Manchester United
was torn apart by the Munich air crash in which 23 lost their lives on 6th february 1958.
The darkest day in the 130 year history of the greatest club in the world.
BACKGROUND
A plaque at Old Trafford Football Ground remembering the Munich air disasterThe 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 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 team now returned ther focus back to the league as the looked forward to the league match against Wolverhampton Wanderers.Captain Roger Byrne,Eddie Colman,Liam Whelan,David Pegg,Tommy Taylor,Mark Jones,Geoff Bent and Duncan Edwards looked forward to facing wolves but not one of those players ever lived to kick a ball again.
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.
THE CRASH
Captain James Thain, the pilot, tried to take off twice, but both attempts were aborted due to engine surging. When a third take off was attempted, at 3:04 pm, the plane failed to gain adequate height and crashed into the fence surrounding the airport, then into a house, which was unoccupied at the time.
Although the crash was originally blamed on pilot error, it was subsequently found to have been caused by the build-up of slush towards the ends of the runway, causing deceleration of the aircraft and preventing safe flying speed from being attained. During the take off, the aircraft had attained a speed of 117 kt (217 km/h) but on entering the slush speed dropped to 105 kt (194 km/h), too slow for flight, with not enough runway remaining to abort the take off. Aircraft with tail-wheel undercarriages had not been greatly affected by slush, due to the geometry of these undercarriages in relation to the aircraft's centre of gravity, but newer types, such as the Ambassador, with nose wheel landing-gear and the main wheels behind the centre of gravity, were found to be vulnerable. The accident resulted in the instigation of operating limits for the amount of slush build-up permitted on runways.
Despite this conclusion, the German airport authorities (who were legally responsible for the state of the airport's runways, but generally not aware of the then unknown danger of slush on runways for aircraft like the Ambassador) took legal action against Captain Thain, who had survived the crash, claiming he had taken off without deicing the wings and that responsibility for the accident was his alone, despite several witnesses stating that this was not so. The basis of the German authorities' case relied on a photograph of the aircraft (published in several newspapers) taken shortly before take off, that appeared to show snow on the upper wing surfaces. When the original negative was examined, however, no snow or ice could be seen, the 'snow' having been due to the published pictures being produced from a copy negative. The witnesses were not called to the German inquiry and proceedings against Thain dragged on until 1968, when he was finally cleared of any responsibility for the crash. As the official cause, British authorities recorded a build-up of melting snow on the runway which prevented the Elizabethan from reaching the required take-off speed. Thain, having been dismissed by BEA shortly after the accident and never reengaged, retired and returned to run his poultry farm in Berkshire. He died of a heart attack at the age of 53, in 1975.
MANCHESTER UNITED AFTER THE CRASH
Seven of Manchester United's players died immediately, and Duncan Edwards died from his injuries after a long and painful 2 week battle 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, pictures of Sir Matt appeared in English tabloid papers of him in an oxygen tent, he 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. 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, but this was a step to far for the emerging players and survivors of that terrible day they lost 2–0 to Bolton Wanderers. Busby had decided he was finished in football till his wife Jean said to him "the lads would not want you to give up" he resumed managerial duties the following season and eventually built a second generation of Busby Babes, including George Best and Denis Law,they went on to win the league titles in 1965 and 1967 and the crowning moment for them and Sir matt Busby was the winning of 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.
Sir Matt Busby died in january 1994.
MEMORIALS
The 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".
In September 2004, in the vicinity of Munich Airport, a granite memorial was unveiled which reads in both English and German: "In memory of those who lost their lives here in the Munich air disaster on the 6th February 1958". Underneath is a plaque expressing United's gratitude to the municipality of Munich and its people.
In December 2007, it was announced that Manchester United would wear a replica of their 1958 kit in the Manchester derby in February 2008 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster. The kit will feature no sponsors or squad numbers - numbered instead simply 1 to 11 in the old style - and will not be available to buy before or after the match.[4] Manchester City will also wear a special kit for the game, with the addition of black armbands and the removal of their sponsor's branding. On 6 February 2008, the England national football team takes on Switzerland at Wembley Stadium. Before the game, images of the players who lost their lives at Munich will be displayed on big screens, and England players will wear black armbands. Originally, a minute's silence was not to have been observed on the day, due to the Football Association's fears that the silence would not be respected by fans of Manchester United's rivals. However, they then agreed that a minute's silence should be held.
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