DUDLEY'S footballing legend Duncan Edwards is to be honoured with a peace field site in Brierley Hill.

A plaque in memory of the former Manchester United and England star, who died after the Munich air disaster in 1958, is to be unveiled at The Dell Stadium in Brierley Hill, on Thursday November 11, 2021, when the site will be twinned with designated areas of play at the Flanders Peace Field in Mesen, Belgium.

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

They have been set up to remember the Christmas truce, a symbolic moment of peace and humanity, when German, British and allied soldiers stopped fighting in December 1914 to sing festive songs and on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day some ventured into no man’s land to exchange gifts and play games of football.

In the UK, a partnership has been formed with three other peace field projects - George Best (Belfast), Denis Law (Aberdeen) and Sir Tom Finney (Preston) - and football teams representing each will play in a Peace Field Tournament at The Dell Stadium in Brierley Hill every year.

Winners of the inaugural tournament to be held in May 2022 will receive the Duncan Edwards Trophy, based on the maquette of the statue in Dudley town centre which has recently been renovated by the sculptor James Butler MBE RA in support of this project.

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 will be twinned with the historic Flanders Peace Field in Mesen, Belgium.”

The uncle of Duncan Edwards, Private Sidney Edwards, served in the 9th Worcester Battalion during World War I and was killed in 1917 in Kut al-Amara, Mesopotamia, now part of Iraq, and he is remembered on the Dudley World War I memorial.

The peace field project will benefit from funds raised at the annual Duncan Edwards Tribute Dinner, at the Copthorne Hotel, Brierley Hill, on Thursday September 30.

The theme will be ‘The Icon and The Prince’ and the event will mark what would have been the 85th birthday of Edwards and George Best’s 75th birthday.

Among the guests are Alex Stepney, a teammate of Best’s at Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion’s FA Cup winning captain Graham Williams who played against Best and Edwards.

Also paying tribute to the iconic duo will be members of Aston Villa’s European Cup winning squad of including skipper Dennis Mortimer, Tony Morley, Colin Gibson, Jimmy Rimmer and Gordon Cowans.

A collection of George Best memorabilia will be on display relating to Best’s football career as well as his impact on the Swinging Sixties football scene.

For more information or to book tickets contact Jim Cadman of the Duncan Edwards and Bestie75 Tributes on 07971 624627 or email jwc@duncanedwardstribute.com.