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Roger
Byrne
 Aged
28, Roger made his first-team debut against Liverpool in December 1951. He
joined United in 1948 from Ryder Brow Youth Club in Gorton, and came originally
as an outside-left but soon converted to full-back. He became an automatic
choice for club and country, making 245 appearances for United and winning 33
caps for England.
Roger was married to Joy, a qualified physiotherapist and they had a son, Roger
junior, who was born after his father's death. Before the accident, Roger
himself was studying physiotherapy, no doubt indicative of the common sense of
the man who, at the very peak of his career, was making plans for the time he
would have to hang his boots up. Matt Busby felt that in Roger, he had a captain
of rare quality.
Geoff Bent
 Aged
24, Salford-born Geoff only made the trip to Belgrade because there were doubts
about Roger Byrne's fitness. Geoff had captained Salford Schoolboys when they
had won the English School's Trophy. Many felt that he would have been an
automatic choice at almost any other club in the country, but as understudy to
the United skipper, his first-team appearances were limited to 12 following his
debut against Burnley at Turf Moor on 11th December 1954.
Eddie
Colman
 Another
Salford-born youngster, Eddie was just 21-years-old at the time of the accident,
and had made his first-team bow two years earlier, in 1955 against Bolton at
Burnden Park. He went on to make 85 appearances in a United shirt, and was to
prove a perfect foil for the powerful Duncan Edwards, United's other wing-half.
A very skilful player, he was known affectionately as 'swivel hips'. It was
claimed that he could 'sell a dummy' with his backside! One of Eddie's teammates
once claimed that 'The whole crowd moved as one man when Eddie rolled his hips.'
Duncan
Edwards
 Only
21 years-old at the time of his death. Duncan had made his first-team debut at
the age of 16 against Cardiff City, and pulled on an England shirt for the first
time when he was 18. The most complete player that Britain has ever produced,
was the general concensus of opinion about his awesome talent. To what levels
his skill would have eventually taken him remains forever one of sport's great
unanswered questions. To list Duncan's weaknesses is easy; there were none! Lest
we be accused of looking through 'rose-coloured glasses', listen to what
Nat Lofthouse, a senior and respected international of the time, had to say
about Duncan: 'If you took Edwards out of the England side, you would take away
half the team!', and this said of someone barely out of his teens. In 151 League
appearances, he scored 20 goals, and played 18 times for England scoring five
goals.
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