Duncan Edwards

Could he have been the greatest red ever? The prodigious talent of Duncan Edwards was cruelly snatched away from the footballing world in 1958 when he was killed in the Munich air crash. However, not before he had established a reputation as one of the greatest players of his generation.

That he is rated above the likes of Charlton, Best and Law by many of the era is all the more amazing for he was just 21 years old when he died. Virtually anyone who saw him play rates him as their all-time number one. Edwards had immense physical strength coupled with superb ball control and touch. In his youth he had forced his way into his local Dudley boys team aged just 11 when all the other boys were aged 15. At Old Trafford, his team mates would warm up by doing 4 laps of the pitch, Duncan would do 10.

His passing and tackling was perfect and his shooting was awe inspiring, in both power and accuracy. He could beat players and go past defenders with ease. Midfield was his speciality but Duncan was incredibly versatile and could play anywhere on the pitch. He once scored 6 goals in an England under 23 match playing as a centre forward. And when it came to aerial battles he was fantastic at winning headers both defending and attacking. In short, Duncan Edwards was the complete player.

Not only did the big Midlander possess the physical skills but his mental attitude was first class as well. Duncan had a fanatical practice regime which gave he used to maintain mastery of his technique. He had great awareness, was brave, committed and determined, yet always composed and sportsmanlike.

The great Bobby Charlton said "Duncan Edwards was the only player that made me feel inferior". Sir Matt Busby is once to have said that he believed Edwards was "the best player in the world", but he would never tell Edwards in case it unsettled him. He was world class when United had the ball and their best player when the opponents had it. At his favoured wing-half position in midfield Duncan lent steel to the defence and given half a chance would rampage into the attack with an unstoppable surging run.

Sir Matt Busby first heard of the "man-boy" playing for his Dudley boys team in 1949. Later he was seen in a schoolboy international in 1950 by scout Joe Armstrong who wholeheartedly recommended him to Sir Matt. In June 1952 Edwards joined United and within a year was playing in the first team at the then unheard-of age of 16. Making his debut on 4th April 1953, he became the youngest ever player to play in the 1st Division.

Within two years he was playing for England. At 18 he was the youngest ever to play for England (a record held until 1998) and managed to win 18 caps in a short space of time. Duncan helped United win two consecutive League titles in 1956 and 1957, a great achievement in an era were teams were evenly balanced and champions rarely regained their crown.

Edwards led United's charge into Europe in 1956 and they stood on the verge of being the first British team to lift the European Cup and surely would, have had it not been for the tragedy at Munich. He was expected to live at first after the crash but his condition worsened. Yet as he lay dying in the Munich Rechts der Isar Hospital, even then the doctors were amazed at how he fought for life for two long weeks.

His death on 21st February 1958 was a crushing blow to all connected with Manchester United. He was buried at Dudley Cemetery five days later. In his home town he has since been commemorated with two stained-glass windows in St Francis's Church and in October 1999 a statue of Edwards, resplendent in his England kit, was unveiled in the town centre.

The question will always remain, what would have happened had Edwards not lost his life at only 21? He probably would have went on to be the most capped England player ever. At times a team in himself, this ultimate all-round player would have no doubt been up there with greats such as Pele, Beckenbauer, Cruyff and Best. The fact that he never did, and the world was so cruelly robbed of such a talent remains the saddest legacy of Munich. Today, in a different world to the 1950s, Giggs, Beckham, Rooney and co are the modern legends but anyone who saw Duncan Edwards play will tell you, he was better than them all.

Sir Matt Busby's assistant Jimmy Murphy summed him up perfectly: "When I used to hear Muhammad Ali proclaim to the world he was the greatest, I used to smile. You see, the greatest of them all was an English footballer named Duncan Edwards. If I shut my eyes now I can see him. Those pants hitched up, the wild leaps of boyish enthusiasm as he came running out of the tunnel, the tremendous power of his tackling, always fair but fearsome, the immense power on the ball. The number of times he was robbed of the ball once he had it at his feet could be counted on one hand. He was a players player. The greatest? There was only one and that was Duncan Edwards".