a spending spree, Edwards was largely out of the manager’s plans. He was loaned out to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2008, before spending a number of years in the Championship with Millwall and Ipswich Town.
Edwards then returned to Trinidad and Tobago briefly but clearly still has the bug for football regardless of the level. He played for Woodbridge Town between 2017 and 2020, also having a spell as their joint-manager. Edwards went to Bury Town in 2020, initially on a co-registration deal with Woodbridge but then went to play only for them. After this, he spent two years with Hadleigh United prior to joining ninth tier Lakenheath in 2025, where he remains to this day.
