Tony Bedeau

Tony Bedeau

Personal information
Full name	Anthony Charles Osmond Bedeau [1]
Date of birth	(1979-03-24) 24 March 1979 (age 44)
Place of birth	Hammersmith, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1995–1997	Torquay United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–2006	Torquay United	307	(58)
2002	→ Barnsley (loan)	3	(0)
2006–2007	Walsall	18	(1)
2007	→ Bury (loan)	3	(0)
2007–2008	Torquay United	23	(0)
2008	→ Weymouth (loan)	9	(1)
2008–2009	Kingstonian	4	(1)
Total		367	(61)
International career
2004	Grenada	4	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Anthony Charles Osmond "Tony" Bedeau (born 24 March 1979) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born in England, he made four appearances for the Grenada national team.

Career

Torquay United

After being on Chelsea's books as a schoolboy, he joined Torquay United as an apprentice in 1995. He made his debut as a substitute, at the age of 16, on 9 September 1995 against Cardiff City at Ninian Park (a debut described briefly in Garry Nelson's seminal book about life in the lower divisions of English football, Left Foot in the Grave ). Signing professional on 28 July 1997, he soon established himself as a first-team regular with his pace and ability attracting attention from Premier League sides, which included him training with Sheffield Wednesday for a spell on the recommendation of Chris Waddle, followed by Torquay turning down a bid ^[2] of £50,000 from Wednesday.^{[ citation needed ]}

He started the 2000–01 season with an injury, only managing five goals in a disappointing season all round for the "Gulls". Despite this, he was still in demand from other clubs. ^{[3] [4]} In September 2000, Torquay turned down a £200,000 offer from a first division side, thought to be Oxford United, just after he had returned from a week on trial at Sunderland. ^[3] In December 2000, Rochdale offered £150,000 to Torquay for Bedeau, though he decided against the move. ^[4]

In May 2001, he agreed to an extension of his contract until 2003. After a poor start to the following season he was transfer-listed, along with fellow forward David Graham, by new manager Roy McFarland ^[5] and in January 2002 he joined first division Barnsley F.C. on loan ^[6] playing three times as a substitute for the Oakwell side. He returned to Torquay, regaining his place in the first team and played a major role in Torquay securing automatic promotion in 2004, playing in a variety of positions. He was awarded a testimonial by the club in the 2005–06 season, finishing the season as the leading goalscorer, before moving to League Two rivals Walsall on 24 May 2006. ^[7]

Moving clubs

Bedeau struggled to establish himself at Walsall, scoring once against Shrewsbury, ^[8] and was allowed to join Bury on loan in February 2007. ^[9] He was transfer listed at the end of the 2006–07 season, ^[10] and rejoined Torquay United in June 2007 on a 12-month contract. ^[11] He struggled to reestablish himself at Torquay and was loaned to Weymouth in March 2008. ^[12] He played nine times for Weymouth, scoring once, against Farsley Celtic, ^[13] and was released by Torquay at the end of the season. ^[14]

Kingstonian

On 9 August 2008, Kingstonian announced that they had signed Bedeau on a free transfer. ^[15] He played in the first four games of the season, scoring once, before his time with Kingstonian was put on hold as he had a number of issues to deal with in Torquay. ^[16] Bedeau played again for Kingstonian on 5 March 2009. ^[17]

His last registered club was Kingstonian. Since he left them in 2009, he has been available as a free agent. Bedeau is probably most known best for his long stint with Devon club, Torquay United where he served a number of years as a player.

Honours

Torquay United

• Division 3 third-place and promotion: 2003–04

Walsall

• League Two: 2006–07

External links

• Tony Bedeau at Soccerbase
• Tony Bedeau at National-Football-Teams.com

References

1. Barry J. Hugman (1998). The PFA Premier and Football League Players' Records 1946–1998. Queen Anne Press. ISBN   1-85291-585-4.
2. "Chelsea Youngster To Grenada International… Tony Bedeau". Torquay United. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
3. "Gulls reject Oxford striker bid". BBC Sport. 20 September 2000. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
4. "Bedeau stays south". BBC Sport. 20 December 2000. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
5. "McFarland gets tough". BBC Sport. 27 November 2001. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
6. "Barnsley sign striker". BBC Sport. 31 January 2002. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
7. "Money lures Bedeau to the Bescot". BBC Sport. 25 May 2006. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
8. "Shrewsbury 1–1 Walsall". BBC. 26 September 2006. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
9. "Bury complete double loan swoop". BBC Sport. 23 February 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
10. "Money starts clear out at Walsall". BBC Sport. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
11. "Torquay recruit Todd and Bedeau". BBC Sport. 27 June 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
12. "New duo for Terras". NonLeagueDaily. 1 March 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
13. "Farsley Celtic 4–2 Weymouth". BBC Sport. 29 March 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
14. "Bedeau among four leaving Torquay". BBC Sport. 13 May 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
15. "Bedeau coup for K's". NonLeagueDaily. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
16. "Update from Alan Dowson". Kingstonian.net. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
17. "Kingstonian". Livescores.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008.