Today’s 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster which claimed the life of Duncan Edwards has stirred a string of memories.

See also Duncan Edwards life in pictures. 

As a young goalkeeper, Terry Jones became accustomed to bearing the brunt of a shot fired by Duncan Edwards.

Back in 1950 all schools in the borough had a football team and competed in the Dudley Schools League.

Mr Jones, a retired insurance worker, was a pupil at Dudley Technical College and Duncan was a striker for the team at Wolverhampton Street School.

On a number of occasions while in goal Mr Jones, now aged 72, faced Duncan on the pitch.

“Playing against him was an experience in itself. I was a goalkeeper and in my mind I can still feel the sting of his shot to this day,” he said.

“If Duncan had the ball and you caught it, your hands were warmed, especially as in those days the balls were heavy leather.

“Even at 14 Duncan was a colossus, a man among boys.

“The only player I have ever seen who I could compare with Duncan was the great John Charles. Today’s players don’t come anywhere near the ability this lad possessed.”

The grandfather from York Avenue, Finchfield, Wolverhampton, also recalls Duncan’s unusual hobby of Scottish sword dancing.

This involved placing two sabre swords in a cross shape on the floor and dancing between them. Duncan would visit schools in his kilt and perform something similar to a Highland fling.

“I have no idea where this hobby came from as Duncan was no more Scottish than I am a Dutchman,” Mr Jones added.

He remembers vividly the moment he read about the Munich air crash in the Express & Star and how the news did not sink in that “this giant of a man” had been injured.

George Nicholls, of Wenlock Gardens, Walsall, once played against Duncan Edwards as a a youngster trying to break into Cannock District Schoolboys.

Cannock were playing against Combined Dudley and Brierley Hill Schools which featured a young Duncan Edwards.

The match was played at Hednesford Park. Mr Nicholls said: “I remember before we started the manager saying there was a player on the other side who was going to be the next big thing. You could tell he was a bit special. He was full of confidence and carried a bit more weight than I did.”

Some years later Mr Nicholls bumped into Duncan again when he was in the stands to watch Aston Villa play Manchester United.

He said: “I was sat right in the corner where the teams came out. He was not playing that day because he had the flu or something.

“He was sat there with his overcoat on and scarf and I began talking to him about the match in general. I mentioned how I had played against him when I was younger as well. He was an affable man.”

Chris Marlow recalls a proud mom-ent when his father, former mayor of Dudley George Marlow, presented Duncan Edwards with a travelling case before he went to represent his country at Wembley in 1952. The gift was given in recognition of Duncan’s selection to captain the England schoolboys soccer team which had recently beat Scotland at the stadium. It was also to recognise the honour Duncan had brought to the town by his great footballing ability. The photograph remains a treasured possession of Mr Marlow’s son Chris.

The Marlow family lived in The Broadway near the Edwards family and George Marlow would often visit.

Both families also regularly attended St Francis’ Church on the Priory Estate.

George Marlow took a keen interest in Duncan and his fledgling football career and none more so than when he became mayor of Dudley.

In one photograph he is pictured with the captain of the Dudley football team looking at an article from the Dudley Herald reporting on Duncan’s progress.

Mr Marlow, 62, from Laker Street, Amblecote, said: “Dad always used to say that Duncan was going to be a top footballer, that he was very skilled on the pitch.

“He took a really keen interest in his footballing and when he visited Duncan’s school would chat to him about how things were going. My dad described Duncan as a nice lad, very straightforward.” In one article it refers to Duncan asking for advice from the mayor and his headmaster about which club to join before he turned professional. The mayor is quoted as saying: “We reminded him of his local ties but he was determined to join Manchester United, the team he had favoured from a small boy.”

Mr Marlow said his father was devastated to hear about the crash.

“We were listening to the radio when the news broke about the crash and I remember my father rushing round to see Duncan’s mother. It was such a wrench for him,” he added.

“My father knew Mrs Edwards and said she was a lovely woman.

“He still kept in touch with her, even when we moved to Bridgnorth.”

Born 12 days before Duncan, 71-year-old Tommy Millinson also has fond memories of playing with his school mate as a child.

The pair went to the old Wolverhampton Street school together and Mr Millinson said there was never any doubt about his friend’s ability. You hear a lot of people saying they discovered him, but that’s rubbish,” he said. “That lad didn’t need discovering. It was obvious to all that saw him how good he was. We played together in the school’s under-13s side, but I also remember the two of us practising for hours at a time against the wall at the back of the school,” he added.

“I would cross the ball from the left or the right and he would knock it in.

“It didn’t matter how bad my cross was, he’d always manage to get on the end of it and make something of it.”

Mr Millinson lived a few hundred yards from Duncan’s Priory home, on the neighbouring Wrens Nest estate, but now lives on Old Park Farm estate.

He said he did his best to keep Duncan in the Black Country, but was competing against slightly more influential figures in his attempts to persuade his friend.

“He’d come back from playing for England boys and I’d always be on at him to join the Wolves,” he said.

“He would always tell me about Sir Stanley Matthews trying to get him to go to Blackpool too, but Duncan was always adamant that he wanted to go to United,” Mr Millinson said. “That was always his team. ‘Best wishes Duncan’ is the signature on the photograph recently bought by Stourbridge landlord Wayne Eth-eridge. It was signed with a fountain pen. At just 15 Duncan was handed such a pen by then mayor of Dudley George Marlow before a meeting of Dudley Town Council.

He told him this is “in case you need it for autographs”.

Duncan went on to sign many autographs including the photograph of him running out of the tunnel at Old Trafford.

The picture was presented as a gift by Duncan when he was best man at the wedding of a Stourbridge businessman.

It is now in the possession of Mr Etheridge, who runs the Cross Sports Bar in Oldswinford.

He said: “This is a must-have piece of memorabilia, particularly on the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster.

“Although I don’t remember Duncan Edwards, my lounge at home is a shrine to Manchester United and I have taken a keen interest in Duncan’s football career.

“I have read lots of books on the Busby Babes and everything I have ever read always says Duncan Edwards was the best football player that ever lived.” Mr Etheridge has framed the photograph and has now put it on display for punters to admire.

“I will be keeping it very close to the bar but it is now on display for customers to look at,” he said.

Rosamund Pedley, of Finchfields, Wolverhampton, remembers seeing Duncan Edwards play at Molineux in the 1950s.

She said: “It was two seasons before the crash. People like Bobby Charlton describe him as the best player they ever saw and he was just phenomenal.

“He could play anywhere and was a giant on the pitch. He had a great anticipation, which is something I don’t think some of the old films fully reflect.

“The spine of the England team was wiped out in that crash and I think had it not happened they would have gone on to win the World Cup that year and Man Utd would certainly have won the European Cup.

“You cannot really compare them to today’s players. Today they are all playing to a system, there is no real flair.

“Back then the players had more freedom to express themselves.”