justin edinburgh - fact file

1990 - 2000            defender

FULL NAME :  JUSTIN CHARLES EDINBURGH
 

Born on 18th December 1969 in Brentwood, Essex, England.

Height : -  .m  (5' 10")

Weight : -  - kgs  (12st 1lbs)

 


The loyal left-back was not always given the credit his performances deserved for Spurs, but he became a familiar presence at left back in the 1990s for the club.

Started playing in a pub garden with his brother Jason and his father Michael, who was the landlord of the pub in Steeple, Essex, before joining Maldon Saints as a left winger and went on to play for the school and district teams.  Moving back to Basildon, he played Sunday football with Beech United and eventually got interest from Charlton Athletic, where he trained for four months, before local side Southend United came in for him an he continued his development with the sea-side club.  They played Justin in centre midfield, before moving him into the left back berth, as there was nobody else who was left-footed.  

Got five CSEs, but his interest lay in football, having been signed on associated Schoolboy forms by then and shortly after, he was made a YTS (Youth Training Scheme) player with Bobby Moore as his first manager at Roots Hall.  By the time Edinburgh was full-time, David Webb had taken charge of the first team and put the 17 year old in for his debut.  He had to wait until the following campaign for his first league action, but he was then a professional earning £75 a week. 

As Justin Edinburgh made his name at Southend United as an attacking defender, he attracted Tottenham's eye, as did his full back partner Dean Austin in a League Cup tie against us.  He initially came on a three month loan and then returned to Southend for the last few games of the 1989-90 season and the team was promoted to Division Three at the end of the season.

Edinburgh was signed in January 1990, but initially it was as a loan signing to allow him to complete the season with the Shrimpers, who gained promotion.  When he arrived in the summer of 1990, his assimilation into the team was thought to be taking place over the next few years, but a substitute's appearance in November gave him his debut and he soon became a regular at left back.  His initial energy and willingness to get forward gave Tottenham an option on the wing, where he was happy to overlap and was able to get back after raids forward.  Was selected for an England Under-21 game, but was an unused substitute and did not get called up again.

In his first season, Spurs reached the FA Cup Final with a semi-final win over Arsenal at Wembley and then beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 in extra-time to give Edinburgh a winner's medal. 

While some questioned his positional play, the defenders' resolve to recoup his position if a winger got away from often ensured that no danger resulted.  However, there were occasions when it did cost Spurs and this caused a number of fans to question his place in the team.  A loss of form at the start of the 1991-92 season saw him drop out of the side and a bruised cartilage when he fell in training kept Justin out for five weeks.

Disappointment was to follow in another Wembley semi-final against Arsenal in 1993, but he was back at the national stadium in 1999, as the team reached the League Cup Final where they were pitted against Leicester City.  Halfway through the first half, an incident in the centre-circle saw Edinburgh clash with the Foxes Welsh prima donna Robbie Savage.  A late challenge on Justin brought a swipe of his hand in retaliation, with Savage going down like he had been hit with a heavy-weight's haymaker.  In fact, Edinburgh had only brushed the flowing locks of the blond midfielder and the referee bought the histrionics and sent Edinburgh off.  Savage got off without any admonishment.  Spurs battled on without the defender to win with a last minute goal and Justin collected another piece of silverware.

While Edinburgh was a solid defender, who often made telling contributions to the team, such as an acrobatic goal-line clearance at Villa Park in a league game against Villa, he was never spectacular, nor did he collect a share of goals from his defensive position ... only one, in a 1-6 defeat to Sheffield United in all his time at Spurs.  Never blessed with great pace, he used his body position to deter players going past him and used the ball reasonably well out of defence.  But the Spurs crowd were wanting more from their players.  In later times at White Hart Lane, the fans were using Edinburgh as a focus of their disaffection.  He made some mistakes which cost Tottenham points and with George Graham's arrival, Justin fell out of favour and was moved out of the club to Portsmouth ... once more, initially on loan, but made permanent soon after.  He added some experience to the South Coast club to assist them in their efforts to get out of the First Division.

His injuries started to take their toll and despite being granted a testimonial with a game at Portsmouth against Spurs, Justin was not a playing member of the Pompey team in the season that they won promotion to the Premier League in 2002-03.  He was allowed to leave as his career at the top level was finished by his knee injury.

