David Edgar (footballer)

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For other persons named David Edgar, see David Edgar (disambiguation).
David Edgar
Image:DavidEdgar interview.JPG
Personal information
Full name David Edward Edgar
Date of birth May 19, 1987 (1987-05-19) (age 21)
Place of birth    Kitchener, Canada
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Centre back
Club information
Current club Newcastle United
Number 30
Youth clubs
2003–2005 Newcastle United
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2005– Newcastle United 08 (1)   
National team2
2003
2003–		 Canada U17
Canada U20		 02 (0)
24 (2)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 15:15, 26 April 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 22:00, 9 July, 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

David Edward Edgar (IPA: /ˈdeɪvɨd ˈɛdwərd ˈɛdɡər/ — born May 19, 1987 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian football player. He currently plays for English club, Newcastle United, as a centre back. He is also a member of the Canada Under 20 team.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Edgar was born to Eddie Edgar and Christine Edgar (neé White). His father was a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Newcastle United and Hartlepool in England, as well as playing with Pelé for the New York Cosmos.[1] His mother is now a teacher in Canada. Edgar grew up in Kitchener, Ontario and attended Blessed Kateri Catholic Elementary School, where he broke many athletic records including the 800 m, 1500m and long jump. He also won athlete of the year in grade eight. A sports-obsessed child, Edgar tried his hand at ice hockey, long and middle distance running as well as football.[1]

When Edgar was 9, his father took him to England to compete in a football tournament which was sponsored by Manchester United. Edgar impressed at the tournament, to the extent he was offered a scholarship deal by Manchester United. However, Edgar turned down the opportunity, opting to stay in Canada for the time being.[2] He also excelled at hockey and was even considered to have had the potential to be drafted into the NHL.[3] From the age of 11 he began playing football at Provincial level for Ontario, along with his now international teammate Jaime Peters.[4] He continued to switch between playing hockey and football, however at 13 years of age he decided to quit hockey and focus primarily on playing football.[3] After impressing in trials for numerous football clubs including Celtic,[5] he was offered a scholarship at the Newcastle United academy, which he accepted. Aged 14, he left Canada and moved into his grandmother's home in Hebburn, Tyne and Wear.

[edit] Early career

Edgar began playing regularly in the academy and made his debut for the reserve team on April 10, 2003 against Bradford City. He made his debut for the Canada under-20 team on October 15, 2003, (just three months after first appearing at under-17 level), against Panama at the Torneo Mondialito, aged 16. The following month, he was named in the Canada squad for the World Youth Championships, that took place in the UAE. Edgar was an unused substitute in each of Canada's matches, as they finished third in their group. In June, 2005, Edgar was involved in the competition for a second time, appearing in all three of Canada's matches at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in Netherlands. Canada finished bottom of their group. Edgar caught the eye of Spanish club Málaga CF in September, 2005 when Newcastle played the La Liga club in a pre-season friendly game. Málaga, as well as a few English clubs, declared an interest in signing him.[6] However, Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd was quick to announce that Edgar was not for sale, and that he had been given a new contract by the club to ward off any further interest.[6] Edgar began making more regular appearances in the reserve team during the 2005-06 season. On May 19, 2006, whilst celebrating his nineteenth birthday, he played and scored in the Canadian Under-20 side's 2-1 victory over the Brazilian Under-20 side. This was the first victory Canada have ever had over Brazil in any level of men's football.[7]

[edit] Senior career

Edgar continued to appear for Newcastle's reserves and he was called up to the first team squad due to a lengthly injury list midway through the 2006-07 Premiership season. He made his first team debut for Newcastle against Bolton Wanderers on December 26, 2006.[8] On January 1, 2007 during his home debut, he scored his first goal for the club with a long range strike against Manchester United in a 2-2 draw.[9] Edgar was playing in the unfamiliar position of full back as part of a makeshift Newcastle defence consisting of three under-21 players and a winger, due to injuries to first team defenders. Edgar was later named man of the match[10] and drew praise from then Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder for his performance during the game.[11]

David Edgar playing for Newcastle in 2008.
David Edgar playing for Newcastle in 2008.

