Born on this day is former Sunderland winger Carlos Edwards. The Trinidadian winger was a huge hit on Wearside, and has a mural on the side of ALS headquarters!
Edwards began his professional career at Wrexham after impressing in his home country of Trinidad. In Wales, Edwards won promotion to the Second Division and was included in the PFA Third Division Team of the Year. He was also awarded Wrexham Player of the Year.
Despite being relegated in 2005, Edwards won the Football League Trophy in the same season with Wrexham. 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 Trinidadian 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 is 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 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, before a leg fracture kept the Trinidadian 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 Wolves, before spending a number of years in the Championship with Millwall and Ipswich.
Edwards then returned to Trinidad briefly, but is currently playing for Isthmian League side Bury Town, where he has played since 2020.
