The Official 50 Year Anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster Thread

Motterman · Jan 31, 2008

ATTENTION: This is, quite probably, the most important thread in BigSoccer's Manchester United Forum history. It certainly will be a solemn and respectful one. The following posts are for Manchester United supporters, and for supporters of other clubs, to offer their thoughts, tributes, stories, links to stories, pictures, prayers, and condolences to commemorate one of the greatest sporting tragedies in history. However; be warned - anything that seems like a troll at all will be dealt with swiftly and harshly. We are typically one of the most lenient boards on BigSoccer, but not in this thread.

We recognize that there is a need for a separate thread for banter and related discussions regarding the Munich tragedy, and you can find that here: Munich Open Discussion Thread

jammybastard has started a "50 Years On: The Media Remembers..." thread. I highly encourage you to check it out, as seeing personal accounts on video really brings the experience and reality of what happened home. Check it out here:
50 Years On: The Media Remembers...

The Media thread and other information about the Munich tragedy and other information about the history of Manchester United Football Club, is in our History SubForum as well.

After 1 month's time, this thread will be closed again and then stickied in the Manchester United History SubForum indefinitely, so please make a significant contribution.

And when we say "significant", we don't mean post alot of stuff (leave that for the Open thread), we mean post something personal and powerful. Something worth remembering...

Thank you.

~Your BigSoccer Manchester United Forum Moderators~

The Flowers of Manchester

One cold and bitter Thursday in Munich, Germany,
Eight great football stalwarts conceded victory,
Eight men will never play again who met destruction there,
The flowers of English football, the flowers of Manchester

Matt Busby's boys were flying, returning from Belgrade,
This great United family, all masters of their trade,
The pilot of the aircraft, the skipper Captain Thain,
Three times they tried to take off and twice turned back again.

The third time down the runaway disaster followed close,
There was slush upon that runaway and the aircraft never rose,
It ploughed into the marshy ground, it broke, it overturned.
And eight of the team were killed as the blazing wreckage burned.

Roger Byrne and Tommy Taylor who were capped for England's side.
And Ireland's Billy Whelan and England's Geoff Bent died,
Mark Jones and Eddie Colman, and David Pegg also,
They all lost their lives as it ploughed on through the snow.

Big Duncan he went too, with an injury to his brain,
And Ireland's brave Jack Blanchflower will never play again,
The great Matt Busby lay there, the father of his team
Three long months passed by before he saw his team again.

The trainer, coach and secretary, and a member of the crew,
Also eight sporting journalists who with United flew,
and one of them Big Swifty, who we will ne'er forget,
the finest English 'keeper that ever graced the net.

Oh, England's finest football team its record truly great,
its proud successes mocked by a cruel turn of fate.
Eight men will never play again, who met destruction there,
the flowers of English football, the flowers of Manchester.

Geoff Bent
Roger Byrne
Eddie Colman
Duncan Edwards
Mark Jones
David Pegg
Tommy Taylor
Liam Whelan
Walter Crickmer
Bert Whalley
Tom Curry
Alf Clarke
Don Davies
George Follows
Tom Jackson
Archie Ledbrooke
Henry Rose
Eric Thompson
Frank Swift
Kenneth Rayment
Bela Miklos
Willie Satinoff
Tom Cable

Motterman · Feb 1, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/080202/2/xv2p.html

Munich disaster changed Manchester United forever

Sat 02 Feb, 12:09 AM

MANCHESTER (Reuters) - Manchester United stopped being just another football club on the afternoon of February 6 1958 when the plane carrying them home from Belgrade crashed after a refuelling stop at Munich.
A transformation took place in the national consciousness as a stunned public learnt by wireless and news flashes on small grainy television sets of the tragedy that had wiped out the cream of a generation, the Busby Babes.
People who had no interest in soccer began following the fortunes of United, neutrals willed them to win. The players who survived the crash, such as Bobby Charlton, won a special place in people's hearts and United itself became an icon of hope born of tragedy.
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Motterman · Feb 1, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/02/02/sfnmun302.xml

Just for an instant those in the room thought Sir Alex Ferguson was going to cry. Certainly, there was a catch in his voice when he was asked if it would be fitting for Manchester United to win the European Cup in the year that marks the 50th anniversary of the Munich Disaster.

"I have to confess it makes me a wee bit nervous," he replied after a long pause. "It is maybe a good thing that the fear of failure is upon us. It is a very, very emotional high point in the club's history and how we deal with it is not going to be easy. I do have a bit of nervousness about this season but I do think we have the right players to do it. I think I've given them the ammunition for it. Munich may be an incentive but, who knows, it may be the biggest handicap of all.

