Rob Edwards hoping to upset his in-laws after 'special' Aston Villa admission
Latest Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive as Luton Town boss Rob Edwards opens up on managing the Hatters against his former club
Former Aston Villa player Rob Edwards admits it will be a "really proud moment" when he manages his Luton Town side against the Villans on Sunday.
Edwards worked his way through the Villa youth academy as a player before making his senior debut in Claret and Blue back in 2002. He then went on to have loan spells at Crystal Palace and Derby County before leaving to join Wolves on a permanent deal in 2004.
And the former centre-back has gone on to carve out an excellent career as a manager, after taking Luton into the Premier League via the playoffs last season for the first time in their history. It's been a difficult start to life in the top flight for the Hatters but Edwards is relishing their trip to B6 on Sunday.
READ MORE: How to watch Aston Villa vs Luton Tuton, live stream and Match of the Day 2 details
READ MORE: Unai Emery delivers key Aston Villa update as silence broken on summer exit
“It will be a nice one, a really proud moment for me on a personal, selfish point of view," he told Luton Today.
"It was a club I spent about 11 years at, spent most of my life at from a 10-year-old boy up until leaving for Wolves. I made my Premier League debut there and had some special moments there.
"It’s a club that’s very close to my heart, so it will be a really special moment going back. It’s a brilliant football club, and it’s good to see them doing so well now. All I want to do is win the game, but it will be nice, a really proud moment.”
Edwards then went on to recall his time at Villa, having featured in a team alongside the likes of Dion Dublin, Lee Hendrie, Darius Vassell and Steve Staunton. He said: “There was a lot of, not household names, but big players, it’s a big football club. There were quite a few of us young players that came through at a similar sort of time.
"Gareth Barry was a year or two above that went on and had a fabulous career, but there was a lot who went on to become full internationals, good Premier League players. Steven Davis, Gary Cahill, Liam Ridgewell, loads, too many to mention around that time.
"It was a good club to be at, it was a club that gave young players opportunities and it’s doing that now. People like Jacob Ramsay and others that are coming through, they’ve got some really good young players coming through again.”
One particular memory Edwards recalls as a player was returning to Villa Park in November 2010. He played 90 minutes as the Tangerines were beaten 3-2.
He added: “I managed to get back to the Premier League with Blackpool, I didn’t play much but I played at Villa Park in that famous game when Ian Holloway made loads of changes and got in trouble for that. I was one of the changes he made as I wasn’t in the team, that was a nice moment as well.
"Leaving was the right thing at the right time. I wasn’t going to feature after my injury, I’d had a year out and gone on loan a couple of times, so I was excited about the move to Wolves.
"It was the right thing for me and the football club at the time, so it didn’t feel like a big, big change. But I’ll be very, very proud going out, a lot of my family, my wife’s side, they’re from Birmingham, they support Villa, so it’ll be a nice one for the family.”