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Ebbsfleet United goalkeeper Preston Edwards joins Boreham Wood on a season-long loan

Preston Edwards Picture: Andy Payton
Preston Edwards Picture: Andy Payton

Preston Edwards is leaving Ebbsfleet United.

The goalkeeper has joined Boreham Wood on a season-long loan and that deal will take him to the end of his current Fleet contract.

Edwards, 25, played 201 games during five eventful seasons at Stonebridge Road.

He was brought to the club in the summer of 2010 by Liam Daish, having just been relegated with Grays Athletic.

Edwards rebuilt his career in north Kent, quickly becoming a key member of the Fleet side which won promotion through the Conference South play-offs in 2010/11.

He became an internet sensation during that season too. Edwards was sent off after just 10 seconds playing against Farnborough and the YouTube clip of the incident has now been viewed more than 10 million times.

Ebbsfleet spent two seasons back in Conference Premier and during that time, Edwards became the regular first-choice goalkeeper for the England C side. He represented the non-league select XI against Turkey in the International Challenge Trophy at Dartford's Princes Park in February 2013.

But at the end of that season, penniless Ebbsfleet were relegated back to Conference South.

The club was subsequently rescued by Kuwaiti investors and Edwards was one of only four players kept on by incoming manager Steve Brown.

Fleet reached the play-offs again, with Edwards almost ever-present in goal, although they were beaten in the promotion final by Kent rivals Dover Athletic.

After four seasons as Fleet's undisputed No.1, Edwards had to fight for his place last season as Brandon Hall forced his way into the reckoning.

Both keepers got plenty of game time - Hall started 25 league games and Edwards 15 - but the instability between the posts, which mirrored the general picture at the club, didn't help either player.

Edwards was set to join Daish's new club Nuneaton on loan just before Brown was sacked in November and his successor Jamie Day planned to bring in a new No.1 before he, too, lost his job just before the end of the season.

New manager Daryl McMahon signed former Spurs keeper Jon Miles as his back-up option and that spelt the end for Edwards, who now steps back up to the National League with newly-promoted Wood.

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