The 23 survivors were admitted to hospital, but Foulkes was discharged and spent the night in a hotel with Gregg. The next morning, Foulkes visited his teammates in the hospital. He visited Duncan Edwards, Johnny Berry, Jackie Blanchflower, Viollet, Scanlon, Charlton and Ray Wood. Then, he recalls, "I was just beginning to think it didn't look too bad when I asked where the rest were. The nurse simply shook her head and said: 'That's it, everybody else has died.'" In 1966–67, Foulkes helped United win the Championship again, completing his haul of four Championship medals, more than any other United player of his era, and indeed any other player at the club for the next 32 years. He had also made 3 appearances as a substitute in the 1968–69 season in the First Division. He also started in every single game United had played in the seasons 1957–58, 1959–60, 1963–64 and 1964–65. He served United in the First Division for 18 seasons, most of them as a regular player, and was the longest-serving player at the club at the time of his final game. He scored a total of nine goals for United, the first in a 2–1 league win at Newcastle United on 2 January 1954, and the last on 15 May 1968 in the victorious European Cup semi-final second leg tie in Madrid.
After retirement, he stayed at Old Trafford as a youth team coach from 1970 to 1975, when he finally left United after 25 years of unbroken service.
Post-Manchester United
After his coaching stint at United, Foulkes managed several teams. First, he was manager of English non-League club Witney United, which was then known as Witney Town. In 1975, he went to USA where he managed Chicago Sting (1975–77), Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–79) and San Jose Earthquakes (1980). He then travelled to Norway in 1980 to 1988 where he had two managing stints with Steinkjer FK, and also managed IL Bryn, Lillestrøm SK and Viking FK.
In 1988, he went to Japan and managed F.C. Mazda in Hiroshima until 1991. Then, he finished his involvement with the game and returned to England in 1992.
In October 1992, he auctioned mementoes of his career at Christie's as he needed the money. Twenty items were auctioned, raising almost £35,000. All his medals were auctioned, and his European Cup medal raised £11,000, while the jersey he wore in the European Cup final raised £1,800. Foulkes' European Cup medal was resold at an auction at Sotheby's in London in November 2012 as part of a collection of sporting memorabilia; this time, it sold for almost four times as much, going for £40,000.
Later life and death
Even in his late sixties, Foulkes was still coaching for the Manchester FA, and was frequently requested to show Japanese visitors around the stadium, because of his four-year coaching spell in Japan during which he learnt the Japanese language. He was in attendance along with the four remaining players who survived the Munich tragedy on 21 May 2008, when United beat Chelsea on penalties in the final of the European Cup in Moscow, Russia.
In April 2011, he was portrayed by actor James Callàs Ball in the BBC TV drama United, the storyline of which was centred around the Munich air disaster. However, the character of Foulkes had little significance in the film and was not listed in the film's credits, despite his major role in the escape from the crashed plane. Foulkes himself did not take any part in the filming of the drama due to an undisclosed long-term medical condition.
Foulkes died at the age of 81 in Manchester on 25 November 2013. He had reportedly been suffering from Alzheimer's disease during the final few years of his life. His last appearance in public was almost four years earlier at the funeral of Albert Scanlon, another United player who survived the Munich crash. He is not believed to have attended the funeral of Kenny Morgans, another survivor of the crash, in November 2012.
Career statistics
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Manchester United career
|-
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="2"|First Division
!colspan="2"|FA Cup
!colspan="2"|League Cup<sup>†</sup>
!colspan="2"|Charity Shield
!colspan="2"|Europe
!colspan="2"|Intercontinental Cup
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
! Apps !! Goal !! Apps !! Goal !! Apps !! Goal !! Apps !! Goal !! Apps !! Goal !! Apps !! Goal !! Apps !! Goals
|-
|1952–53
| 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || colspan="2" rowspan="8"| || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 2 !! 0
|-
|1953–54
| 32 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 33 !! 1
|-
|1954–55
| 41 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 44 !! 0
|-
|1955–56
| 26 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 27 !! 0
|-
|1956–57
| 39 || 0 || 6 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 8 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 54 !! 0
|-
|1957–58
| 42 || 0 || 8 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 8 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 59 !! 0
|-
|1958–59
| 32 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 33 !! 0
|-
|1959–60
| 42 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 45 !! 0
|-
|1960–61
| 40 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 45 !! 0
|-
|1961–62
| 40 || 0 || 7 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 47 !! 0
|-
|1962–63
| 41 || 0 || 6 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 47 !! 0
|-
|1963–64
| 41 || 1 || 7 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 6 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 55 !! 1
|-
|1964–65
| 42 || 0 || 7 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 11 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 60 !! 0
|-
|1965–66
| 33 || 0 || 7 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 8 || 1 || 0 || 0
! 48 !! 1
|-
|1966–67
| 33 || 4 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 35 !! 4
|-
|1967–68
| 24 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 6 || 1 || 0 || 0
! 31 !! 2
|-
|1968–69
| 13 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 5 || 0 || 2 || 0
! 20 !! 0
|-
|1969–70
| 3 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
! 3 !! 0
|-
! Total
! 566 !! 7 !! 61 !! 0 !! 3 !! 0 !! 4 !! 0 !! 52 !! 2 !! 2 !! 0 !! 688 !! 9
|}
<sup>†</sup>The League Cup began in 1960–61.
Honours
Manchester United
- Football League First Division: 1955–56, 1956–57, 1964–65, 1966–67
- FA Cup: 1962–63; runner-up: 1956–57,