Happy Birthday to the great Duncan Edwards!
Putting up a thread on the great man.
Hope you like it.
#MUFC @MUFC_India
Edwards was born in 1936 in Dudley in the West Midlands and soon made his mark in schoolboy football. At the age of 13, he made his debut for English Schools and was soon made captain.
Rising quickly to national prominence, he attracted the attention of scouts from local teams such as Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers, but it was Manchester United who made the first move for him.
The legendary Joe Mercer, then working as a coach to the English Schools team, recommended Edwards to his great friend, Matt Busby, and so in 1952 Edwards signed for United as an amateur.
The Manchester United youth side of 1953 won the FA Youth Cup, beating Wolves 9-3 on aggregate in the final to signal the start of five successive victories in the fledgeling competition.
However, by the time the final was played, Edwards had already made his full debut for Manchester United. At the age of 16 years and 185 days, Edwards became the youngest ever player in the club’s history, a landmark that continues to this day.
The following season, 1953-54, saw Edwards’ breakthrough continue. Matt Busby was building a young team around such players as Edwards, Dennis Viollet, Bobby Charlton and Jackie Blanchflower that came to be known collectively as the Busby Babes.
Described by many a wise sage as a boy in a man’s body, Edwards was barrel-chested and at sixteen had both the physical appearance and strength of character of someone a decade older. Very quickly it was apparent that here was not just a great player in the making.
As a left-back, or a defensive midfielder, Edwards was in effect at home in practically any position on the pitch. He could tackle, he could run, he had two perfect feet, he had vision and temperament. He was seen as a natural leader & a future captain of both club and country.
As Busby’s youth policy kicked in, #ManUtd raced to successive league titles in 1956 and 1957. By this time Edwards was making his mark with the England national team, and in fact, by the time he made his debut against Scotland in 1955 at the age of 18 years and 183 days.
Despite now being a fully-fledged international, Edwards still turned out for the Manchester United youth team in the FA Youth Cup final that year in a move that caused a degree of controversy at the time.
In February 1958 Edwards played what proved to be his last two games of football, and, somewhat poignantly, they were both crackers in which United raced into three-goal leads before hanging on desperately.
First, Manchester United took on Arsenal at Highbury in a vital First Division match and goals from Edwards, Charlton and Tommy Taylor gave the men from Old Trafford a seemingly unassailable 3-0 half-time lead.
Three remarkable second-half minutes saw Arsenal unbelievably level the scores, before further goals from Viollet and Taylor again put United 5-3 ahead. The drama was not over yet, a late fourth from the home side saw Edwards and his teammates holding on for a nervous 5-4 victory
So, to Belgrade for the second leg of Manchester United’s European Cup quarter-final with Red Star Belgrade with United defending a slender 2-1 lead from the first leg.
Once again, United raced into a three-goal half-time lead with goals from Viollet and a brace from Charlton. Once again, their opponents hit back with three goals in quick succession, & once again United were left hanging on. A 3-3 draw got them to their 2nd successive semi-final
The loss to #ManUtd and England following the tragic events of February 6, 1958, will never be forgotten. Although it is somewhat futile to live in a world of ‘what-ifs’, one cannot help but wonder 'What Could Have Been'.
Bobby Charlton described Edwards as ‘the only player who made him feel inferior’.

Debating who was the ‘Greatest Player of All Time’ really can be an exercise in futility at times.

Simply as one contender for the title never really got the chance to lay stake a decent claim.
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