The phrase 'an absolute lunatic' is often used to describe Jimmy Bullard and it's not surprising really given his madcap behaviour in and around the dressing rooms of football clubs he has graced.

Certainly if you ask any player who was at London Road during Bullard's short stay at Peterborough United they will tell you of numerous tales that the midfielder got up to and club captain at the time Andy Edwards is now in a position to lift the lid on some of those weird and wonderful things the midfielder got up to.

'Jimmy Bullard is an absolute lunatic, a great lad as well as a great player and he has gone on to things that many of us thought that he wouldn't, so full credit to him. He was the maddest and funniest player I have ever played with. He was involved in pretty much every practical joke.

'I probably can't mention most of them but one Christmas I remember him sparring with someone who had brought a punch bag for his son for Christmas along the high street in Peterborough and he wouldn't leave the poor guy alone. Jimmy was a great character and every day he was full of life.'

'I saw him a few years back and he is earning an absolute fortune but he hasn't changed one bit which is fantastic. If you look at some of the players we had that came and went for a bit longer you never know but we could have had a lot more success. I still speak to Dean Hooper, Phil Chapple, David Oldfield and obviously Steve Castle but you do tend to lose contact with your old team mates over the years which is unfortunate,' Edwards said.

Of course, it is very easy to pick a highlight of Edwards' career at London Road. He was the man who lifted the Division Three Play-Off Final Trophy at Wembley Stadium in 2000 and he admits that moment will always be with him.

'My fondest memory at Peterborough United has got to be literately lifting the trophy at Wembley in 2000. The club at the time when I first came was in a bit of turmoil both on and off the pitch and it was quite a hard time for the club, there was more lows than highs at that time and it was my first season with the club and we got relegated.



'It was quite a frustrating place to be with more politics than football at the club. When we finally did win promotion back into Division One it made up for a lot of things that had gone on beforehand so actually lifting that cup and the feeling when the final whistle went was a fantastic feeling. I remember everything about that day from the build up to the weather - just everything about that day was the highlight of my career.

'I had a tour of Wembley when I was about nine years old and at the end you lift an imaginary cup but to do it for real was unbelievable. It is every player's dream to play at Wembley, let alone lift a trophy. It would have been nice if it was the FA Cup but it was a close second. Just to walk up the stairs and lift the trophy was an unbelievable feeling.

'I go back to the match against Darlington at Wembley as one of my favourite games of my Posh career, I played over 300 times for the club and that match is one that really stands out. The semi-final against Barnet where Dave Farrell scored a hat-trick is another one that I remember well and the other match with Barnet where we beat them 9-1 and we scored all ten goals. Mick Bodley scored an own goal to make us 1-0 down and we all thought here we go again and then came back to win and win well, Grazioli scored five and then if I remember rightly he was dropped for the next match after which was a bit surreal. It was the biggest score line I have ever been involved in.

'I remember the Newcastle game very well too and we had them on the ropes at one point. It chucked it down with rain and the pitch was in an awful state and we went 2-0 down but we brought it back to 2-2 and I remember Neale Fenn had a one-on-one chance where you really fancied him to score but he missed and then the referee gave a contentious penalty against Leon McKenzie and it finished 4-2 but with 15 minutes to go you're almost thinking how many tickets we will need for the replay at St. James' Park but unfortunately we didn't make it but we did ourselves proud.

'Sometimes you get to play against top players and they are no better than what you play against week in week out, you find that one week you are given the run around by the Mansfield Town centre forward then the next week you do really well against the likes of Alan Shearer but what you do notice with the top players is that if you give them a sniff then nine times out of ten it's on target. At times there is only a fine line between the likes of Shearer and everyone else but the greats have just that extra bit of quality and can finish which is the big difference.'

'I spoke with Jimmy Bullard and he said that there isn't much of a difference to be honest but I think it is just those small margins that make a difference especially when there is 11 extra bits of quality in a team but I really enjoyed the occasion coming up against Alan Shearer,' Edwards recalls.



The consistent centre back was also in the Posh starting line-up for the trip to Stamford Bridge where the millionaires of Chelsea played the majority of their first team and claimed a 5-0 win over Barry Fry's men in front of over 30,000 supporters. It was also the game that Edwards produced his most magical bit of skill in his entire career.

