He graduated from Manchester United's youth system and played for the club on 117 occasions, winning one league title, before his career was cut short due to injuries sustained in the Munich air disaster.

He was the younger brother of Danny Blanchflower, the captain of the Tottenham Hotspur side that dominated English football in the early 1960s.

[2] He became a regular first team player in the 1953–54 season,[2] when he played in 27 out of 42 league games and scored 13 goals as an inside-forward.

[5] On 6 February 1958, the Manchester United team that had travelled to Belgrade for the second leg of a European cup tie had their chartered plane stop in Munich to refuel.

Weather conditions caused the plane to crash when the pilot attempted to take-off from Munich airport and 23 of the 44 people on board were killed.

[8]He married his wife Jean in 1956 and eventually pursued studies in finance and began a career as an accountant.