The university team won promotion to the Welsh Premier League last May and their success this season means they are in the playoffs for a place in Europe

If you were to ask a football fan to describe their ideal player, “well educated” is unlikely to be near the top of the list of attributes. Even the most gifted footballers are mocked for their perceived lack of brain cells afterwards. Then again, the demands associated with making it as a professional footballer, combined with a general disdain for education within the game, mean we don’t really have a right to complain when some superstars sometimes appear a little dense.

But with figures suggesting that around two-fifths of footballers will file for bankruptcy within five years of hanging up their boots – mainly because they lack the training and qualifications for another career – there’s clearly an argument for change. One man who has seen the value of combining football with academic achievement is former Wales international Dr. Christian Edwards. “You have to be bright to be a footballer,” says Edwards, but he has enjoyed a unique perspective on the game since bringing his playing days to a close.

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Since beginning his pursuit of a degree in sports coaching at Cardiff Metropolitan University, the former Swansea City, Nottingham Forest and Bristol Rovers player has undergone a fascinating journey with the university’s football team - one that has been underpinned by academic achievement.

The club has enjoyed an impressive rise under Edwards and they even earned promotion to the Welsh Premier League for the first time in May by winning the Division One title. “I was asked to take the job on in 2009 when the football club was in the middle of going through some dire years playing at the depths of Welsh League football,” he says. “I’ve been director of football, first team manager, chairman, kitman, everything. Slowly but surely, I built the football club alongside some brilliant people and we have a great set-up here.”

After a difficult start in the top flight this season, the students went on to secure a place in the top six before the mid-season split, earning themselves a spot in the playoffs for the Europa League.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Christian Edwards, pictured here before a Wales U21 match, went on to earn a degree, Master’s and PhD. Photograph: Ben Radford/Getty Images

“It’s been a very good season,” says Edwards. “I think there were a lot of people looking to hammer a few nails in the coffin at the start, but that happens with any team that’s just been promoted. But we had our own understanding and ideas about what we could achieve. We didn’t panic and I think that’s probably been the key to our season. We kept our philosophy and the way in which we liked to play.”



The club’s identity is certainly unique, with the team relying on volunteers and university funding to keep going. Their view of the game is also unique. Success in the lecture hall is just as important as progress on the field, with 14 members of the club’s first-team squad currently studying for either a PhD or a Master’s degree. It can certainly create a difficult balancing act, even for Edwards himself.

Shortly after their place in the top six of the Welsh Premier League was confirmed, Edwards announced that he was to be replaced as head coach by former Bristol City and Sheffield United striker Dr. Wayne Allison as academic pressures were placing an ever-increasing strain on his coaching commitments.

“I first and foremost am employed as a university member of staff,” says Edwards. “I’ve got added responsibilities taking me forward and my academic career is very, very important for me and is perhaps taking over from where my football career once was. But it’s not about me, it’s about the coaches and the players having an opportunity to play in Europe and I wanted to give the club the best possible chance to do that.”

Edwards is confident that Cardiff Met’s journey is only just beginning, although there are lessons to be learned from the past. Team Bath attracted attention in 2002 when they became the first student side to qualify for the first round of the FA Cup since Oxford University in 1880, before eventually rising to the Conference South. Unfortunately, the club gave up their place in the English football pyramid in 2009, mainly due to their refusal to abandon their identity as a student team.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Duncan Watmore poses with a Sunderland shirt after graduating from Newcastle University with a first class degree in 2015. Photograph: Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

European qualification would be an achievement on another level but Cardiff Met are already becoming an example to follow. “I’ve had discussions with some universities in England who are interested in what we’re doing and how we do it,” says Edwards. “It’s down to the people who work in these universities to really want to grasp the opportunity of what we’ve done. The biggest thing for me and the coaches working here is that we’re developing our players both as footballers and academics because first and foremost they come here as students. If we can make our players better academics and better footballers, then we’ve done our jobs.”

There aren’t many coaches who would share that view when talking about their team but Edwards is by no means the only believer when it comes to mixing football and academic achievement. Exeter City currently have 11 first-team players with some involvement in higher education and Sunderland winger Duncan Watmore achieved a first class degree in 2015, picking up a qualification in Economics and Business Management from the University of Newcastle.

Edwards is in no doubt that academic success can only be a good thing for a player’s success on the field. “I think an academic environment definitely helps. You have to be bright to be a footballer. There’s a lot of things you have to get your head around and it’s a difficult game to play. You have to bright to play it.” If European football does one day arrive at Campus Cyncoed, it will go a long way to proving his point.

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