Duncan Edwards
(1936-1958)

Died aged c. 22

Duncan Edwards (1 October 1936 – 21 February 1958) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and the England national team. He 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. He 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. One of eight players who died as a result of the Munich air disaster, he survived initially but succumbed to his injuries in hospital two weeks later. Many of his contemporaries have described him as one of the best, if not the best, players with whom they had played. Born in Woodside, Dudley, Edwards signed for Manchester United as a teenager and went on to become the youngest player to play in the Football League First Division and at the time the youngest England player since the Second World War, going on to play 18 times for his country at top level. In a professional career of less than five years he helped United to win two Football League championships and two FA Charity Shields, and reach the semi-finals of the European Cup.

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Commemorated on 2 plaques

Duncan Edwards (1936-1958) Manchester United and England footballer lived here. He was one of the eight "Busby Babes" who lost their lives in the Munich Air Disaster.

19 Gorse Avenue, Gorse Hill, Stretford, Manchester, United Kingdom where they lived

Duncan Edwards Footballer of genius b Dudley 1936; d Munich 1958 Player for Manchester United and England Grew up on the Priory Estate and attended Priory Primary School: "I've just seen a boy of eleven who will play for England one day" (Geoff Groves, his Primary Schoolmaster, in a letter of c. 1947 to a friend)

The Pavilion, Priory Park, Dudley, United Kingdom where they grew up