'The other game I remember well is the Chelsea match in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge and although we were beaten it was a good day out. I remember looking at the clock and seeing five minutes remaining and we were losing 2-0 and I thought we had done quite well and then I think they brought on Eidur Gudjohnsen and banged in three goals in the last five minutes which was a disappointment. I have to mention I was on the showboat section on Soccer AM. It was the only bit of skill I have ever done in 18 years! I Cryuff turned Frank Leboeuf and got a cross in,' Edwards smiled.

During his career at Posh, Edwards was part of a typically large Barry Fry squad which included a number of centre halves and the former Birmingham City man enjoyed his partnership with Simon Rea, who was another consistent performer at the heart of the defence.

'Playing for Barry you always know that players are going to come and go and that there will be a big squad to choose from. Simon Rea was a good partner as was Matthew Wicks for a time but Simon did particularly well. I used to enjoy playing alongside Mick Bodley who got a lot of undeserved stick from the local press and a section of the supporters but I definitely enjoyed playing alongside him when I was at Southend and again with Posh. Over the years there were a number of defensive partners and all decent players.'

'I really enjoyed my time at Peterborough and after 300 games it has a big place in my life. In my son's bedroom he has Alan Shearer's shirt hanging up from the Newcastle match and the play-off winners medal up with pride. The fans always treated me well and I look back with fond memories.

'Certainly whilst I was with Birmingham City and Southend, Barry Fry was extremely bubbly. He is such a good character and he has the full respect of the players, he would be first to admit that he isn't a coach but what he has got is a great ability to spot a player and he has done time and time again at all the different clubs he has been at. People like Steve Claridge, Jimmy Bullard and players that people didn't want, Barry saw something in them. He has a great eye for a player and it was always entertaining playing under Barry,' Edwards continued.

Since finishing his playing career, Edwards has been quick to move into the coaching aspect of the game and is currently assistant manager to Steve Castle at St. Albans Town, a role he combines with a job at Arsenal's Centre of Excellence.

'I am assistant manager to Steve Castle I also do some coaching at the academy at Arsenal. I don't really know how I got involved with that, the training ground is only a few minutes away from where I live. I knew a few of the guys who were already at Arsenal so I went down and sort of just got involved that way. I broke my leg right at the end of my playing career and that's when I went down there to have a go at coaching and I have been there now for about 18 months.

'I work mainly with the under 13s at Arsenal and I occasionally work with the older groups as well. It is going very well and obviously Arsenal are blessed with a lot of talent and it makes the job easier and more enjoyable. I have absolutely no contact with Arsene Wenger or the first team at all which is a bit of a shame. We have contact with Liam Brady who is the head of youth policy.

'Me and Steve Castle have stayed close friends since our time together at Birmingham City and then on to Peterborough United and our families are quite close as well. Steve has been St. Albans manager before and when he took the job again he asked me to go and help him and at the time I wasn't doing a great deal and I wanted to get into coaching so this was a good opportunity for me.

'Steve is great to work with, we still argue about things in the privacy of the car or sometimes in the dugout, but he is in charge and at the end of the day his decision is final. I do tend to make my opinions known and I like to think I am not a balls, bibs and cones man. We work quite closely together but ultimately it is his decisions and I think we work well together.

'Whilst I was still playing I have always said I wanted to play for as long as I can and I have never really had any great intentions to become a manager but I will just have to see what happens in the future. I have started coaching kids and hopefully I can progress from there, I have enjoyed every step of the way so far. Being a manager is something I am not necessarily seeking but if something came my way then I won't turn it down.

'We are doing okay in the league so far, we find ourselves in mid-table and we also hit the dizzy heights of sixth at one point. Unfortunately we are out of both the FA Cup and the FA Trophy but we have definitely improved since last season. When we took over the team was bottom of the league and we kept them up losing only one out of our last 15 matches so we are in a much better state now than we were this time last year which is a positive thing but the bigger sides in the league have bigger budgets. Whatever level you play at I think the budgets dictate the success you have so at the moment we are probably punching a bit over our weight,' Edwards said.

Finally, Edwards was always known as Eagle during his time at London Road, which is a bizarre nickname, so how did he get that tag? 'I got the nickname while I was at Southend, it was the year of the winter Olympics and there was a guy called Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards who was a ski-jumper so I picked up the nickname 'Eagle' from that and I have been stuck with it ever since. I have shaken it off a bit since then but I still get called the 'Eagle',' Edwards concluded.