Sir Alex Ferguson: Aiming to win seal Champions League victory

"But the players we have here are not afraid of challenges; they can play without nerve and there are too many of them who can play without nerves for us to fail miserably. I think we have a marvellous chance."
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Motterman · Feb 1, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ma...AVCBQYIV0?xml=/sport/2008/02/01/sfnmun101.xml

How Matt Busby arrived at Manchester UnitedBy Robert Philip

Four decades into the future, Alex Ferguson would be moved to describe Old Trafford as the "Theatre of Dreams" as he gazed round in wonderment following his appointment as manager of Manchester United, but when Matt Busby turned up for work on his first day on Oct 22, 1945, the once-magnificent stadium lay before him as a Second World War bomb site.
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Motterman · Feb 1, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ma...AVCBQYIV0?xml=/sport/2008/02/02/sfnmun102.xml

Bobby Charlton's tales rekindle Babes passion
By Tim Rich

"Dennis, it's dreadful." They were the first words Bobby Charlton spoke as he came round on the slush-covered runway at Munich Airport, grateful that he had kept his overcoat on as the plane made its third, fatal attempt to take off.

He had been sitting next to Dennis Viollet who, with Tommy Taylor, provided the deep cutting-edge to the Busby Babes. As the propeller-driven Airspeed Elizabethan, call-sign Zulu Uniform, ploughed through the airport's perimeter fence, Viollet, who at 24 already had a reputation as one of the more sophisticated members of this young, wondrously talented Manchester United side, turned to Charlton and told him, contrary to all the evidence splintering around them, to relax.

The next time they spoke they were still in their seats, some 70 yards away from the wrecked plane, Viollet with a deep gash to his head, Charlton outwardly uninjured except for bruising. As the rear section of the aircraft sheared away they had been thrown from the seats onto the runway, and been found by Manchester United's reserve goalkeeper, Harry Gregg, who proved one of the heroes of the disaster. Gregg initially thought them dead, before dragging them "like rag dolls" back into their seats, where they regained consciousness in the damp, bitter February air.
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Motterman · Feb 1, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ma...1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/02/02/sfnmun202.xml

Matt Busby's philosophy the stuff of legend
By Robert Philip

According to Old Trafford folklore, when the doctor placed her new-born son into Nellie Busby's arms in the family's cramped pitman's cottage, he ran his eyes over the babe's thrashing, stocky legs and prophesised: "A footballer has come into this house this day." (The date, incidentally, was May 26, 1909 and come that day in 1999 Manchester United would celebrate the 90th anniversary of Matt Busby's birth by completing a historic treble with victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup final in Barcelona.)

Like his two great cronies, Bill Shankly and Jock Stein, Busby was raised in an impoverished coal-mining community where boys were expected to leave school before secondary age to begin work 2,000 feet or so underground. Denied any serious education, it befell young Matt to become the sole bread-winner for his mother and three sisters, his father, Private Alexander Busby of the 7th Battalion of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, having been killed by a sniper's bullet on April 23, 1917 during the Battle of Arras.
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Motterman · Feb 1, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

http://www.legacy.com/ManchesterEveningNews/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonID=102168163

Busby Babes

They were the pioneering team who captured the hearts of a nation.

The Busby Babes had ripped up the post-War formula for soccer success.

Instead of a side packed with ageing pros, Matt Busby had put faith in the youth policy he had nurtured at Old Trafford and promoted players to senior roles.

Busby's vision and his Babes' burgeoning talent signalled a new blueprint that took on the established old boys in the First Division.

The new-look Reds swept to glory with the 1956 and 57 league titles going their way. Busby wanted his United boys to savour experiences abroad and ultimately confront the all-star Real Madrid team in the embryonic European Cup. The Babes against the Bernabeu boys was a mouth-watering prospect for everyone.

But tragically at Munich on February 6, 1958 that dream turned into an horrific nightmare as a generation of golden talent was wiped out and the Flowers of Manchester were no more.

Having played Red Star Belgrade, the Busby Babes and entourage stopped in Munich for refuelling and the terrible plane crash occurred.

Eight players perished: Roger Byrne, Geoff Bent, Mark Jones, Davdi Pegg, Billy Whelan, Eddie Colman, Tommy Taylor and Duncan Edwards. Edwards died 15 days after the crash.

Walter Crickmer (Club secretary), Tom Curry (first team trainer) and Bert Whalley (coach) died from the United staff.

Eight journalists were among the dead: Tom Jackson (Manchester Evening News), Alf Clarke (Manchester Evening Chronicle), Don Davies (Manchester Guardian), George Follows (Daily Herald), Archie Ledbrooke (Daily Mirror), Henry Rose (Daily Express), Eric Thompson (Daily Mail) and former City player Frank Swift (News of the World).

