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It is 50 years since United lost the
heart of one of the potentially best teams to ever grace a football field
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The original Busby Babes.
United chairman Mr. Hardman placed the
following message:
"Although we mourn our dead and grieve for our wounded, we believe that great days
are not done for us. The sympathy and encouragement of the football world and
particularly of our supporters will justify and inspire us. The road back may be
long and hard but with the memory of those who died at Munich, of their stirring
achievements and wonderful sportsmanship ever with us, Manchester United will
rise again".
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Roll of Honour  Duncan Edwards
Walter Crickmer - Club Secretary
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Busby Babes 50th Anniversary
Thousands of United supporters gathered underneath the Munich clock at Old Trafford on Wednesday afternoon to remember those who died 50 years ago. The crowd filled the forecourt from the corner of the East Stand to the entrance of the South Stand tunnel - now renamed the Munich Tunnel. A temporary gantry enabled TV camera crews to capture the scenes as the fans sang, fell silent and then sang again. A hush descended as audio from the memorial service in the Manchester Suite was played outside over the tannoy. Club chaplain Reverend John Boyers read out the names of the 23 people who perished, finishing just before 3.04pm when a minute's silence was observed. Renditions of United, United and The Red Flag brought an essence of the matchday atmosphere to the proceedings. The traditional song that's heard every year under the Munich clock, The Flowers of Manchester, was then sung before the crowd dispersed. Inside, the memorial service continued with Rev Boyers handing over to broadcaster and United supporter Eamonn Holmes. He interviewed a succession of attendees including Reds legends Sir Bobby Charlton, Harry Gregg and Nobby Stiles, journalist David Meek, current academy coach Paul McGuinness and UEFA general secretary David Taylor. Also in the congregation were crash survivors, relatives of the 23 victims, ex-players from the Munich era and beyond, and current club staff from Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill to players including Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. Meanwhile, hundreds of United fans attended a service at the crash site in Trudering, near Munich. Flowers were laid at a commemorative plaque. A total of 23 people on board the Elizabethan charter aircraft lost their lives in the Munich air crash on February 6, 1958. As well as the team members and staff, casualties included 8 journalists along with a travel agent as well as the co-pilot and a steward. There were 21 survivors. Seven of Manchester United's players died immediately, and Duncan Edwards died from his injuries on 21 February. Johnny Berry and Jackie Blanchflower were both injured to such an extent that they never played again. Matt Busby was seriously injured and had to stay in hospital for two months after the crash, and was read his last rites twice. There was speculation that the club would fold, but a threadbare United team completed the 1957-1958 season, with United's coach Jimmy Murphy standing in as manager. Jimmy has become the forgotten man but it was he who kept the club going until Sir Matt was able to re-take the reins. A team largely made up of reserve and youth team players beat Sheffield Wednesday 3–0 in the first match after the disaster. The programme for that match showed simply a blank space where each United player's name should have been. United only won one league game after the crash, causing their title challenge to collapse and push them down to ninth place in the league. But they reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–0 to Bolton Wanderers. Busby resumed managerial duties the following season and eventually built a second generation of Busby Babes, including George Best and Denis Law, that went on to win the European Cup a decade after the disaster in 1968, beating Benfica. Crash survivors Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes were two of the other players who lined up in that team. The European Cup had been contested since 1955, although no English club took part in the very first tournament on account of Football League rules. Manchester United entered the 1956-57 tournament and reached the semi-finals, being knocked out by eventual winners Real Madrid; they were thus one of the favourites for the 1957-58 tournament. Domestic league matches were played on Saturdays and European matches were played midweek, so although air travel was risky at the time, it was the only practical choice if United were to fulfil their league fixtures. Their team was known as the Busby Babes, a reference to their manager Sir Matt Busby and to the average age of the players, which was unusually young. The club had chartered an aeroplane to fly them home from their European Cup match against the Yugoslavian team Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade), which ended in a 3-3 draw (United won the tie 5-4 on aggregate. The takeoff from Belgrade was delayed for an hour as the United player Johnny Berry had lost his passport, then the plane made a scheduled stop in Munich to refuel. You can watch a video of the news on that day from the BBC. Video
Survivors MemorialsThe first three memorials at Old Trafford were unveiled on 25 February 1960. Placed above the entrance to the Director's Box the plaque
featured a supporter and a player with their heads bowed solemnly
looking down onto a wreath, underneath of which was a football bearing
the date 1958 and beneath this was the pitch
with the names of the dead inscribed. A bronze plaque in memory of
eight journalists was placed into the Press Box and lastly the simple
clock was erected at the front of the stadium. When building work began
a decade later the plaque could not be safely moved and was left in situ
to be walled up inside the new construction. The club claims to possess
this pitch aspect of this first memorial in storage, and also claims to
be planning its placement in the on site museum. The manufacturers of
the plaque actually made a second copy, but this was destroyed when the
firm went out of business in 1983. The second plaque, similar but smaller, was installed in 1976 and a
third plaque is on the front facade of the ground and was installed in
1996. The clock has moved but is still visible and the press box plaque was stolen and replaced with a replica shortly afterwards. There are also two memorials in Germany. In the village of Kirchtrudering,
there is a small wooden trough memorial with the inscription: "In the
memory of the victims of the air disaster of 6.2.1958 including members
of the football team of Manchester United as well as all the victims
from the municipality of Trudering". Tributes
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