On leaving football, Justin stepped into management in non-league with Billericay Town, where he had success and then was head-hunted to take over at Fisher Athletic.  When the chairman left, Justin went too and soon found a place in the hot seat at Grays Athletic.  However, this was short-lived and he moved on to do some scouting for former team-mates Colin Calderwood and David Kerslake at Nottingham Forest.  Took on the assistant manager's role under Colin Lippiatt at Woking in April 2008 until the end of the season, before taking up a similar role under Garry Hill at Rushden and Diamonds the following season.  With money worries, he left Rushden when the club went into liquidation and took over as manager at Newport County in the Conference in October 2011.

In May 2013, Justin managed Newport County to a 2-0 Conference play off final victory over Wrexham at Wembley to ensure the Welsh side will play in League Two in the 2013-14 season.

Married to Kerri, he has a son Charlie.

He part-owns two Toni & Guy hair salons.

 

NICKNAME :  Rickaaaay (after his likeness to Ricky Butcher in BBC TV's "EastEnders"); Musselburgh (because the Scottish town is "just in Edinburgh")

 

Career Record
 
Club Signed Fee Debut Apps Goals
Southend United August 1988 - Brighton & Hove Albion (Freight Rover Trophy) (away)  drew 2-2

League : 23rd September 1988 v Cardiff City (Second Division)

40 + 2 as a sub 0
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR January 1990 Loan - 0 0
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR July 1990 £150,000 9th October 1990  v  Hartlepool United (League Cup) (Away)  won 2-1

League : 10th November 1990 v Wimbledon (First Division) (Home)  won 4-2 (as a substitute)

236 (30 as a sub) 1
Portsmouth January 2000 Loan ??  1 0
Portsmouth March 2000 £175,000 ??  36 + 1 as a sub 1
Billericay Town July 2003 ?? ??  ?? ??

Career Record
SOUTHEND UNITED
36 (1 as a sub) League appearances; 0 goals
2 FA Cup appearances; 0 goals
2 (1 as a sub) League Cup appearances; 0 goals
2 Other appearances; 1 goal
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
190 (23 as a sub) League appearances; 1 goal
27 (1 as a sub) FA Cup appearances; 0 goals
25 (4 as a sub) League Cup appearances; 0 goals
4 (2 as a sub) European appearances; 0 goals
?? Other appearances; ?? goal
PORTSMOUTH (loan)
1 League appearance; 0 goals
0 FA Cup appearances; 0 goals
0 League Cup appearances; 0 goals
PORTSMOUTH
33 (1 as a sub) League appearances; 1 goal
0 FA Cup appearances; 0 goals
3 League Cup appearances; 0 goals

Honours
FA Cup winners medal 1990-91 (THFC)
League Cup winners medal 1998-99 (THFC)
Conference Manager of the Month for August 2012  (Newport County)

Milestones
- appearance

 

 

2000

November 22nd
Held a black tie gala evening at the Intercontinental Hotel at Hyde Park Corner as part of his testimonial year.
 

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             Appearances

Season League FA Cup League Cup ECWC Cup Others
1988-1989 (Southend United) 15 (0 goals) 1 (0 goals) 2 (0 goals) - 2 (0 goals)
1989-1990 (Southend United) 22 (0 goals) 1 (0 goals) 1 (0 goals) - 2 (0 goals)
1990-1991 (THFC) 16 (1 goal) 5 (0 goals) 5 (0 goals) - -
1991-1992 (THFC) 23 (0 goals) - 3 (0 goals) 3 (0 goals) -
1992-1993 (THFC) 32 (0 goals) 5 (0 goals) 4 (0 goals) - -
1993-1994 (THFC) 25 (0 goals) 3 (0 goals) 3 (0 goals) - -
1994-1995 (THFC) 31 (0 goals) 4 (0 goals) 2 (0 goals) - -
1995-1996 (THFC)       - -
1996-1997 (THFC)       - -
1997-1998 (THFC)       - -
1998-1999 (THFC)       - -
1999-2000 (THFC)       - -
2000-2001       - -
2001-2002       - -
2002-2003       - -
2003-2004       - -

 

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