Munich air disaster - 6th February 1958

[Suprah]

Today was the day when 50 years ago the Manchester United side of Sir Matt Busby, nicknamed the 'Busby Babes' for their relatively young age, struck disaster when returning from a game against Partizan Belgrade which they had drawn 3-3 and had gone through to the European Cup semis, as well as being top of the league as defending champions and being on course for the FA Cup.

Yes we were chasing a Treble back in 1958.

On a routine fuel stop at Munich, because of ice on the runway, the plane carrying the team, journalists, and other passengers crashed into the airport fence and ploughed into neighbouring houses on take-off.

23 people died, including 8 Manchester United players with some serious injuries to the survivors. A few players had to retire from the game because of them, with Sir Matt Busby who was hospitalised for weeks and couldnt manage the devastated team until almost a year after the disaster.

The survivors were scarred for life; notably future World Cup winner, European Footballer of the Year, and European Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton who to this day states that he feels guilty of surviving, and that he didnt deserve to live and succeed when comparing to a 21 year old all-rounder Duncan Edwards who died from his injuries after battling for 15 days in hospital after the crash.

Will add more...

[Adesor Vafaseya]

Sad day for all of us Man U fans.
thanks for remiding Suprah

may they all rest in peace.

[Suprah]

[Suprah]

As Matt Busby lay immobile in Munich, his trusty assistant Jimmy Murphy - who missed the trip to Belgrade because of his duties as Wales manager - had to pick up the pieces. Busby had told him, "Keep the flag flying, Jimmy."

As goalkeeper Harry Gregg recalled in his autobiography, the players who were left and able needed to play again. He wrote: “It (playing football) saved my sanity. I couldn’t get to the ground quick enough for training. Those brief moments spent running, diving, kicking, arguing and fighting were my escape valve.”

United’s chairman Harold Hardman was in full agreement. Just 13 days after the crash, the rescheduled fifth-round FA Cup tie with Sheffield Wednesday went ahead in front of a highly charged Old Trafford crowd of 59,848, with thousands more fans locked outside. Beneath the headline ‘United will go on’, Hardman’s message on the front of United Review (the club's match programme) was simple, yet effective.

“Although we mourn our dead and grieve for our wounded, we believe that great days are not done for us… Manchester United will rise again.”

The teamsheet in the United Review was poignantly blank. But Jimmy Murphy had followed his boss’s instructions and somehow put together a side to face Sheffield Wednesday. Crash survivors Gregg and Bill Foulkes were in the line-up, alongside new signings Ernie Taylor from Blackpool and Stan Crowther from Aston Villa, the team that had beaten United in the 1957 FA Cup final. Crowther signed just over an hour before kick-off and was given special dispensation to play having already appeared in the Cup that season for Villa.

The remainder of the team was a mixture of juniors and reserves: Ian Greaves, Freddie Goodwin, Ronnie Cope, Colin Webster, Alex Dawson, Stan Pearson and Shay Brennan, who scored twice on his debut as United won 3-0. Brennan would go on to play in the 1968 European Cup final ten years later.

For central defender Ronnie Cope, the game was a defiant stand, the chance to show all was not lost. “We’d lost some of the best players and the greatest players, but we hadn’t lost the spirit - that was what carried us through, the spirit.”

Riding the tide of goodwill, United made it through to Wembley where they met Bolton Wanderers in the final. The frail Busby sat on the bench and watched his team finally run out of steam, losing 2-0.

Murphy and his charges had pulled off a minor miracle to get that far. In the weeks and months following the crash, they had proved beyond any doubt that United would indeed go on. In the European Cup semi-final they beat Milan 2-1 at Old Trafford, before a valiant, yet comprehensive 4-0 defeat in the San Siro.

Though Busby had considered quitting, wrongly blaming his own sense of ambition for the chain of events that had ended in tragedy, his wife Jean and son Sandy convinced him to continue. Having overseen the building of greatness from an uncertain future, they believed he could - and should - aim for the sky again.

Success in '68

On 29 May 1968, ten years after Busby’s brave boys were lost in the snow, a tense night in north London climaxed with the knowledge that Matt had paid a debt to their memory.

Fittingly, the exuberance of local youth - the driving force behind Busby’s dream - played a full part in United winning the European Cup final at Wembley. Brian Kidd, a young striker from Collyhurst, Manchester - deputising for the injured Denis Law - celebrated his 19th birthday with United’s third goal in the 4-1 win over Benfica.

Another Collyhurst boy, Nobby Stiles, became one of only two Englishmen to win both the European Cup and the World Cup - the other was Bobby Charlton. As a kid, Stiles had idolised Eddie Colman; on this night, he tackled and ran for all the Babes. Another young man from Manchester, John Aston Jr, whose father had played in Busby’s FA Cup-winning side of 1948, was man of the match.

