Warrington Wolves icon Jackie Edwards, father of Wigan Warriors legend Shaun, passes away aged 85

Jackie passed away on Saturday, 17 May, having been a resident at the Windsor House Care Home in Standish for the last few years of his life.

Edwards is renowned for being one of Warrington’s greatest half-backs, even though his career and working life were cruelly cut short by a spinal injury at the age of just 24. He made 223 appearances for the Wire, scoring 78 tries.

He became a prolific try-scorer in Wigan schools rugby and was the youngest player to captain Lancashire County Schools, where he formed a halfback partnership with Alex Murphy, who wanted him to sign for St Helens.

St Helens and Wigan were believed to be keen to sign Jackie, but Warrington coach Ces Mountford, who was a keen admirer of Edwards, signed him at Blackpool on his 16th birthday on August 12, 1955. He received £350 plus a further £500 after 20 appearances. Jackie said that he became the most hated man in Wigan, and that people would cross to the other side of the street to avoid him!

Three months later, Edwards became Warrington’s youngest ever player when he made his debut against Wakefield Trinity in an ITV Trophy match at QPR’s Loftus Road.

Edwards collected his only winner’s medal during his nine seasons at Wilderspool for the Lancashire Cup triumph against Murphy’s St Helens at Central Park in October 1959, when Warrington won 5-4 in front of almost 40,000 fans.

Edwards’ final game of his career came in January 1964, when he was a stand-off at Whitehaven in a Western Championship match. He was granted a testimonial season in 1966/67, which raised £750.

Jackie made his debut for Warrington on November 9th, 1955, and his final appearance was on January 4th, 1964, scoring 78 tries in 223 games, as well as two drop goals, racking up a personal tally of 238 points for the Wire.

Jackie was deeply affected by the tragic death of his son Billy Joe in 2003, a former Wigan Warriors youngster who died in a car crash.

His son Shaun was a proud spectator when Jackie was inducted into Warrington’s Hall of Fame in 2013. Edwards lived all of his life in Wigan and was a regular churchgoer.

Edwards had been an active member of the Warrington Players Association and a visitor to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. After his rugby league career was over, Jackie’s passion was crown green bowling.

“Warrington Wolves pass their condolences to Jackie’s family and friends at this sad time,” a club statement read.