Bill Foulkes

The Busby Babe who survived Munich and captained United's rebuild

William Anthony Foulkes (5 January 1932 – 25 November 2013) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United in the Busby Babes teams of the 1950s, and also in the 1960s. His favoured position was centre-half. For Manchester United, he played 688 games which places him at number 4 on the all-time list of appearances behind Ryan Giggs, Bobby Charlton and Paul Scholes. He made 3 appearances as a substitute. He also started in every single United game in the 1957–58, 1959–60 and 1964–65 seasons. He scored a total of 9 goals in his 18 seasons at United and helped the club win four First Division titles, one FA Cup and one European Cup. He was capped three times for England in 1954–55. After retiring as a player, he spent more than 20 years as a coach and manager at numerous clubs in England and overseas.

Quick Facts

Full name: William Anthony Foulkes
Born: 5 January 1932
Birthplace: St. Helens, Lancashire, England
Died: 25 November 2013
Place of death: Manchester, England
Position: Centre-half

Lore & Background

Foulkes was born in St. Helens, Lancashire, the first of three children born to James Foulkes (1900–1970) and his wife Ruth (1909–1961). His grandfather had captained St. Helens rugby league team and was also an England rugby international. His father had also played rugby league for St Helens, and had also played football for New Brighton in the Third Division North. Foulkes himself played for the Whiston Boys Club in his teens, and also worked at the Lea Green Colliery as a miner, a job which he continued into the mid-1950s by which time he was a regular member of the Manchester United first team and had made his solitary appearance for the full England side.

He married Teresa Suffler (born 1936) at St Nicholas Church, Whiston, in spring of 1955. They have three children; Stephen (born 1958), Geoff (1962–2019) and Amanda (born 1963). They have seven grandchildren named Lewis (born 1992), Matthew (born 1993) and Adam (born 1996), Jessica, Edward, Harvey and Philippa.

Reader's Guide

Foulkes was discovered by Manchester United while he was playing for the Whiston Boys club as an 18-year-old. He joined the club in March 1950 and played in junior ranks before he turned professional in August 1951. He made his professional debut in the 1952–53 season in a First Division match against Liverpool on 13 December 1952 at the age of 20. United won the match 2–1.

He also played 2 games for the England Under-23 team. During this time, he continued to work part-time at the coal mine. Foulkes scored his first of only nine goals for the club during the 1953–54 season against Newcastle United on 2 January 1954 at St James' Park. The goal was scored from near the halfway line.

United finished the season in fifth place. Foulkes won his first cap for England 22 months after making his United debut, playing at right-back against Northern Ireland on 2 October 1954. However, that was his only international appearance at the senior level throughout his whole career. It was only after he won the cap that he stopped working at the colliery.

In the 1955–56 season, Foulkes won his first Championship with United. Towards the end of that season, Foulkes found himself laden with National Service commitments. Because of that, United manager Matt Busby began to favour Ian Greaves over Foulkes at right-back. Foulkes responded by training harder than usual, determined to be called back to play for the first-team.

This attitude worked in his favour, and he returned to playing regularly for the first-team from the next season until the end of the 1960s. United won the Championship in the 1955–56 season and thus became eligible to play in the European Cup in the following season, 1956–57. Despite objections from the Football League, United became England's first representatives in the European Cup. In the second match of the Cup, United demolished Anderlecht 10–0, although Foulkes did not score any goals.

The result continues to be United's record victory in a European match. In that season, Foulkes helped United to the semi-finals of the European Cup, losing to Real Madrid 5–3 on aggregate after losing 3–1 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and drawing 2–2 in the return leg at Old Trafford. United also reached the FA Cup final, losing 2–1 to Aston Villa, and successfully defended their Championship title that season.

Did You Know?

He continued working as a miner part-time even after becoming a regular first-team player, only stopping after winning his England cap in 1954.
In the Munich air disaster, Foulkes' only injury was a head wound from a bottle of gin that fell from the overhead rack.
Foulkes took over as captain of Manchester United immediately after the Munich crash, replacing the deceased Roger Byrne.