A PERMANENT tribute room in honour of Dudley footballing hero Duncan Edwards will be unveiled at a major hotel next week.

The Copthorne Hotel at the Waterfront will be home to the Duncan Edwards Tribute Room and it will be officially opened on Wednesday February 6.

The date marks the 61st anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster in which Edwards, widely regarded as one of the best footballers in the world, was fatally injured.

He died 15 days later from his injuries, aged only 21.

The unveiling follows the hotel hosting last October's inaugural Duncan Edwards Tribute Dinner, which it has been decided will be an annual event.

The dinner, which was last year attended by a host of football stars including Steve Bull and Tommy Docherty, will return to the Copthorne Hotel this September.

Stuart Fleming, general manager of the Copthorne Hotel, said: “We are delighted to be hosting this year’s tribute dinner and in recognition of this we will be opening a new Duncan Edwards Tribute Room at the hotel on Wednesday, February 6, 2019.

“The room will be decorated with a wide range of photographs, artwork and memorabilia taken from the recently published Duncan Edwards book by Jim Cadman and Ian McCartney entitled Black Country Boy to Red Devil.”

Mayor of Dudley, Councillor Alan Taylor, who will be attending the opening, said: "I am pleased to participate in this project because it is really important that we keep Duncan’s name alive for a new generation to feel inspired by his achievements.”

Members of Duncan's family will also be at the event, along with the Duncan Edwards Reunion Team made up of Duncan's former team mates from his school days in Dudley.

Outlining the next steps of the Duncan Edwards Tribute group, chairman Jim Cadman, said: “The dinner in September will be part of our strategy – along with our second Duncan Edwards Exhibition at Dudley Archives from April to June 2019, the distribution of heritage packs and our website - to keep his memory alive and celebrate the sporting legacy that he has created in the Black Country and beyond.”