131 Neil Edmonds

I  think  the  Scunthorpe  defender  centre  shot  might  be  Tony  Brown

Position : Forward

Played : 1988-89 to 1989-90

Appearances : 47

Goals : 8


Neil was initially signed on loan from Oldham as cover for Chris Beaumont’s injury. He had made five appearances for their first team in defence but in a recent reserve game had been played upfront and run amok with four goals so he came to us as a striker.



He did well enough to get taken on although understandably he was still learning the trade upfront. He’s the only Dale player I’ve ever seen take instruction on his position for a corner from a loudmouthed fan in the Sandy Lane. He was sent off at Doncaster in February 1989 (the first away game I drove to - and crashed on the way back) for celebrating our equaliser with the words “That’s how to score you f**king cheats” (in reference to their earlier penalty which Dave Frain had been sent off for contesting). Neil was kept on for the following season but Terry Dolan didn’t use him much. His last contribution to our fortunes was a pass on to Kevin Stonehouse in the move that led to the latter’s winning goal against Marine at Anfield in the FA Cup First Round in November 1989.



When released Neil moved on to Chorley and then Stalybridge Celtic where he settled at right back for a number of seasons. Which leads to the interesting observation (well I thought so) that four out of the five main strikers we used in 1988-89 (the exception being the returning Steve Taylor) ended up playing in a different position for their subsequent clubs.