Paul Francis Edwards, born Shaw and Crompton, England, October 7, 1947. Paul Edwards joined Manchester United as an apprentice in 1963 and agreed professional terms with the club two years later. A reliable defender, he made his First Division debut for United in a 3–0 defeat against Everton at Goodison Park on the 19th of August 1969 and went on to appear in 68 Football League matches for the club.
Paul Edwards had been handed his Manchester United debut by Wilf McGuinness, but with the arrival of Tommy Docherty on the 22nd of December 1972 his days with The Reds were numbered. As things turned out, Edwards would eventually fall down the pecking order at United, and he was transferred to Division Three Oldham Athletic with whom he had enjoyed a loan spell prior to leaving Old Trafford. While at Boundary Park, the wholehearted central defender was instrumental in helping Jimmy Frizzell´s Oldham team clinch the Third Division Championship in the 1973-74 season and would find himself up against Manchester United on the 28th of December 1974. After being handed the managerial reigns at Oldham Athletic at the back end of the 1969-70 campaign, former Boundary Park player Jimmy Frizzell had accomplished the highly impressive feat of steering The Latics from the depths of the Fourth Division to Division Two in four years despite operating with limited resources, and the homely club were brimming with optimism and positivity ahead of the Christmas Holiday fixture against the once-mighty Manchester United. Northern Ireland international midfielder Ronnie Blair, who had been elected Oldham´s Player of the Season for the 1973-74 campaign, thought he had scored the opener for the blue shirts when he headed past Manchester United custodian Alex Stepney and into the back of the net in the tenth minute of the derby encounter, but official Trevor Spencer of Wootton Bassett just waved play on without realising that the ball had actually hit the stanchion inside the goal before rebounding out. Loudly backed by a massive contingent of travelling supporters, Manchester United eventually took control of possession and territory and Stuart Pearson came close to netting for the visiting side shortly afterwards as the former Hull City ace rounded Athletic goaltender Chris Ogden, only to watch his effort strike the side netting.
Manchester United kept up the pressure and enjoyed plenty of decent goal scoring chances as the match progressed, but Oldham defended themselves well and the hosts were a persistent threat on the counter-attack with the lightening speed of players like Les Chapman and George McVitie causing the away defence problems at every opportunity. The decisive moment of the clash finally arrived eight minutes past the hour mark when Oldham were awarded a penalty-kick by Spencer after unlucky Manchester United stopper Arnold Sidebottom had handled a McVitie corner inside the 18-yard area while under intense pressure from Athletic forward George Jones. Previous Blackburn Rovers defender Maurice Whittle then stepped up to the spot and confidently converted to give the home team a 1-0 lead which they would hold onto for the remainder of the contest. It was without doubt a sweet win for Oldham defender Paul Edwards as he came up against his former club for the first time since leaving Old Trafford for Boundary Park in the summer of 1973. Edwards managed to rack up 110 Football League appearances for The Latics before joining forces with Fourth Division Stockport County where he had spent a short period on loan during the 1976–77 campaign. At Edgeley Park, Edwards proceeded to play 67 League Division Four matches for the club before he decided to finish off his professional soccer career in 1980. Paul Edwards Playing Career: Manchester United, Oldham Athletic, Stockport County.