As they continue to do today, United had taken the crowd at Wembley from ecstasy to despair - and ultimately back again. And as Busby collapsed into the exhausted embraces of Charlton, Foulkes and Brennan, he felt a weight had been lifted.

“When Bobby (Charlton) took the cup, it cleansed me,” he said. “It eased the guilt of going into Europe. It was my justification.”

[Suprah]

February 6 will forever be circled on the calendars of everyone connected with Manchester United.

On that day in 1958, the darkest day in United's history, 23 people - including eight players and three members of the club's staff - suffered fatal injuries in the Munich air crash.

Flying back from a European Cup tie against Red Star Belgrade, the team plane stopped in Germany to refuel. The first two attempts to take off from Munich airport were aborted; following a third attempt, the plane crashed.

Twenty-two of the people on board died instantly, while Duncan Edwards - one of the eight victims from the team - died 15 days later as a result of the injuries he sustained.

The tragedy is an indelible part of United's history, as is Sir Matt Busby overcoming his injuries to build another great team which won the European Cup 10 years later.

Roger Byrne (28), Eddie Colman (21), Mark Jones (24), David Pegg (22), Tommy Taylor (26), Geoff Bent (25), Liam Whelan (22) and Duncan Edwards (21) all died, along with club secretary Walter Crickmer, trainer Tom Curry and coach Bert Whalley.

Eight journalists died - Alf Clarke, Tom Jackson, Don Davies, George Fellows, Archie Ledbrook, Eric Thompson, Henry Rose, and Frank Swift who was a former Manchester City player. Plane captain Ken Rayment perished, as did Sir Matt's friend Willie Sanitof. Travel agent Bela Miklos and passenger Tom Cable also died.

We will never forget.

[Suprah]

The Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958 claimed the lives of 23 passengers and crew. Here, ManUtd.com remembers the eight United players and three officials who died, through the words of those who knew them best.

Roger Byrne - aged 28, full-back. 277 appearances, 19 goals, 33 England caps.

"An aristocratic footballer, majestic in his movement. Roger was so fast but at the same time he controlled his movement beautifully, like Nureyev." - Sir Matt Busby

Geoff Bent - aged 25, full-back. 12 appearances.

"When Geoff matured and reached his twenties there were many clubs after him but he stayed loyal. He could look after himself and was a great tackler. Roger Byrne was a consistent player and very brave, that was the reason Geoff got so few games, but he was good enough to hold a regular place in any team." - Jimmy Murphy

Eddie Colman - aged 21, half-back. 107 appearances, 2 goals.

"Eddie was a chirpy lad and a terrific player. He pushed the ball - never kicked it - and he jinked past players. He was known for his swivel hips." - Wilf McGuinness

David Pegg - aged 22, forward, 148 appearances, 28 goals, 1 England cap.

"David would have been a great asset to any team because he was a natural, left-flank player. David was very, very clever. Our best left-winger by a mile." - Sir Matt Busby

Mark Jones - aged 24, half-back, 120 appearances, 1 goal.

"Yorkshireman Mark was a really lovely fellow, but my word he was a toughnut, and nobody took any liberties with him on or off the field." - Bill Foulkes

Duncan Edwards - aged 21, half-back, 175 apps., 21 goals, 18 England caps, 5 goals.

"When I used to hear Muhammad Ali proclaim to the world he was the greatest, I used to smile. The greatest of them all was a footballer named Duncan Edwards." - Jimmy Murphy

"The only player who ever made me feel inferior." - Sir Bobby Charlton

Tommy Taylor - aged 26, forward, 189 apps., 128 goals, 19 England caps, 16 goals

"I rate him as one of the all-time, best centre-forwards in the game, and he had yet to realise all his potential. He was a typically bluff Yorkshireman in many ways, often acting the clown, and a great team man." - Bill Foulkes

Liam 'Billy' Whelan - aged 22, forward, 96 apps., 52 goals, 4 Republic of Ireland caps

"Billy was a magician with a ball at his feet. I really don't think he knew how good he was and how much better he could have become. A world-class forward. There is no doubt about that. His vision and passing was sheer class." - Albert Scanlon

Walter Crickmer, club secretary / Tom Curry, trainer / Bert Whalley, coach

"Walter Crickmer always reminded me of a little dynamo, nothing was too much trouble. Tom Curry, the trainer, was someone we looked up to like a father. And Bert Whalley was certainly a tremendous help to me when I was a part-timer." - Bill Foulkes

[DAT BOY RONALDO]

may they rest in peace and be with the 72 virgins

[Suprah]

[Suprah]

may they rest in peace and be with the 72 virgins

not sure what to say after that

[Suprah]