He became a first-team member at right-half during the 1955–56 season, ousting Jeff Whitefoot to play alongside Duncan Edwards.

He played in the FA Cup final that season, but only collected a runners-up medal as United lost 2–1 to Aston Villa.

He made 108 first-team appearances for United, scoring two goals, the second of which came in the first leg of the fateful European Cup quarter-final tie against Red Star Belgrade.

An accommodation building at the University of Salford is named after him – the Eddie Colman Court is a block of flats located near the main campus.

[3] Twenty-seven workers at a Manchester boxmaking firm were dismissed from their jobs for leaving work to attend Colman's funeral, but were all soon reinstated.