Justin Edinburgh

Justin Charles Edinburgh (18 December 1969 – 8 June 2019) was an English professional football manager and player who played as a left back.

He played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur, where he made 213 league appearances in a decade at the club.

He also played in the Football League for Southend United and Portsmouth before finishing his career with non-league side Billericay Town.

A defender, usually employed as a left-back, Edinburgh started his career as a trainee with Southend United, turning professional in August 1988.

He helped the Shrimpers win promotion from the Football League Fourth Division in 1990.

In all competitions he played 47 games for the seaside club, scoring one goal.

He moved to Tottenham Hotspur for £150,000 in January 1990, initially on loan.

He joined Spurs permanently in July 1990, making his debut for them on 10 November 1990, as a substitute in a 4–2 win at home to Wimbledon.

He played for Spurs for most of the 1990s.

In 1991 he was part of Spurs FA Cup winning side wearing number 2 and he also won the League Cup with the club in 1999, despite being sent off in the final.

Following retirement, he managed at non-league level for Fisher Athletic, Grays Athletic and Rushden & Diamonds before taking Newport County to the Football League during a four-year tenure.

He won an FA Cup winner's medal in 1991 despite just previously starting only 12 league games.

He would also win a League Cup winner's medal with Spurs, in 1999.

This second medal was awarded to Edinburgh despite his being sent off in the final for raising his arms to Robbie Savage, as the post-match analysis showed that Savage had distinctly over-reacted to a minimal contact and that the red card was unjustly awarded.

In total, he made 213 league appearances for Tottenham, scoring once.

Edinburgh left London for Portsmouth in March 2000 for a fee of £175,000, playing 35 league games over the next two years, scoring once against Sheffield United.

However, he did not play a single competitive game during Portsmouth's Division One title winning campaign (2002–03), and joined non-league Billericay Town as player-manager in July 2003.

Fisher finished third in the Isthmian League Premier Division in season 2005–06 and beat Hampton & Richmond 3–0 in the play-off final to win promotion to Conference South.

In January 2006, he left Billericay to become manager of semi-professional club Fisher Athletic.

Edinburgh left Fisher by mutual consent in November 2006.

He subsequently joined Grays Athletic as assistant manager to Andy King in December 2006, and took over as manager on 5 January 2007 after King's resignation.

However, Edinburgh's first match in charge ended in disappointment as his team lost 3–1 to Southport.

His reign as manager of Grays Athletic came to an end on 20 February 2008, when his contract was terminated by mutual consent, leaving the club 14th in the Conference Premier.

On 9 April 2008 it was announced that Edinburgh would become Colin Lippiatt's assistant at Woking following the departure of Frank Gray and Gerry Murphy.

In October 2008, Edinburgh became assistant manager to Garry Hill at Conference Premier club Rushden & Diamonds.

On 10 February 2009 he was appointed as caretaker manager following Hill's resignation and on 24 April 2009, Edinburgh was appointed manager on a permanent basis.

He guided the team to a fourth-placed finish in the 2009–10 season securing a play-off spot within the Conference Premier but they were unable to reach the Conference Play-off Final at Wembley after lacklustre performances in both games of the two legged tie against Oxford United.

The games finished 1–1 and 2–0 to Oxford.

The 2010–11 season saw Rushden & Diamonds secure a mid-table finish in 13th place but they never seriously challenged for promotion.

In the summer of 2011, the club was expelled from the Football Conference and subsequently went into administration, bringing Edinburgh's time at the club to an end.

On 4 October 2011, Edinburgh was appointed manager of Newport County, taking over from Anthony Hudson with the team in 23rd place in the Conference Premier.

Jimmy Dack was appointed as his assistant manager on 6 October 2011.

Newport County finished the 2011–12 season in 19th position hence avoiding relegation and reached the FA Trophy final at Wembley Stadium on 12 May 2012 which Newport lost 2–0 to York City.

In August 2012, Edinburgh was selected as Conference Manager of the Month after Newport County won all five of their opening matches of the 2012–13 season.

He led Newport to a 3rd-place finish that season, reaching the Conference Premier play-offs.

Newport County won the 2013 Conference Premier play-off final versus Wrexham at Wembley stadium 2–0 to return to the Football League after a 25-year absence with promotion to League Two.

Edinburgh was named the Conference Premier Manager of the Year.

On 2 December 2013, Newport County announced on their official website that, having consulted Edinburgh, they had rejected an approach from Edinburgh's former club Portsmouth to be interviewed as a successor to Guy Whittingham as Portsmouth manager.

He went on to manage both Gillingham and Northampton Town before once more winning promotion from the National League as he guided Leyton Orient back to the EFL in 2019.

He remained manager of Orient at the time of his death in June 2019.