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Munich survivors Bill Foulkes and Matt Busby after winning
theEuroepan Cup in 1968. (AP)
ESPNsoccernet: England
Tuesday, February 5, 2008ESPNsoccernet: February 6, 5:46
PM UK
The Busby Babes: Munich remembered
Phil Holland
It is the summer of 1968 and on Wembley's hallowed turf ,
underneath the famous twin towers and in front of 100,000 fans
Manchester United
have just beaten Benfica 4-1 to lift the European Cup.
On the pitch the celebrations soon engulf Matt Busby. One by one
his players find him, shake him by
the hand and embrace him. Each expressing in these brief
emotional moments feelings of joy, ofthanks, excitement and
something more; empathy.
It can be seen best in the fleeting glimpses the archives show
of Busby with George Best and with
Manchester-born Nobby Stiles, who shares a particularly poignant
exchange with his manager.
Ten years on from February 6th, 1958 and Busby and United had
achieved greatness.
It was an achievement born out of the necessity to honour the
memories of Busby's Babes who died inMunich.
The scale of the Munich air disaster, the sheer tragedy of the
events and their subsequent impact is
difficult to impart to a new generation of football fans. This
was a team that had achieved considerable success and while
so-doing won the hearts
of a nation, not just the red half of Manchester.
Two consecutive league championships, a runners-up place in the
1957 FA Cup final, five back-to-back FA Youth Cups between 1953-57,
a place
in the 1957 European Cup semi-finals and the same again in
1958.
The Busby Babes were on the brink of greatness, the future was
theirs. There seemed to be no limit on what they could achieve.
That they had managed to accomplish so much is remarkable in
itself, but it was the manner in which it was achieved that
endeared so many to that
Manchester United team. It was a side that not only played with
style and panache, but they did so with players who broke the
mould.
The commonly held belief at the time was that to compete at the
highest level required experience in every position, blooding a
youngster
represented a considerable risk. While Busby recognised the
importance of experience he believed that youth was an undervalued
asset and could
give him the edge.
ESPNsoccernet - England - The Busby Babes: Munich remembered
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/print?id=505303&type=story
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