On February 1, 2007 he was named as Canadian Youth Player of the Year for the 2006 season.[12] On May 5, 2007 he signed a new contract with Newcastle that will keep him at the club until 2009.[13] In 2007, he will help host Canada compete for the Under-20 World Cup and has been named as one of six ambassadors for the Canadian team during the competition,[14] which will be the largest single-sport event ever hosted by Canada.[15] Edgar picked up a groin injury three weeks before the tournament began,[16] which put doubt over how much he would feature. An MRI scan showed no tears in his abdominal wall, which helped quell fears that he would be lost to injury for the tournament.[17]

During the 2007-08 season, Edgar voiced his concern at his lack of first team football at Newcastle, where despite being the reserve team captain, Edgar, at the time of the comment, had yet to make any appearances for the senior team.[18] Towards the end of the season he was given a run of games in the first team and was praised by manager Kevin Keegan for his performance against Reading.[19] In April 2008 Edgar stated his belief that he needed to bulk up in order to compete in the Premier League, after facing players like Dean Ashton.[20]

[edit] Style of play

Edgar has been acknowledged for having good leadership skills; he has been described as a player who organizes the other members of his defensive line through his vocality.[21] Dale Mitchell, Edgar's coach for the Canada Under-20 team, has labelled Edgar as a player who rises to the occasion against top competition, stabilizes the defence, and also has the ability to stretch opposing teams' defences.[17] Edgar now also captains the Newcastle United reserve team.

[edit] Career statistics

Club Performance[22]
Club Season Premiership FA Cup League Cup Europe Others Total
App Goals Assists App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Newcastle United 2007-08 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Newcastle United 2006-07 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
Subtotal 8 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 1

(Statistics correct as of April 26, 2008)

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ a b Palmer, Ian S. David Edgar's the new kid on the block at Newcastle United. Sports Express. Retrieved on 2007-01-03.
  2. ^ Oliver, Alan. "Edgar was a Man U target", icNewcastle, 2007-01-04. Retrieved on 2007-01-04. 
  3. ^ a b Lai, Tim. Canadian an English soccer hero. Toronto Star. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
  4. ^ Old pals hold Canuck hopes. fifa.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
  5. ^ "Magpie flying high", National Post, 2007-01-03. Retrieved on 2007-01-04. 
  6. ^ a b Stanton, Chris. "Magpies: Edgar not for sale", Sky Sports, 2005-09-05. Retrieved on 2007-01-03. 
  7. ^ Canada achieve historic victory over Brazil. CONCACAF (2006-05-19). Retrieved on 2007-01-03.
  8. ^ Match Formations. Football-Lineups.com. Retrieved on January 10, 2007.
  9. ^ Chowdhury, Saj. "Newcastle 2-2 Man Utd", BBC Sport, 2007-01-01. Retrieved on 2007-01-01. 
  10. ^ Walker, Michael. "Edgar the unknown clips United's wings", The Guardian, 2007-01-02. Retrieved on 2007-05-28. 
  11. ^ Dunn, Alex. "Roeder praise for Edgar", Sky Sports, 2007-01-01. Retrieved on 2007-01-01. 
  12. ^ "David Edgar, Jodi-Ann Robinson named Canadian Youth Players of the Year", CanadaSoccer, 2007-02-01. Retrieved on 2007-02-01. 
  13. ^ Buckingham, Mark. "Edgar pens Magpies deal", Sky Sports, 2007-05-05. Retrieved on 2007-05-06. 
  14. ^ Canada’s U-20 World Cup team to take part in adidas camp. CanadaSoccer (2007-03-15). Retrieved on 2007-04-12.
  15. ^ Toronto to Host FIFA U-20 World Cup Championship Game. CanadaSoccer (2006-01-26). Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  16. ^ Starnes, Richard. "Canada's captain sits out under-20 loss", Canada.com, 2007-06-04. Retrieved on 2007-06-04. 
  17. ^ a b Petersen, Scott. Edgar still stuck in the bleachers. Sports Express. Retrieved on 2007-06-16.
  18. ^ Toon starlet unsettled. Sky Sports. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  19. ^ Keegan hails Barton re-emergence. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  20. ^ Edgar on Magpies learning curve. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2008-04-29.
  21. ^ Molinaro, John F. "David Edgar: A case for the defence", CBSport, 2007-06-26. Retrieved on 2007-07-01. 
  22. ^ David Edgar stats. footballdatabase.com, Retrieved May 17, 2007.

[edit] External links

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