In a piece by Mike Donovan for 90 Minutes magazine (Issue 127) 31 October 1992:
OK, it’s quiz time. Name four players to have left Spurs since the end of last season. Well, you got Gazza and Lineker straight away, and remembered Paul Stewart without too much trouble – but you’re stuck now aren’t you? But come on… what about Matthew Edwards?
Just to jog your memory, he’s the 21-year-old striker who joined Brighton on a free from Tottenham in the summer – and hasn’t looked back since. Legend has it that he decided to leave White Hart Lane the day his then-boss, Peter Shreeves, couldn’t remember who he was. Now his pace and skill have got the Goldstone fans singing his name, with the Seagulls making an encouraging, if unspectacular, start to their Second Division season.
“It’s been a great move for me,” he says. “It’s just fantastic to be a regular part of a first team squad.
“At Spurs I didn’t get a look in. The nearest I got was when I went to Everton last year as a member of the squad. It seemed that no matter how hard you tried, no matter what you did, it wouldn’t get you anywhere. And that’s not a nice feeling.
“Also, Spurs had so many players that we were divided up at training, but at Albion there’s a smaller squad and we all train together. There’s a great team spirit.
“And it’s helped me come out of my shell. At Spurs I was a bit in awe of the stars and really you had to be full of yourself to make your face fit.
“It’s hard to motivate yourself in front of an empty stadium with the reserves. But at Brighton it’s totally different.
It certainly was different when the Seagulls met the mighty Manchester United in the second round of the Coca-Cola Cup recently. Over 16,000 packed into the Goldstone ground as Albion held United to a 1-1 draw in the first leg, before going down 1-0 in the return at Old Trafford. Guess who scored Brighton’s goal…
“I loved getting the headlines against United,” admits Edwards. “Now, I want lots more!”
The utility forward was in the limelight again when he scored the only goal in a south coast derby in the Third Round of the FA Cup against Portsmouth.
However, he was released at the end of the 1993/94 campaign.
Edwards later had spells with Kettering Town, Walton & Hersham and Enfield. He is currently Business Development Manager at Advanced Ticketing, a position he has held since November 2010.
On LinkedIn he says “I am responsible for new business helping professional sports clubs and venues implement TALENT our integrated Ticketing and CRM solution.” As many fans know, Talent Sport are responsible for the Albion’s ticketing system. I wonder what part he has played in all of this…
The Goldstone Wrap 