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William Anthony "Bill" Foulkes (* January 5th 1932 in St Helens ; † 25. November 2013 ) was a English Soccer player and -trainer .
Foulkes was born in St Helens in the county in 1932 Lancashire born. His grandfather was the captain of the English national rugby team . The Englishman made his first football experiences at the Whiston Boys Club. In the early days of his career he worked in the Lea Green coal mine.
The Englishman was born in 1950 by Matt Busby to Manchester United fetched. His preferred position over the course of his career was that of Center-back or des Pre-stoppers . He played 679 competitive games for the Red
Devils and is still behind today Ryan Giggs and Sir Bobby Charlton the player with the third most stakes for the club. In the seasons 1957/58, 1959/60, 1963/64 and 1964/65 the defender played all games in the season. Foulkes scored nine competitive goals in 18 seasons as a professional, winning four Championships , one FA Cup , as well as the one in 1968 European Champion Clubs' Cup . Still, he only played for them once English national football team .
Foulkes was spotted playing for Manchester United's Whiston Boys Club in 1950. He signed his first professional contract in March of the same year at the age of 18 and was promoted to the first team in August 1951. He made his competitive debut on 12. December 1952 as right Full-back against the Liverpool FC . During this time he also played two games for the English U-23 team. At the same time, Foulkes continued to work part-time in the coal mine, as he had not yet been convinced of his own qualities as a professional footballer. Foulkes scored the first goal for the "Red Devils" on 2. January 1954 in St. James' Park against Newcastle United . On 2. October 1954 he played against Northern Ireland (2-0) the first and last time for the English national team. After being called up to the team, the defender gave up his work in the mine to concentrate fully on football. In the 1955/56 season, Foulkes won his first English championship and just under two years later Bill Foulkes was a member of the United team. February 1958 after a European Cup match British European Airways Flight 609 on the Munich-Riem Airport crashed. While teammates such as Duncan Edwards , Tommy Taylor and Roger Byrne died, but Foulkes remained almost uninjured and was able to continue his career immediately.
After the plane crash, Foulkes became captain of the Red Devils and succeeded Roger Byrne. The decimated team then only finished ninth in the championship and was also eliminated in the national championship cup in the semifinals. In the 1962/63 season, Manchester United only reached 19th place. Rank in the league, but won that FA Cup final against Leicester City . In the 1964/65 season, Manchester United won the first English championship since the plane crash.
Three years later, Bill Foulkes achieved his greatest international success after Manchester United had won another championship in the previous season. Bill Foulkes was the only survivor of the Munich disaster alongside Bobby Charlton, who was still part of the team ten years later. The club was in the semi-finals of the European championship cup competition real Madrid opposite and after a 1-0 first leg win in Old Trafford , United were down 3-1 at halftime in the second leg. The game eventually ended 3-3 and Bill Foulkes scored in 77. Minute even the balance to the final score. In the final it was Benfica Lisbon defeated 4-1 after two goals from Bobby Charlton in extra time.
The last of his 683 competitive games made Foulkes on 16. August 1969 against the Southampton FC .
