The Longside Reference

Name : David Edward Edgar  

Date of birth:  19 May 1987

Place of birth:  Kitchener, Canada

Position: Centre back

Previous Club: Newcastle United, Swansea City(Loan)

Signed by Owen Coyle

Fee: £300.000 initialy rising to a reported £500.000 with add-ons

Contract: Signed a 4 years deal on the 1st July 2009

International Stats: Canadian International. U21s 24 Caps, 2 Goals. U17 2 Caps

Claret Stat: David Edgar Canadian international footballer who became Owen Coyles third signing, following Mears and Fletcher into Turf Moor.

His early life was torn between Football and Ice Hockey, but at age 13 Edgar chose football and after impressing in trials for numerous football clubs including Celtic, Edgar was offered a scholarship at the Newcastle United academy, which he accepted, at  Age 14.

Edgar began playing regularly in the academy and made his debut for the reserve team on 10 April 2003 against Bradford City.

He made his debut for the Canada under-20 team just three months after first appearing at under-17 level, on 15 October 2003, against Panama at the Torneo Mondialito, aged just 16. The following month, he was named in the Canada squad for the World Youth Championships, that took place in the UAE. Unfortunately Edgar was an unused substitute in each of Canada's matches, as they finished third in their group.

In June, 2005, Edgar was involved in the competition for a second time, appearing in all three of Canada's matches at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in Netherlands. Canada finished bottom of their group. Edgar caught the eye of Spanish club Málaga CF in September, 2005 when Newcastle played the La Liga club in a pre-season friendly game. Málaga, as well as a few English clubs, declared an interest in signing him. However, Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd was quick to announce that Edgar was not for sale, and that he had been given a new contract by the club to ward off any further interest.

 Edgar began making more regular appearances in the reserve team during the 2005-06 season. On 19 May 2006, whilst celebrating his nineteenth birthday, he played and scored in the Canadian Under-20 side's 2-1 victory over the Brazilian Under-20 side. This was the first victory Canada have ever had over Brazil in any level of men's football.

Edgar continued to appear for Newcastle's reserves and he was called up to the first team squad due to a lengthy injury list midway through the 2006-07 Premiership season.

He made his first team debut for Newcastle against Bolton Wanderers on 26 December 2006. On 1 January 2007 during his home debut, he scored his first goal for the club with a long range strike against Manchester United in a 2-2 draw.

Edgar was playing in the unfamiliar position of full back as part of a makeshift Newcastle defence consisting of three under-21 players and a winger, due to injuries to first team defenders.

Edgar was later named man of the match and drew praise from then Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder for his performance during the game.

On 1 February 2007 he was named as Canadian Youth Player of the Year for the 2006 season.

On 5 May 2007 he signed a new contract with Newcastle that will keep him at the club until 2009.

During the 2007-08 season, Edgar voiced his concern at his lack of first team football at Newcastle, where despite being the reserve team captain, Edgar, at the time of the comment, had yet to make any appearances for the senior team.

Towards the end of the season he was given a run of games in the first team and was praised by manager Kevin Keegan for his performance against Reading.

April 2008 David Edgar stated in the press that he believes that he needs to bulk up in order to compete in the Premier League, after facing players like Dean Ashton and Emile Heskey.

Edgar scored his second goal for the club in a 5-1 loss against Liverpool on 28th December 2008.

And since his return from his first loan spell, Edgar has played just six more times for Burnley, the latest coming in the goalless draw with QPR on 15 January.

Burnley boss Eddie Howe allowed the defender to return to Swansea in Januray 2011, but the loan deal fell through due to FIFA not accepting the paperwork. An administration error within the documents, ment that FIFA pulled the plug. David returned to Burnley after just five days, and was put straight into contention of the first team. 

The 23-year-old Canadian under-20 international made just six appearances for Burnley this season.