Bobby Edwards Goalkeeper Just finished up his post-bachelors year at Mount St. Mary's and signed with Portadown FC in the 2nd tier of Northern Irish football: https://www.everybodysoccer.com/eve...wards-looks-back-on-his-collegiate-experience Portadown Football Club is pleased to announce the signing of 23 year old former NY Red Bulls U23 goalkeeper Bobby Edwards on a 1 year deal subject to international clearance. pic.twitter.com/1vSEWUpqeM— Portadown FC (@Portadownfc) June 17, 2019 Getting to know your new Portadown FC goalkeeper @RedwardsGK pic.twitter.com/fKG2Fpbron— Portadown FC (@Portadownfc) June 17, 2019 I am unbelievably excited to announce that I have signed a professional contract with @Portadownfc in Northern Ireland! Absolutely buzzing to get started with the club & meet the Portadown FC Community. This is a big year for us as a club & I cannot wait to get started! https://t.co/9nBKcnGaMw— Bobby Edwards (@RedwardsGK) June 17, 2019
His cousin Brian is a baller himself -- and a former YA: https://charlotte49ers.com/coaches.aspx?rc=532&path=msoc https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/brian-edwards-to-sweden.1659259/#post-22933957
Mark Beattie from #WeArePortsTV also spoke to Portadown Assistant Manager David Miskelly on Thursday evening about new signing Bobby Edwards ( @RedwardsGK ) on how the move came about & what fans can expect from the American goalkeeper pic.twitter.com/7tUCm5YhLq— Portadown FC (@Portadownfc) June 29, 2019
Started with his family in attendance: Team news is in and there's 3 changes to the XI that that lost to the Welders last Saturday ➡️ Luke Wilson, Ryan Carmichael & Adam Salley ⬅️ Conall McGrandles, Marty Bradley & Aaron Duke Your Portadown XI today against Dergview ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/iaJhewHv7v— Portadown FC (@Portadownfc) October 19, 2019 We were delighted to welcome the family of our American goalkeeper Bobby Edwards to ydays (Sat 19 Oct) game vs Dergview.Bobbys Dad, Mum & Sister travelled from New Jersey & his Brother from MaineWe hope they'd all a great time as Bobby treated them to a standard clean sheet pic.twitter.com/Et1BzxWt3z— Portadown FC (@Portadownfc) October 20, 2019 Bobby Edwards speaks to #WeArePortsTV following todays (Sat 19 Oct) win over Dergview in the Bluefin Sport Championship pic.twitter.com/S3G1ByRajY— Portadown FC (@Portadownfc) October 19, 2019 They won 2-0.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50755648 Portadown manager Matthew Tipton has described his American goalkeeper Bobby Edwards as the best he has seen in Northern Ireland. The 24-year-old from New Jersey has attracted significant attention recently for a number of spectacular saves for the Championship club. Teams in the English Premier League and the Championship have been over watching him and inviting him to train with them - that's the kind of level he's at. Portadown are currently six points clear at the top of the Championship table as they bid to return to the top flight after getting relegated in 2017.
Would he have needed some kind of EU passport to play at this level? Portadown seems to be in the second division, so he may not have.
Northern Ireland is part of the UK, so the same rules apply there AFAIK, but the appeals process will likely be much easier to pass through. The Wiki page says the club is semi-pro. Of course, he'll need an EU passport to play in the Championship, etc. The club only lists him as American.
Yeah, that word seems to mean a lot of different things, though if it's essentially classed as amateur then work regulations may not matter. In any case, good luck to him.
