February 6 – Munich Air Crash
AT 3.04pm today it will be 50 years to the minute since the British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at the Munich-Riem airport in Munich, in what was then West Germany.
The plane was carrying the Manchester United team after they had played a European cup tie at Red Star Belgrade, and the plane had stopped at Munich to refuel.
Twenty three passengers on board the flight died either immediately, or later as a result of their injuries. Eight of the dead were United players, while many others were badly injured, including manager Matt Busby.
The Munich Air Crash caused shock waves throughout the world. Any air crash would have been big news, but this one was especially shocking, ripping apart as it did the famous Busby Babes, the exciting team of youngsters put together by Matt Busby that were set to dominate English and probably European football for a decade until disaster struck.
Babes they most certainly were; the team which had won the league title in 1956 had an average age of 23 and most of them had been brought to United by Busby when they were still apprentices.
Busby was so badly injured that he was read the last rites twice when it looked like he might not recover. His assistant manager Jimmy Murphy had not been on the plane as he was fulfilling his other role as Wales manager at the time, and it fell to him to try to keep the club going in the wake of the tragedy.
As well as all the things that had to be dealt with such as getting information out and arranging flights and hotels in Munich for the wives and families of the injured, Murphy also had to try and ensure United as a football team did not simply fold.
Their first game after the crash was an FA Cup tie at home to Sheffield Wednesday. Famously the team sheet in the match programme was left blank simply because Murphy had no idea who would be playing until the last minute.
He did manage to get team out cobbled together from youth team and reserve players with a couple of late additions brought in after the crash.
Wednesday seemingly did not have the heart to really have a go at the grieving team and United ran out 3-0 winners. It was to be the start of a remarkable cup run which took the team all the way to the final at Wembley where, watched by a slowly recovering Busby, they were finally beaten 2-0 by Bolton Wanderers.
Busby took charge of the team again the following season and slowly rebuilt a new side including George Best and crash survivors Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes which lifted the European Cup in 1968, ten years after the crash.
1968 was also the year Captain James Thain, the pilot of the plane was eventually cleared of any wrong-doing after he had initially been blamed for the crash by the German airport authorities.
The crash and United’s subsequent recovery under Busby has only added to the fascination which surrounds the club and their legendary manager. It was one of those events like the Heysel or Hillsborough disasters that compels football fans feelings to transcend those of club rivalries, if only for a little while.
Here is a list of the people that died 50 years ago today:
Manchester United players: Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards (survived the crash but died in hospital 15 days later), Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Liam ‘Billy’ Whelan.
Others: Walter Crickmer – Club Secretary, Bert Whalley – Chief Coach, Tom Curry – Trainer, Alf Clarke – journalist, Manchester Evening Chronicle, Don Davies – journalist, Manchester Guardian, George Follows – journalist, Daily Herald, Tom Jackson – journalist, Manchester Evening News, Archie Ledbrooke – journalist, Daily Mirror, Henry Rose – journalist, Daily Express, Eric Thompson – journalist, Daily Mail, Frank Swift – journalist, News of the World (also former England and Manchester City goalkeeper), Captain Kenneth “Ken” Rayment – British co-pilot, Bela Miklos – travel agent, Willie Satinoff – supporter, racecourse owner and close friend of Matt Busby, Tom Cable – steward.
No related posts.
Loading ...3 Comments
May 29 - Busby's Destiny Fulfilled | On This Football Day on May 29th, 2008
[...] While the shock and anguish of the Munich disaster could never be dissipated, United knew that the best way to honour their fallen comrades was to build a team to match the 1958 vintage and that is exactly what they did. [...]
February 6 - Anfield of Dreams | On This Football Day on February 6th, 2009
[...] on this day, one of the worst tragedies in the history of football. Share and [...]
February 21 - Duncan Edwards Passes Away | On This Football Day on February 21st, 2008
[...] weeks ago we brought you the story of the Munich air disaster, a tragedy that killed seven Manchester United players instantly. The shining light of that team [...]