Jeff Whitefoot: Busby Babe and Nottingham Forest FA Cup winner dies aged 90

Jeff Whitefoot, the last surviving member of Manchester United’s Busby Babes side of the 1950s, has died aged 90.

The wing-half joined United straight from school and was part of the Red Devils’ 1952 and 1956 title-winning sides under manager Sir Matt Busby.

He left for a short spell at Grimsby in 1957 before moving to Nottingham Forest, where he made more than 250 appearances and won the FA Cup in 1959.

“There were few more perceptive and precise passers of a football in England than Jeff during the mid-1950s,” read a Manchester United statement.

“He played the game with a cool, seemingly casual grace which masked a sharp competitive edge.”

Whitefoot became United’s youngest league debutant against Portsmouth in April 1950 aged 16 years and 105 days.

He made 95 appearances and earned one cap for England Under-23s before moving to Grimsby in late 1957.

Just months later the Munich air disaster in February 1958 claimed the lives of 23 people, including eight of Whitefoot’s former United team-mates.

He spent just one season at Grimsby before moving to Forest, where he would remain for 11 years before retiring in 1967.