His final match in England took place on 1 February 1958, when he scored the opening goal to help United defeat Arsenal 5–4.
(meta data) TITLE: Busby Babes' last game before Munich | History | News | Arsenal.com (meta data) PUBLISHED DATETIME: 2019-08-11T13:00:00Z # Busby Babes' last game before Munich 10 May 2017 One of the best games at Highbury and, in retrospect, one of the most poignant. More than 63,000 fans packed into Arsenal's ground for the visit of Manchester United on Saturday, February 1, 1958. Matt Busby's 'Babes' were the biggest draw in British football at the time thanks to two successive titles and a reputation for exciting, attacking play. "Within five days of United's win at Highbury, five of their starting line-up perished as a result of the Munich air crash." United's famous faces did not disappoint. Duncan Edwards opened the scoring with a fierce shot from the edge of the area, Bobby Charlton beat Jack Kelsey on the half-hour and Tommy Taylor gave United a seemingly unassailable three-goal lead at half time. Arsenal, inspired by the quality of their opponents, raised their game. Incredibly, they drew level with three goals in just three minutes. David Herd, who would go on to play for United, scored Arsenal's first. Jimmy Bloomfield slotted past Harry Gregg to make it 3-2 and, to the delight and disbelief of the home fans, the same player converted a diving header to restore parity. But United were not champions for nothing. They regrouped and regained control, Dennis Viollet firing the visitors back in front before Taylor grabbed his second and United's fifth. Arsenal weren't finished and Welsh international Derek Tapscott set up a grandstand finish by pulling a goal back. Vic Groves went close to an equaliser but the 'Busby Babes' held out for a famous 5-4 victory. Sadly, it was to be their last game on British soil. Within five days of United's win at Highbury, five of their starting line-up perished as a result of the Munich air crash. Left-back and captain Roger Byrne, the entire half-back line of Eddie Colman, Mark Jones and Edwards, plus centre forward Taylor were all killed. The 'Busby Babes' left all who had seen them with fond memories of one of the finest sides to grace the English game. 1 of 8 2 of 8 3 of 8 4 of 8 5 of 8 6 of 8 7 of 8 8 of 8 Bertie Mee is appointed as manager Copyright 2019 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source. 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Duncan Edwards
Football career.
He was stationed at Nesscliffe near Shrewsbury along with teammate Bobby Charlton, but was allowed leave to play for United. He also took part in army matches, and in one season played nearly 100 matches in total. In the 1955–56 season, despite missing nearly two months of action due to a severe bout of influenza, Edwards played 33 times as United won the championship of the Football League by a margin of 11 points from Blackpool. The following season he made 34 league appearances, taking his total past the 100 mark, as United won a second consecutive league title, and was also in the team that contested the 1957 FA Cup Final, in which United missed out on the Double after a 2–1 defeat to Aston Villa. He also made seven appearances during United's first ever foray into the European Cup, including a 10–0 win over Anderlecht which remains the club's biggest-ever margin of victory. By now he was also a regular in the England team, featuring in all four of England's qualifying matches for the 1958 World Cup and scoring two goals in the 5–2 win over Denmark on 5 December 1956. He was expected to be a key player for England in the World Cup finals, and was seen as a likely candidate to replace the veteran Billy Wright as national team captain. 
 Edwards began the 1957–58 season in good form and rumours abounded that top Italian clubs were seeking to sign him.