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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and one of the eight

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster. Colman was born on Archie Street in Ordsall, Salford, Lancashire, 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 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 ...

. He finished the season with a

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

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

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

semi-finals. He played in the FA Cup final that season, but only collected a runners-up medal as United lost 2–1 to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. 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. 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 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 Weaste () is a suburb in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. In 2014, Weaste and Seedley ward had a population of 12,616. History Historically in Lancashire, it is an industrial area, with many industrial estates. The A57 (Ec ...

, Salford, after his death, but it was badly damaged by vandals 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 boxmaking firm were dismissed from their jobs for leaving work to attend Colman's funeral, but were all soon reinstated.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colman, Eddie 1936 births 1958 deaths Footballers from Salford English footballers Association football midfielders Manchester United F.C. players English Football League players Footballers killed in the Munich air disaster People from Ordsall FA Cup Final players Burials in North West England