David Alexander Edwards (born 3 February 1986) is a Welsh international football midfielder, who plays for Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.

[edit] Playing career

Born in Shrewsbury, Edwards started as an apprentice at his hometown club, Shrewsbury Town, and made his league debut as the club, already relegated, said farewell to the Football League in the final match of the 2002-03 season, coming on as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat at home to Scunthorpe United on 3 May.

He did not play a large role in Shrewsbury's promotion-winning campaign from the Football Conference, but did enjoy a run of games in the second half of the season. Upon the club's return to the Football League, he became a first choice player, a role he retained for three successive seasons at Gay Meadow.

Towards the end of the 2006-07 season, Edwards was the subject of transfer speculation, after rejecting an offered extension to his Shrewsbury contract. On 26 June 2007, Edwards signed for Luton Town on a three-year deal. As he is under 24, Shrewsbury commanded a compensation fee to cover his youth development. The eventual fee was agreed at a tribunal, but clubs reported differing figures; Luton claiming it was £250,000 ^[1], with Shrewsbury reporting £250,000 as the initial payment, plus a further £150,000 based on appearances. ^{[2] [3]}

He made 19 league appearances for Luton Town in League One before the financially-struggling club accepted a £675,000 offer from Wolverhampton Wanderers and he signed on 16 January 2008.^[4]

He made a goalscoring debut for Wolves on 18 January 2008, in a 2-0 win at Scunthorpe United, the club he had faced in his Shrewsbury debut. However, injuries kept him from playing a regular role in the remainder of the season. He returned fit for the following season, but found new signing David Jones often preferred alongside captain Karl Henry in central midfield; however, Edwards still started half the season's games as they won promotion to the Premier League.

He is signed to the club until 2012.^[5]

[edit] International career

Despite his English birthplace, Edwards represents Wales at international level though parental qualification.

Edwards had previously played for Wales Under-21s, making his debut against Cyprus on 16 May 2006. He had been selected for the under-21 squad for an earlier friendly against Northern Ireland on 28 February 2006, but missed the match through injury. He made his full international debut on 17 November 2007 against the Republic of Ireland as a substitute in a 2-2 Euro 2008 qualifier.

On 10 October 2008, Edwards scored the opening goal in a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein, and against Azerbaijan on 6 June 2009.^[6] He ended the campaign with two goals. Following Wales' disappointing qualifying campaign, he was called up again for the 14 November friendly against Scotland, a 3-0 win, and opened the scoring with a close-range finish from Aaron Ramsey's assist.^[7]

[edit] International goals

Scores and results list. Wales's goal tally first.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	11 October 2008	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales	Liechtenstein	1–0	2–0	2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
2.	6 June 2009	Tofik Bakhramov Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	1–0	1–0	2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
3.	14 November 2009	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales	Scotland	1–0	3–0	Friendly

[edit] Honours

• Football League Championship (II): 2009

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official club profile
• Dave Edwards career stats at Soccerbase