39 Facts About Duncan Edwards

Duncan Edwards was an English footballer who played as a half-back for Manchester United and the England national team.

Duncan Edwards was one of the Busby Babes, the young United team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid-1950s, playing 177 matches for the club.

Duncan Edwards was noted for his physical strength, toughness, and level of authority on the pitch, and has been ranked amongst the toughest players of all time.

Duncan Edwards was born on 1 October 1936 at 23 Malvern Crescent in the Woodside district of Dudley.

Duncan Edwards was the first child of Gladstone and Sarah Ann Edwards and their only child to survive to adulthood, his younger sister Carol Anne dying in 1947 at the age of 14 weeks.

Duncan Edwards attended Priory Infant and Junior Schools from 1941 to 1948, and Wolverhampton Street Secondary School from 1948 to 1952.

Duncan Edwards played football for his school as well as for Dudley Schools, Worcestershire and Birmingham and District teams, and represented his school at morris dancing.

Duncan Edwards was selected to compete in the National Morris and Sword Dancing Festival, but was offered a trial for the English Schools Football Association's under-14 team, which fell on the same day, and opted to attend the latter.

Duncan Edwards impressed the selectors and was chosen to play for the English Schools XI, making his debut against the equivalent team from Wales at Wembley Stadium on 1 April 1950.

Duncan Edwards was appointed captain of the team, a position he held for two seasons.

Joe Mercer, who was then coaching the England schools team, urged Busby to sign Duncan Edwards, who was attracting interest from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa.

Duncan Edwards signed for United as an amateur on 2 June 1952, but accounts of when he signed his first professional contract vary.

Duncan Edwards began his Manchester United career in the youth team and made several appearances for the team that won the first ever FA Youth Cup in 1953, but by the time of the final had already made his debut for the first team.

Duncan Edwards made his first appearance for the national under-23 team on 20 January 1954 in Italy, and was considered for inclusion in the full England team, but on the day when the selection committee watched him in action, against Arsenal on 27 March, he gave a poor performance and was not called up.

Duncan Edwards's performances revived calls for him to be selected for the senior England team, and a member of the selection committee was despatched to watch him play against Huddersfield Town on 18 September 1954, when he was just short his 18th birthday, but nothing came of it in the short term, although he was selected for a Football League XI which played an exhibition match against a Scottish League team.

Duncan Edwards made his debut in a match against Scotland on 2 April 1955 in the British Home Championship aged 18 years and 183 days, making him England's youngest debutant since the Second World War, a record which stood for 43 years, until Michael Owen made his England debut in February 1998.

In May 1955, Duncan Edwards was selected for the England squad which travelled to mainland Europe for matches against France, Portugal and Spain, starting all three matches.

Duncan Edwards was stationed at Nesscliffe near Shrewsbury along with teammate Bobby Charlton, 12 months his junior, but was allowed leave to play for United.

Duncan Edwards took part in army matches, and in one season played nearly 100 matches in total.

Duncan Edwards was expected to be a key player for England in the 1958 World Cup, and was seen as a likely candidate to replace the ageing Billy Wright as national team captain.

Seven players and 14 other passengers died at the scene, and Duncan Edwards was taken to the Rechts der Isar Hospital suffering from many serious injuries including multiple leg fractures, fractured ribs and severely damaged kidneys.

Duncan Edwards was buried at Dudley Cemetery five days later, alongside his sister Carol Anne.

Duncan Edwards's tombstone reads: "A day of memory, Sad to recall, Without farewell, He left us all" and his grave is regularly visited by fans.

Duncan Edwards has been commemorated in a number of ways in his home town of Dudley.

In 1996, Duncan Edwards was one of five deceased players chosen to appear on British stamps issued as part of a "Football Legends" set issued to commemorate the UEFA Euro 1996 tournament, which England was hosting.

Duncan Edwards was portrayed by Sam Claflin in the 2011 British TV film United centred on the Munich disaster and the success of the team in the two years leading up to it.

Contemporaries of Duncan Edwards have been unstinting in their praise of his abilities.

George Best was something special, as was Pele and Maradona, but in my mind Duncan Edwards was much better in terms of all-round ability and skill.

Duncan Edwards's memorabilia were exhibited at Dudley Museum prior to its closure, and was sold to Manchester United with a selection to be loaned back for display at the Dudley Archives.

Duncan Edwards was strong and had a fantastic football brain.

Duncan Edwards's versatility was such that on one occasion he started the match playing as an emergency striker in place of one injured player before being switched to central defence in place of another.

Duncan Edwards's imposing physique earned him the nicknames "Big Dunc" and "The Tank", and he has been ranked amongst the toughest players of all time.

Duncan Edwards was noted for the power and timing of his tackles and for his ability to pass and shoot equally well with both feet.

Duncan Edwards was known for his surging runs up the pitch and was equally skilled at heading the ball and at striking fierce long-range shots.

Duncan Edwards was teetotal, and outside football he was known as a very private individual, whose interests included fishing, playing cards and visiting the cinema.

Duncan Edwards was described by Jimmy Murphy as an "unspoilt boy" and retained a strong Black Country accent which his teammates would impersonate.

Duncan Edwards was once stopped by the police for riding his bicycle without lights and fined five shillings by the authorities and two weeks' wages by his club.

At the time of his death Duncan Edwards was living in lodgings in Gorse Avenue, Stretford.

Duncan Edwards was engaged to be married to Molly Leech, who was 22 years old and worked in the offices of a textile machine manufacturer in Altrincham.