The Munich Air Disaster robbed Salford of one of its best, a tragic end to one of the most successful and promising eras in Manchester United’s history under Sir Matt Busby.
Famous for being developed within the Manchester United youth system and their successful 56 and 57 league campaigns, the side consisted of talented prospects in their early twenties, including a 21-year-old from Ordsall by the name of Edward ‘Eddie’ Colman.
Spotted by Matt Busby while playing for Salford Boys, he was described as playing with “an indefinable, inherent brilliance which no amount of coaching could provide”, a player who took to the ball like a fish to water, with immense technical ability and the confidence to match.
A talented and tricky half-back who had emerged in 1955 at age 19 after three years in the youth set up, Colman earned the name ‘snakehips’ from his signature hip swerve that he would employ to best the opposition press before laying off to his teammates.
“I swear when Eddie waggled his hips, the stanchions in the stands moved with him,” claimed United keeper Harry Gregg, one of the notable players who survived Munich.
“Eddie had this way of making you feel better just by being around. The dressing room was never the same after we lost him.”
Despite his diminutive nature, Colman was tenacious and physically capable, never shying away from a challenge or the opportunity to demonstrate his technical ability and passing range.
Colman’s ability to evade opponents with his feints and side steps as well as his knack for providing accurate short and long-range passes proved key for two First Division titles in the 1950s, a man who played beyond his years and yet personified the ruined potential of the era.
Born in Ordsall on November 1, 1936, Eddie Colman grew up as an only child at 9 Archie Street, a classic ‘two-up-two-down’ terraced house that famously served as a visual inspiration for the original set of Coronation Street. Colman attended Ordsall Secondary Modern School, where his footwork first gained fame while playing for the Salford Schoolboys and Lancashire County teams.
Before his rise as one of the ‘Busby Babes,’ he honed his skills at the Salford Lads Club, a local institution where he was spotted by Manchester United scouts.
As well as league success, Colman was also party to United’s European Cup and FA Cup hopes, although would only receive a runner’s up medal following a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa in 57.
In his 108 appearances for the club, Colman would register two goals, the second coming in January 1958 in the first leg of the European Cup Quarter Final against Red Star Belgrade before the return to England after the second leg that would end in disaster.
Alongside his presence on the pitch, Colman was lauded equally for his presence off it. His teammate Wilf McGuinness would tell of his role as the team’s social secretary, loving rock and roll and 50s fashion, drainpipes and dance halls. “He was a great jiver, unlike Bobby (Charlton) and myself,” he admitted.
“Eddie was a creator and a crowd pleaser,” McGuinness would write in his autobiography. “He had total mastery of the ball, his footwork was twinkling and he was pure joy to watch.”
Bobby Charlton would recall that Colman was confident but never boastful, displaying an assuredness on the pitch that was backed up by his play.
“Eddie was always smiling, always joking. Even on the plane to Belgrade, he was keeping everyone’s spirits up.”
During the Babes’ two league winning campaigns, Colman was to form an impressive on field relationship with Duncan Edwards, widely considered one of the best players of all time, establishing a partnership of style and creativity within the middle of the park.
“If Busby wanted United to be a work of art, Duncan was supplying the wonderfully bold brush strokes and Eddie was performing a series of inspired squiggles” remarked Charlton.
Charlton would speak of spending Christmas Day with the Colman family, with family, friends and teammates coming together in the terraced house.
Despite living within walking distance to the ground, Colman was often late to practice, which became a running joke among the players and coaches and emblematic of his embrace of the young, party-going lifestyle he brought to the club.
Before the likes of the great George Best graced the pitch, Eddie was establishing himself as a style icon, a working-class young man with a fondness for the arts: dancing, laughing and going for pints with his teammates.
Despite efforts from Busby to talk him down from his trendsetting and youthful ‘teddy boy’ style, the manager had great respect for Colman, his working-class sensibilities and love for playing the game alongside his technical ability beyond his years, describing him as having “the heart of a lion and the feet of a ballet dancer”.
The youngest of the eight lost in Munich on the 6th of February 1958, his passing marks one of the great tragedies of English football. Winning two First Division trophies before 21 and making 108 appearances, it was clear that many successful chapters were ahead of him.
Today, his legacy in the city is preserved through Eddie Colman Court, a student accommodation block at the University of Salford, and his resting place in Weaste Cemetery, where he is buried alongside his parents.
Salford-born and raised, United through and through, Eddie Colman is a benchmark for any emerging young footballer on the pitch and a shining example of how one should conduct themselves off of it.
