Edmund Peter Skirving Colquhoun (; 29 March 1945 – 16 April 2023) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Known to players and fans as Eddie Colquhoun, he started his professional football career with Bury in 1962. He made 81 league appearances and scored twice for them. He moved on to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

in 1967. During his time at the club West Brom won the 1967-68 FA Cup but Colquhoun missed the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

against Everton through injury. In 1968, Sheffield United had just been relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Their manager at the time was

Arthur Rowley George Arthur Rowley Jr. (21 April 1926 – 19 December 2002), nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his explosive left-foot shot, was an English football player and cricketer. He holds the record for the most goals in the history of English lea ...

, and he signed Colquhoun from West Brom for £27,500. Colquhoun made his debut for Sheffield United against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

on 19 October 1968. Colquhoun was uncompromising, hard tackling and a leader in his play, and was instantly made team captain for his home debut at Bramall Lane against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

on 26 October 1968, in a match United won 2–0. The following week, he scored his first Sheffield United goal against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

at Fratton Park on 2 November. Colquhoun proved to be an excellent signing and was an integral part of the Sheffield United side which won promotion to the First Division in season 1970–71. He made a total of 416 appearances (363 league) with 21 goals (21 league) in all competitions for Sheffield United between 1968 and 1978. A sign of his popularity was the chant containing his name; We ain't got a barrel of money, But we've got Woodward and Currie, And with Eddie Colquhoun, Promotion is soon, United. Colquhoun won eleven international

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

between 1967 and 1973. Colquhoun played in two games during a 1967 overseas tour that the Scottish Football Association decided in October 2021 to reclassify as full internationals, which increased his cap tally from nine to eleven. His grandson Ben Wiles plays for

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

. Colquhoun died on 16 April 2023, at the age of 78.

References

External links

Profile of Eddie Colquhoun

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colquhoun, Eddie 1945 births 2023 deaths Scottish footballers Sheffield United F.C. players Bury F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Scotland men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders Scottish expatriate footballers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Detroit Express players People from Prestonpans Washington Diplomats (NASL) players Footballers from East Lothian Expatriate soccer players in the United States Scotland men's under-23 international footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States