The Black Country Boy

Duncan was born in the heart of the industrial West Midlands on 1 October 1936 and his parents, Sarah-Ann and Gladstone Edwards lived in Elm Road, on the Priory Estate, Dudley. 

His mother was quick to recognise his early interest in playing with a ball, and would pick him up and swing his legs so that he could kick away. He could kick a ball before he could walk, and would kick anything and everything.

A ball was never far from his feet, and the sight of Duncan dribbling a ball to and from school was a common one for the people of Dudley. 

Duncan’s education began at Priory Road Junior School, just a few hundred yards from his home and it was there that he won his first football honour playing for the school team as they won the Dudley League Championship in the 1947 -48 season.