Charles Martin Edwards was born on 24 July 1945 and is the former chairman of Manchester United, a position he held from 1980 until 2002.
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22 Facts About Martin Edwards
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2.
Martin Edwards now holds the position of honorary life president at the club and Director of Inview Technology Ltd.
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3.
Martin Edwards later moved to head office in Miles Platting to work for quality control and sales departments of the manufacturing division, then in the sales office of the catering division.
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5.
Martin Edwards was elected to the Manchester United board in March 1970.
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Martin Edwards became chairman on 22 March 1980 following the sudden and unexpected death of his father Louis on 25 February, who had been chairman for the previous 15 years.
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Martin Edwards instead turned to Ron Atkinson, whose impressive West Bromwich Albion side had qualified for the UEFA Cup three times in four seasons with top-five league finishes, reaching the quarter-finals on one occasion.
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8.
Atkinson insisted in his footballing biography published in 1999 that Martin Edwards was the best chairman he worked for, and he accepted the offer, and soon after this appointment, Martin Edwards made the funds available for Atkinson to bring in Albion's midfielder Bryan Robson for a national record fee of £1.
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9.
In 1983, Martin Edwards had begun looking for younger colleagues to introduce to the club's board.
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10.
Sir Matt Busby had been appointed president of the club and Michael Edelson was appointed to replace him on the board by Martin Edwards, followed in June 1984 by the addition of club solicitor Maurice Watkins and club legend Bobby Charlton.
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11.
Martin Edwards subsequently discovered that this was Manchester United director Michael Edelson who asked Ferguson if he would be interested in meeting Edwards.
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12.
Martin Edwards rejected a £10m bid for the club by Robert Maxwell in 1984.
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13.
Martin Edwards gradually disposed of his equity in the club and resigned as Chief Executive in 2000, appointing Peter Kenyon as his successor.
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14.
However, Martin Edwards stood by the manager and insisted that the issue of Ferguson being sacked was never up for debate.
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15.
Martin Edwards enabled United to break the national transfer record twice in 2001 when they signed Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron, but he was forced to resign as chairman in November 2002, after allegations of using a prostitute on an official club business trip to Switzerland.
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16.
Martin Edwards married Susan Lloyd Jones in Bucklow, Cheshire, in 1968.
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17.
Martin Edwards has been subject to several newspaper allegations about his private life, alleging several affairs.
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18.
Martin Edwards received a police caution following an incident at the Mottram Hall Hotel, near Macclesfield, Cheshire, on 17 August 2002.
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19.
Martin Edwards resigned from the Manchester United board soon after news of the caution broke, and stepped down as chairman seven months later.
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20.
In July 2005, Martin Edwards was convicted of careless driving, having been involved in a head-on collision near Conwy, North Wales, that April.
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Martin Edwards had just left the A55 near Conwy golf club, and took a right-hand bend on the wrong side of the road.
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22.
Martin Edwards was fined £500 plus £45 in prosecution costs, as well as receiving five points on his driving licence.
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