On trial at Shrewsbury Town in League One, which may very well indicate an EU passport: US goalkeeper Bobby Edwards - playing in NI second tier - has been in on trial at Shrewsbury and impressed Sam Ricketts. Town, and many others, rate him highly. Boss said #salop have good grasp on talent over the Irish sea. Bit herehttps://t.co/Kb2sTUsNjH— Lewis Cox (@LewisCox_star) December 29, 2019
Seems to be getting around a bit Been a fun week 😅 pic.twitter.com/sg5zcA0i0O— Bobby Edwards (@RedwardsGK) December 20, 2019
Started in yesterday's Irish Cup, losing 5-4 in PKs, 2-2 AET. Here's your Portadown team for todays Sadler's Peaky Blinders Irish Cup game against Glentoran pic.twitter.com/oq506ML3I0— Portadown FC (@Portadownfc) January 4, 2020 Had a couple of saves in PK round: Bobby SAVESGlentoran ✔🚫Portadown 🚫🚫— Portadown FC (@Portadownfc) January 4, 2020 Bobby SAVESGlentoran ✔🚫✔✔🚫Portadown 🚫🚫✔✔✔— Portadown FC (@Portadownfc) January 4, 2020
In Ireland (North or South), as in the UK, semi-pro means that most or all of the club's players are paid, usually under contracts lasting to the end of a given season. Where the semi part comes in is that the players don't 1) earn anything like enough to live on and therefore have other jobs, and 2) therefore can't/don't train as much or as long as full-timers, generally 3-5 evenings a week for 2 hours instead of twice a day (mornings and afternoons) every day. Northern Ireland D2 is a very low standard, way below the Conference for example; PDL sides would do very well there
He may be on an amateur contact, officially anyway, getting paid in kind (local family providing room and board) or cash under the table. Scotland has slightly easier WP requirements. If Portadown go up, he would be even more intensively scouted. I hope that's what happens, because otherwise I have no idea what the hell he's doing there.
Football's coming home. From Portadown's manager: Bobby has received an offer to go & play in the MLS & after chatting with him over the last 24 hours I’ve told him to take up the offer as it’s an excellent opportunity for him to progress his career. Obviously we would have loved him to stay for the rest of the season & Bobby wanted that more than anything but the American system for transfers is completely different from the way we are used to it here & the rest of Europe. https://portadownfc.co.uk/2020/01/11/bobby-edwards-departure-confirmed/ Lots of love flowing his way from PFC fans: He will go down in @Portadownfc folklore as one of our greatest ever players. It was a pleasure to watch his craft. From his wondersave at Newry to celebrating with fans on Boxing Day, Bobby we wish you nothing but success. Hopefully will see you at Shamrock Park again someday ❤️ pic.twitter.com/UBdYFJ0Muc— The Red Element (@TheRedElement) January 12, 2020 And, in the other direction: thank you to everyone for the overwhelming support...I’m truly humbled by the outpouring of love & kind words I’ve received the last two days.I’ve been trying my best to respond to everyone, but please know each & every message is so greatly appreciated.Forever a Port ❤️🔴⚪️— Bobby Edwards (@RedwardsGK) January 12, 2020
Snip: "I've seen the contract and it's a life-changing contract," said Tipton. "I want on record that Bobby wanted to stay. I had a serious conversation where I said to him 'Bobby, you have to take this.' https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/...ing-life-changing-switch-tipton-38855211.html
👐elcome to Cincy, @RedwardsGK!📰: https://t.co/6AjWGZSBlh pic.twitter.com/uQw8Y6lKg0— FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) January 20, 2020
For what it's worth, this rundown of Cincy's roster doesn't seem to position Edwards as battling for the top job. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/soccer/fc-cincinnati/2020/01/22/fc-cincinnati-roster-breaking-down-2020-mls-prospects/4532246002/ I have no idea if that's true, though you may wonder whether an opportunity to be an MLS #3 constitutes a "life-changing" deal -- though, on the other hand, if you were playing lower-division soccer in Northern Ireland, it almost certainly would be. In any case, one wonders what other opportunities he might have had, and of course, good luck to him.
In the context of Northern Ireland D2, a salary that you can live on without taking on a second job (coaching kiddies, taxi driver, busboy, etc) genuinely is "life-changing", and in a major way. Linfield and Glentoran apart, that league, never mind the second division, is "get going while the going is still good" territory. His only pipeline to a pro-standard League was Scottish WP criteria are so flexible as to be nonexistent, or a transfer from the Norn Iron teams that get eliminated from the EL/CL qualification rounds gets him noticed in places like Latvia or the League of Ireland where he starts the process again. He might get a slightly better offer, say, backup for an Eredivisie bottom-feeder, four or five years.
Yeah, that was my point. Maybe he is just going to be a third-stringer (or maybe not) but he's a full-timer now. Lives can change in lots of ways.