Duncan Edwards: Eternal: An intimate portrait of Manchester United’s lost genius

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I had a similar feeling when reading this as when I read Forever Young about Adrian Doherty. Even though I knew the ending, one of tragically unfulfilled potential, it didn’t stop me from pouring over the excellent detail of the days and weeks leading up to and after the crash.

Duncan Edwards: Eternal: An intimate portrait of Manchester

Wayne Barton is the author of twenty books on Manchester United. He has been described as the leading writer and an ‘encyclopaedia’ on the club and in 2020, former owner Martin Edwards described him as ‘the pre-eminent writer’ on the club. Wayne has interviewed and worked with players through every decade of the club’s post-War years. In recent years Wayne has produced films in conjunction with his books, working on ‘Too Good To Go Down’ in 2018 and ‘True Genius: George Best’ in 2022, both for BT Sport. With the growing legend of Duncan Edwards, Jimmy Murphy relayed a new message to his players before the first leg at Stamford Bridge. Team-mate Bobby Charlton summed Edwards up best: “Sentiment can throw a man’s judgement out of perspective. Yet it is not the case with him. A few are great, and deserve respect. But Duncan Edwards was the greatest.”Duncan Edwards was the jewel in the crown of the Busby Babes, an all-time legend at just 21, who was denied the chance to achieve even greater footballing success by the Munich Air Disaster in 1958. Yet it is not the case with him. A few are great, and deserve respect. But Duncan Edwards was the greatest."'Eternal' is the complete story of an extraordinary footballer, whose influence on Manchester United and the success that followed can still be felt today. This fascinating new biography, with support from friends and relatives, includes rare and unseen pictures and tells the story of the boy who left his home in Dudley to earn his Manchester United debut at the age of 16 – and made such an impression that he was an England international at 18. The Manchester Evening News will publish a series of excerpts from the upcoming biography, including this story that epitomises Edwards' remarkable skill on the pitch. For Barton, it was vital that Duncan’s family were happy with the book and the messages that it conveys about their iconic relative. “The idea of having something out there that tells the story of Duncan how it was, to a lot a people it might be sacrilege… that you’re scratching away the myth and the legend, but I feel it’s important to do that for some of these people,” said Wayne.

Rare images of Man Utd icon Duncan Edwards from new book

NEVER in the history of the game has one life brought both joy and tragedy in such huge measures. Duncan Edwards was the jewel in the crown of the Busby Babes, an all-time legend at just 21, who was denied the chance to achieve even greater footballing success by the Munich Air Disaster in 1958. This fascinating new biography, with support from friends and relatives, includes rare and unseen pictures and tells the story of the boy who left his home in Dudley to earn his Manchester United debut at the age of 16 - and made such an impression that he was an England international at 18. The most forensic account of this remarkable life and career includes new interviews, as well as contributions from icons of United and the wider English game - plus quotes from Edwards himself. Upon landing, Duncan confided in Express writer Bob Pennington. Pennington asked if it would be okay to report the story – but Edwards asked him not to. It was already informally known that Duncan hated flying. Even going to Ringway Airport with Molly to watch the flights take off sometimes made him apprehensive. Whether or not this particular story would be one of embarrassment more than it might stir some political unrest was not quite certain – Duncan was due to be demobbed, and may well have had that on his mind too. Yet, even 65 years on from unjustly early death, the new biography 'Duncan Edwards: Eternal' shines new light on the life and career of a remarkable young man. Wayne Barton is the prolific author of 20 United books and he has now turned his wealth of encyclopaedic knowledge to tell the most comprehensive account of his story yet, What could and would have been is the mystery of this book and the reason why Manchester United is what it is today.Writing about Edwards and indeed Munich is a serious task, but Barton is confident fans will enjoy the book and learn more about Duncan's life. “It was terrifying! In the same way as doing the book on George [Best],” Wayne told us. “I felt so confident at the end of writing that, and I did a book on Jimmy Murphy before. People might disagree, but if you were to name five precious people in United history, Duncan, Jimmy and George are probably in that five. They might even be the top three you’d speak of, in terms of how precious the stories are and how careful you’ve got to be in telling that story. You want to do it because you want to challenge yourself, but also it’s so precious.

Duncan Edwards - eternal : an intimate portrait of Manchester Duncan Edwards - eternal : an intimate portrait of Manchester

The book, which will be released on February 16, includes new interviews from United and English football heroes as well as unseen photographs from an iconic career and life that was agonisingly cut short by the Munich Air Disaster in 1958. Edwards will always be a colossal figure in United history and, since his tragic passing in 1958, tales of the late great Busby Babe have become legendary. He said to us all, whilst Duncan was sitting there, that we were not to have a ‘Duncan Edwards complex’,” recalls Wilf McGuinness. Bobby Charlton remembered it vividly too: “‘Try to put more pressure on your own ability,’ he told us. ‘There may be days when Dunc isn’t around. Sometimes you have to solve your own problems.’”The most forensic account of this remarkable life and career includes new interviews, as well as contributions from icons of United and the wider English game – plus quotes from Edwards himself. Money Matters Neurodiversity Preparing for University - Subject Reading Lists Reading For Pleasure Stationery The words above were uttered by legendary United figure Jimmy Murphy, as United trailed at half-time of an FA Youth Cup tie away to Chelsea in 1955. United would go onto win the match, and eventually the tournament.