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Obituary - Justin Edinburgh

Sat 08 June 2019, 20:00|Tottenham Hotspur

The passing of Justin Edinburgh has come as a great shock to us all at Spurs. Justin, 49, suffered a cardiac arrest last Monday and passed away on Saturday.

A fiercely-competitive full-back, Justin made 276 appearances for us in all competitions between 1990-2000, winning the FA Cup in 1991 and League Cup in 1999.

Most recently manager of Leyton Orient, a team he guided back to the Football League only in May, Justin was a regular for Spurs Legends and still part of our hospitality team on matchdays. Spurs through and through, Justin was with us for the Champions League Final in Madrid last weekend. He will be sadly missed.

Born in Brentwood, Essex, Justin initially joined us on loan from Southend United in January, 1990, impressing enough to earn a permanent move that summer. By the end of his first season he was a regular and started the FA Cup semi-final win over Arsenal at Wembley before taking his place again in the final and our 2-1 victory against Nottingham Forest to lift the trophy.

It was a footballing fairytale – just 12 months earlier, he was playing in the old Fourth Division.

A modern-day full-back, always looking to get forward yet strong in the tackle, determined and full of belief, Justin had competition for his left-back slot from the likes of Pat van den Hauwe, Terry Fenwick and Clive Wilson over 10 years at the Club, yet still managed to pull on the shirt 276 times between 1990 and his departure to Portsmouth in 2000. He played for two more years before injury forced his retirement.

Justin then began his managerial career in non-league football, eventually joining Newport County in 2011, where he staved off relegation from the Conference (National League) before taking the club back into the Football League after a 25-year absence. Spells followed at Gillingham and Northampton before he took over at Leyton Orient in 2017 and once again led a club back into the Football League. His achievements last season were recognised at the inaugural Pride of Essex Sport Awards last month when he was named ‘Professional Sports Personality of the Year’.

Our thoughts are with Justin’s family – wife Kerri, son Charlie and daughter Cydnie – and friends at this difficult time.