Alan Edwards - Wing
Wales RLHeritage No | 152 |
Date Of Birth | 15/05/1916 |
Place Of Birth | Kenfig Hill |
Clubs | Bradford Bulls, Salford Red Devils, Dewsbury Rams, Leeds Rhinos, Aberavon, Bridgend Ravens, Maesteg |
Honours | Wales RL, Great Britain |
Alan Spencer Edwards was discovered by Lance Todd at only 19 years old whilst playing Rugby Union for Aberavon in 1935. He had made brief appearances for Maesteg and Bridgend before playing his rugby further west. It was a signing that Wales would thank Salford for as Alan ended up becoming a Welsh legend, helping us to three successive European Championship titles in the 1930s. He scored a try on his Welsh debut, a 41-7 win over France at Llanelli. In addition to his 18 Welsh caps plus his one Welsh rep game apperance, he played 18 times for Great Britain, which included seven caps and 11 tour games. He became the youngest ever tourist when he was chosen for the Great Britain side that retained the Ashes against Australia in 1936. He scored 21 tries in 16 matches on the 1936 tour of Australia and New Zealand.
For his club, he soon tasted success as he helped them to a Lancashire Cup Final win in 1936 as they beat Wigan 5-2. In the 1936-37 season, he scored 15 tries as Salford finished top of the league, top of the Lancashire League, won the Championship Final, and lifted the Lancashire Cup. In 1937, he was also a member of the Salford side that famously defeated the Australian tourists 11-8 and the following year, he was part of the Salford side who beat Barrow 7-4 in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley. The following year, he was a try scorer in Salford's Championship Final win as they beat Castleford 8-6 at Maine Road. He finished that 1938-39 season with 33 tries, which included hat-tricks against Oldham, Barrow, and Batley.
During the war years Alan guested for several teams with success. He played for Leeds in 1941-42 and was in their side as they won the Challenge Cup that season, beating Halifax 15-10 in the final. He played 45 times for Dewsbury, scoring 34 tries and kicking five goals, helping them to a Challenge Cup Final win in 1943 as they beat Leeds 16-15 on aggregate. The following year, he played for Bradford Northern, scoring nine tries in 36 appearances as they won the 1945 Championship Final, beating Halifax 26-20 on aggregate.
Alan rejoined Salford after the war for one further season and ended up with 199 appearances for the club, scoring 129 tries and kicking 129 goals. In 1946, he transferred to Bradford Northern for £700. There he helped them to an 18-9 Yorkshire Cup Final win over Castleford in 1948 and a 12-0 Challenge Cup Final win over Halifax in 1949. He played in a total of seven Rugby League Challenge Cup Finals which was a record at that time he shared with Eric Batten. He was the first man to play for four different teams in the Challenge Cup Final and the only man to win the Challenge Cup with four different teams. He was also one of just five rugby league players to win "All Six Cups" during his career.
His career came to an abrupt end in 1949 after he failed to recover from a broken ankle and after a further 97 appearances for Bradford in this his second spell with the club, where he scored 74 tries and 33 goals, he retired from the sport. At 294 career tries, he's the fifth highest try-scoring Welsh Rugby League player of all time. Later in life, Alan and his wife Jessie emigrated to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
For his club, he soon tasted success as he helped them to a Lancashire Cup Final win in 1936 as they beat Wigan 5-2. In the 1936-37 season, he scored 15 tries as Salford finished top of the league, top of the Lancashire League, won the Championship Final, and lifted the Lancashire Cup. In 1937, he was also a member of the Salford side that famously defeated the Australian tourists 11-8 and the following year, he was part of the Salford side who beat Barrow 7-4 in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley. The following year, he was a try scorer in Salford's Championship Final win as they beat Castleford 8-6 at Maine Road. He finished that 1938-39 season with 33 tries, which included hat-tricks against Oldham, Barrow, and Batley.
During the war years Alan guested for several teams with success. He played for Leeds in 1941-42 and was in their side as they won the Challenge Cup that season, beating Halifax 15-10 in the final. He played 45 times for Dewsbury, scoring 34 tries and kicking five goals, helping them to a Challenge Cup Final win in 1943 as they beat Leeds 16-15 on aggregate. The following year, he played for Bradford Northern, scoring nine tries in 36 appearances as they won the 1945 Championship Final, beating Halifax 26-20 on aggregate.
Alan rejoined Salford after the war for one further season and ended up with 199 appearances for the club, scoring 129 tries and kicking 129 goals. In 1946, he transferred to Bradford Northern for £700. There he helped them to an 18-9 Yorkshire Cup Final win over Castleford in 1948 and a 12-0 Challenge Cup Final win over Halifax in 1949. He played in a total of seven Rugby League Challenge Cup Finals which was a record at that time he shared with Eric Batten. He was the first man to play for four different teams in the Challenge Cup Final and the only man to win the Challenge Cup with four different teams. He was also one of just five rugby league players to win "All Six Cups" during his career.
His career came to an abrupt end in 1949 after he failed to recover from a broken ankle and after a further 97 appearances for Bradford in this his second spell with the club, where he scored 74 tries and 33 goals, he retired from the sport. At 294 career tries, he's the fifth highest try-scoring Welsh Rugby League player of all time. Later in life, Alan and his wife Jessie emigrated to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
PLAYER FOR | P | W | D | L | TRY | GOALS | DG | PTS | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Great Britain | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 27 | |||
Wales RL | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 27 | |||
TOTAL | 24 | 13 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 54 |
Note: The statistics tab shows all of the player’s known appearances for this particular Wales side against international sides or other non-capped recognised first class matches. To see exactly how many full test rugby league caps for Wales (or any other country) that this player has, please click the “Test Summary” tab. Nines individual player records are not shown, please click here for full details about Nines. Please also note that clubs’ current names are used throughout this website, due to the database only being able to feed one name per club (e.g. Wigan will also be known as Wigan Warriors throughout all player profiles).