Duncan Edwards Peace Field Site

On Tuesday 9 November 2021 a unique Duncan Edwards Peace Field Plaque was unveiled at the Dell Stadium in Brierley Hill, Dudley on when the site was officially twinned with the Flanders Peace Field in Mesen, Belgium – where a copy of the Duncan Edwards Plaque is now sited.

Jim Cadman – Chairman of the Duncan Edwards United – welcomed guests from Dudley Council, National Children’s Football Alliance, Manchester Munich Memorial Foundation, George Best Archives, Sir Tom Finney Preston Soccer Centre plus Duncan’s team mates from his early playing days at Priory Junior School and Dudley Boys.

In the week leading up to Christmas 1914, German, British and allied soldiers stopped fighting to sing festive songs. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, some ventured into no man’s land to exchange gifts and to play games of football. Today the truce is remembered as a symbolic moment of peace and humanity. 

As part of an initiative by the Children’s Football Alliance, there are 39 peace pitches across five continents in countries including the USA, Argentina, Ghana, Israel and Australia.

A ­partnership was formed between Dudley and three other Peace Field projects - George Best (Belfast), Denis Law (Aberdeen) and Sir Tom Finney (Preston) - and football teams representing each will play in The Peace Field Tournament at the Dell Stadium in May 2022.

Ernie Brennan, chief executive of the National Children’s Football Alliance, said: “Young people will connect with Duncan’s legacy and the power of the game that brings us together celebrating peace through play.” 

The Mayor of Dudley, Councillor Anne Millward, said: “The Duncan Edwards Peace Field is a wonderful initiative and a sobering reminder to us all of the sacrifices made for our freedoms.

“The fact that for a few brief hours, two adversaries laid down their arms and came together to share a game of football is so poignant and I am very proud that the Dell Stadium in Dudley Borough will be twinned with the historic Flanders Peace Field in Mesen, Belgium.”