Edgley Harold Image 1 Aston Villa 1913

Description

Crewe, Cheshire born outside left Harold Edgley started his football career with Whitchurch in 1909 before joining hometown club Crewe Alexandra in 1910, from where he signed for First Division Aston Villa in 1911, making his Football League debut at Sheffield United that October and scoring in his only other appearance that season at Tottenham Hotspur. After a period on loan at Stourbridge in 1912 he became a regular in the Villa first eleven from Christmas 1913, and played in Aston Villa’s 1914 FA Cup semi final team beaten by Liverpool at White Hart Lane, however his career was then interrupted by the onset of the First World War which forced the suspension of peacetime football in May 1915.

He returned to Villa Park after the conflict and played in 5 Cup ties including scoring in the FA Cup semi final win over Chelsea at Bramall Lane, but was not selected in Villa’s victorious 1920 FA Cup Final team. He subsequently joined Queen’s Park Rangers in 1921 having scored 17 goals in 86 appearances for Villa, and played for two seasons in West London, scoring 6 times in 75 appearances. In the close season of 1923 he joined Second Division Stockport County scoring 4 times in 31 appearances before finishing his career with Birmingham & District League club Worcester City after joining them in 1924.

He was almost certainly the younger brother of Frank Edgley (with whom he shares a physical likeness), also born in Crewe and a Crewe Alexandra graduate, who played for Sheffield United, Fulham, Reading and Hartlepools United.