Richard Edghill

English footballer (born 1974)

Richard Arlon Edghill (born 23 September 1974) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. He played as a defender from 1993 to 2008, spending the majority of his career with his home town club, Manchester City. He spent numerous seasons in the Premier League and remained with the club through several relegations, followed by several promotions. He also appeared for Birmingham City in a loan spell and after leaving City in 2002 he moved on to Wigan Athletic. Spells with Sheffield United, Queens Park Rangers and Bradford City followed before ending his career with Macclesfield Town. He was capped by both England U21 and England B. Following retirement he returned to City as a youth team coach and later became a tour guide at the Etihad Stadium.

Edghill started his career with Manchester City as a product of the youth scheme which he joined as a schoolboy in 1988. His first team debut came in the 1993–94 season in a match against Wimbledon. Edghill was capped by England at under 21 and 'B' level, but his development was hampered by a series of serious injuries, including missing the entire 1996–97 season due to a knee injury. After recovery from this injury Edghill featured regularly in the first team for the next three seasons and also scored in the penalty shootout of the play off final despite, at this point, never having scored in his professional career. In the 1999–2000 season an injury to team captain Andy Morrison saw Edghill take over as captain and he helped earn City promotion back into the Premiership. The 1999–2000 season also saw Edghill score his first professional goal in a 2–0 win against Blackburn Rovers. By then City's longest serving player, Edghill suffered a poor start to the 2000–01 season including a calamitous own goal in a 2–1 defeat against Coventry City where he was substituted at half time. His team mate Nicky Weaver criticized the crowd's treatment of Edghill, who had been withdrawn by manager Joe Royle to spare him further embarrassment. Edghill lost his first team place and the captaincy, and he was loaned to Birmingham City for a month. and Barnsley in the FA Cup. He was one of ten players released by Bradford in May 2007 following the club's relegation from League One. Edghill joined Macclesfield Town on 13 July 2007, re uniting with former City teammate Ian Brightwell, manager of the League Two side. but ultimately was never capped for the senior side.

Edghill has helped out as a coach at former club Manchester City's soccer school. He has since worked as a tour guide at the Etihad Stadium as part of the "Legends Guides".

His autobiography, Once a Blue, Always a Blue, was published in 2014.