Colin Webster (17 July 1932 – 1 March 2001) was a Welsh footballer and Wales international. A striker, he played his club football for

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, Swansea Town and Newport County and was part of the Wales squad for the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

in Sweden.

Club career

Webster began his career at his home town club

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

but, despite playing regularly for the reserve side while also working as a part-time motor fitter, he was unable to break into the first team. He was later brought to the attention of

by Jimmy Murphy and signed for the club in May 1952. He was playing for Manchester United at the time of the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958, but did not travel with the team due to ill health. He remained at the club for one year after the tragedy and played in the

1958 FA Cup Final The 1958 FA Cup Final was contested on 3 May 1958 by Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium, London, in front of a crowd of almost 100,000. The referee was J. Sherlock. Bolton won 2–0, with a double by Nat Lofthouse, who sco ...

, collecting a runners-up medal as United were defeated by

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. In 1958, he moved to Swansea Town for a fee of £7,5000 where he spent five years, finishing as top scorer for the club in the 1959–60 and 1960–61 seasons and winning the Welsh Cup in 1961. Webster finished his professional career in 1964 with Newport County, later playing non-league football for Worcester City and

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

International career

Webster made his debut for Wales on 1 May 1957 in a 1–0 win over Czechoslovakia. The following year, he was named as part of the Wales squad for the

. He played in 1–1 draws against Hungary and Mexico during the group stages and later replaced the injured John Charles in the quarter-final against Brazil, missing an easy chance to level the score and thus ensuring Wales's elimination.

After retirement

Webster later ran a scaffolding business and later spent nine years working as a park ranger in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

. After breaking his leg in a fall, Webster took early retirement. He died from lung cancer on 1 March 2001 at the age of 68.

Honours

Manchester United *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

(1): 1955–56 Swansea Town * Welsh Cup (1): 1960–61

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Colin 1932 births 2001 deaths Footballers from Cardiff Cardiff City F.C. players Welsh men's footballers Manchester United F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Merthyr Tydfil F.C. players Wales men's international footballers 1958 FIFA World Cup players English Football League players Deaths from cancer in Wales Men's association football inside forwards