Edward Colman (1 November 1936 – 6 February 1958) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who played as an

wing-half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and one of the eight

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

players who died in the

Munich air disaster The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United F.C., Manche ...

Biography

Colman was born on Archie Street in Ordsall,

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, the only child of plate player Richard Colman and his wife Elizabeth. He joined Manchester United's youth team on leaving school in the summer of 1952. He became a first-team member at right-half during the 1955–56 season, ousting Jeff Whitefoot to play alongside Duncan Edwards. He finished the season with a

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

title medal. He collected another league championship medal the following season, and also helped United reach the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

semi-finals. He played in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

final that season, but only collected a runners-up medal as United lost 2–1 to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. He made 108 first-team appearances for United, scoring two goals, the second of which came in the first leg of the fateful

quarter-final tie against

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. He died on 6 February 1958 in the crash at Munich airport after the plane stopped to refuel on the return flight. In his time at United, he was nicknamed "''Snakehips''" for his trademark body swerve. Aged 21 years and 3 months, he was the youngest of the 23 people to die. An accommodation building at the

University of Salford The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

is named after him – the Eddie Colman Court is a block of flats located near the main campus. Eddie Colman grave

A statue of Colman was erected at his graveside in Weaste Cemetery, Weaste,

, after his death, but it was badly damaged by

vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

within a few years and after being repaired was placed in the home of his father Dick. Dick, who died in October 1986 at the age of 76, is buried alongside Eddie and Eddie's mother Elizabeth, who died in November 1971 at the age of 62. Twenty-seven workers at a

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

boxmaking firm were dismissed from their jobs for leaving work to attend Colman's funeral, but were all soon reinstated.

Career statistics

Honours

Manchester United *

runner-up: 1956–57

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colman, Eddie 1936 births 1958 deaths Footballers from Salford English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Manchester United F.C. players English Football League players Footballers killed in the Munich air disaster People from Ordsall Sportspeople from the City of Salford Burials at Weaste Cemetery 20th-century English sportsmen