Colin Webster

Colin Webster (born July 17, 1932 in Cardiff , † March 1, 2001 in Swansea ) was a Welsh football player . The inner striker , who took part in the 1958 World Cup with the Welsh national team , won the championship title in England as " Busby Babe " with Manchester United .

Athletic career

Webster started playing football in his native Cardiff. At Cardiff City , however, he did not get beyond the reserve team, as he worked full-time as a mechanic. He had hired himself as a regular goalscorer during his military service when he scored 75 goals this season in the army.

In 1952, Webster joined Manchester United in the First Division , but did not make his first league appearance under coach Matt Busby until 1953 for the indisposed Johnny Berry . If he had established himself briefly in the attack line, Tommy Taylor pushed him back from his regular place. Nevertheless, he brought it in the season 1955/56 on the side of Duncan Edwards , Mark Jones , Dennis Viollet , Jackie Blanchflower , Bill Foulkes and David Pegg with 15 season appearances on enough season games to receive the official championship medal. When he was defending his title the following year, his five stakes were too few. Nevertheless, he was first used in May 1957 in the Welsh national team. In the course of the 1957/58 season again an integral part of the Manchester United team, a flu prevented his trip to the European Cup game in Belgrade in February 1958, on whose return flight the plane crashed at Munich Airport . While the team, which was mainly made up of young players after the deaths, slipped in the league table, it still reached the final of the FA Cup . Webster had scored the decisive goal in the quarter -final second leg against West Bromwich Albion to make it 1-0, he was also one of the eleven players in the final against Bolton Wanderers . Two goals from Nat Lofthouse ended the dream of winning the title.

Webster was then part of the Welsh national team, although he had not played another international match since his debut. In the first two group games he came under the Busby representative at Manchester United and at the same time national coach being Jimmy Murphy to missions against Hungary and Mexico , but then lost his place in the storm. After the team had qualified for the quarter-finals after goals from Ivor Allchurch and Terry Medwin over a 2-1 win against Hungary, he was there again in the starting line-up for the injured John Charles . In the 1-0 defeat against Brazil , he missed a goal and was eliminated with the team from the tournament.

After Webster's return to Old Trafford, Busby sorted him out, as he wanted to design a new team in the aftermath of the flight accident. For 7,500 pounds sterling he moved to the English football club Swansea Town , for which he competed in the second division second division over the next five years . In 1963 he joined the AFC Newport County for 15 months and then let his career in non-league football end.

At the end of his career, Webster worked in scaffolding before earning a living as a park attendant. After struggling with lung cancer for two years , he succumbed to the disease in March 2001.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} independent.co.uk: "Colin Webster" (accessed January 31, 2011)
2. ↑ ^{a b} bbc.co.uk: "Busby babe passes away" (accessed on January 31, 2011)