Rob Edwards - who won four caps for Wales - had already made almost 600 league and cup appearances for Carlisle, Bristol City, Preston and Blackpool when he joined Exeter on his 33rd birthday. Adding more than 175 appearances to his tally whilst with the Grecians,  Rob is fondly remembered for scoring the goal that returned City to the Football League in 2008. He later managed Tranmere Rovers and then Wales at under-17 and under-19 level. 

Starting as a trainee with Carlisle in 1989 Rob made 56 first-team appearances for the Cumbrians before signing for Bristol City for £135,000 in March 1991. In over eight seasons at Ashton Gate, he played 266 league and cup games as well as earning four caps for Wales between August 1997 and June 1998 . Moving to Preston North End in August 1999, Rob played 197 first-team games and helped the team to win promotion to the Championship. He then headed down the M55 to Blackpool where, between July 2004 and May 2006, he added 69 competitive appearances to his tally.

Out of contract, and with 588 club games under his belt, Rob wasn’t offered a contract after a trial at Carlisle and, dropping into the Conference, agreed terms with Exeter City in July 2006. After first appearing against York on 12 August 2006, and later taking on responsibility for the reserve team as part of a player-coach role, Rob made 47 appearances in 2006/07 including all three play-off games against Oxford United and Morecambe. 

Then, in 2007/08, after starting all 46 regular-season league games, Rob appeared in both play-off semi-finals against Torquay United before rounding off a memorable season by scoring the only goal of the Wembley final against Cambridge. In an eventual 179-game career for the Grecians this was one of only three goals Rob scored for the club.     

Now back in the Football League, Rob made 44 league appearances in 2008/09 as City won promotion from League Two and was part of the team that played at Rotherham on the final day of the season. He then played 21 times in City’s first League One season, and eleven in the second, to bring down the curtain on a 767-game club career. Rob’s final game was against Hartlepool on 26 February 2011 before he became assistant manager with extra responsibility for the club’s under-21 team.         

Leaving St James’ Park at the end of 2013/14 season, Rob briefly served as manager of Tranmere Rovers prior to his dismissal in October 2014. He then had three months as Paul Buckle's assistant at Cheltenham Town ahead of both departing in February 2015.

Subsequently Rob became an academy coach at Southampton prior to taking charge of the Wales under-17 team and, from August 2019, Wales under-19s. He was later to return to club football as a coach with National League Forest Green Rovers in July 2024.