By the end of the 1963–64 season he established himself as first choice at right back, replacing club stalwart Cec Coldwell and remained a regular there until 1975. His stylish full-back displays, meant it was not long before he took over as captain and, at the time, he was one of the youngest skippers in the league. Badger's left-back colleagues of the early and mid-sixties included Graham Shaw and Bernard Shaw, but it was the arrival of Ted Hemsley in 1968 that provided him with his most fruitful partnership which continued through one of United's most successful post war periods from 1969–1972.