Captain Kenneth "Ken" Rayment, a British co-pilot who suffered multiple injuries in the crash and died three weeks later as a result of brain damage, steward Tom Cable, travel agent Bela Miklos and supporter Willie Satinoff also died.
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Motterman · Feb 1, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/shopping/products/026.html

Munich Remembered - 50th Anniversary

The Manchester Evening News has published a 48 page colour supplement to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.
This special edition is packed full of photo's and memories from that day's tragic events.
Please add £2.00 for UK orders and £5.10 for Worldwide orders.
Please allow 14 days for delivery.
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Motterman · Feb 2, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

Nice tribute up at Red Cafe:

http://www.redcafe.net/archives/history/munich.php

Motterman · Feb 2, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

Collection of Tom Clare's postings on Munich and the Busby Babes...

http://www.redcafe.net/f6/50-years-tom-clare-183945/

Motterman · Feb 2, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

Video of Sir Bobby on Munich:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/...4032.stm&news=1&nbwm=1&nbram=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1

Motterman · Feb 2, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/02022008/1/munich-resonates-united-stars.html

Munich resonates with United stars Sat 02 Feb, 02:00 PM

Sir Alex Ferguson has described how Manchester United's modern superstars fell silent this week in order to reflect on the Munich tragedy.Overseas talents Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez joined home-grown players such as Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville as United's first-team squad and youth players learned the importance of the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster and the legacy of the 'Busby Babes'.
And, according to United boss Ferguson, "you could hear a pin drop" as Munich survivor Sir Bobby Charlton told the story of February 6, 1958, when 23 people died as Flight 609 crashed on the ice-bound runway.
Ferguson explained: "There are no history lessons when the kids join here and it's not something that you want to repeat all the time.
"They gradually learn about it because it's indelibly printed on our history.
"The young players have a fair idea when they join because most of them are local lads with the way the academy system is today.
"We did a session with the players about February 6 and February 10 and we showed a six-minute clip of the history and you could hear a pin drop. It was fantastic.
"I know what players are like. When you're called into a classroom to look at videos, it's always a giggle and a laugh and they're nipping each other and the usual carry-on, but it was a fantastic atmosphere, so silent.
"Bobby Charlton did a piece along with (chief executive) David Gill on the club and what we're going to do and what it was like for Bobby at the time, the players that he played with and I think that was good because players like Anderson, Nani and Tevez, coming from other countries, may not know about Manchester United in the same way that Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville do.
"That was a really terrific moment to get that response from the players and as they walked out, they were picking up the DVDs and also the literature on the club. It was quite a solemn moment."
The presentation was designed to impress on the players the importance of the plans to commemorate the 50th anniversary on the actual day, February 6, and on February 10 when United play Manchester City in the official match put aside to mark the disaster.
Ferguson said: "Obviously it's going to be a massive day. There's a lot of speculation about why we managed to get Manchester City on that particular day but we're going to do our very best to make it a memorable day and we hope that Manchester City join in that because we're doing a lot of things to encourage both sets of supporters to enjoy it.
"The club has good plans. I have to congratulate the club. Through David (Gill), Ken Ramsden (club secretary) and all the staff, they have done fantastically to make sure this is going to be a special time and one we'll always remember."
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sab456 · Feb 3, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

BBC's news bulletin reporting the Munich Air crash. Very painful to watch.
Johnny carey's interview almost got me crying.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/ne...511400/6511433.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm&news=1&bbcws=1

Stud83 · Feb 3, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

Sir Bobby Charlton: Munich Air Disaster still engulfs me with terrible sadness

Whatever he achieved as a player and global football icon, the defining moment of Sir Bobby Charlton's remarkable life and career was unquestionably the Munich Air Disaster.

World Cup and European Cup winner, former European Player of the Year and holder of the United appearance record, Charlton's list of achievements is lengthy and distinguished, as befits a man who devoted his life to football.

But as the United legend admits, not a day has passed in the 50 years since Munich when he has not been reminded of the tragedy which claimed the lives of 23 people, including eight of his team-mates, who were like brothers to him.

Charlton was 20 at the time of Munich, an emerging young attacking midfielder destined for great things from the moment Sir Matt Busby beat a host of other clubs to sign him at 15 and then handed him his United debut four years later.

Despite fierce ambition and natural ability, there is little doubt surviving Munich proved the making of Charlton, as if the pain of losing so many cherished team-mates inspired him to achieve what they were so tragically denied.

Even now, half a century on from the disaster referred to as 'the day Manchester stood still', Charlton's faltering voice crackles with emotion as he vividly recalls the moments leading up to the crash.

"Everyone was so happy and there was so much laughter, because we'd qualified," said Charlton.

"There was a first attempt to take off but we were told there was a technical problem and we had to go back.

"We did that for a second time and again the message came through that we couldn't take off. And then, the third time they called us, the plane just went straight along the runway.

"When you fly you have a general idea how long it takes to take off and I was thinking 'there's something not right'. What I did was something I suppose came instinctively - I bent my head down and braced myself for the impact.

"We went through a perimeter fence and the last thing I remember before coming round away from the plane, was the terrible noise of metal on metal."

Remarkably, Charlton suffered only concussion and a cut on the head. He was thrown clear of the wreckage and was left unconscious for around 10 minutes before coming round and being helped away from the disaster scene.

"In the hospital I stared into a mirror and found myself asking the question 'How the hell is it possible to come through all that with just a bang on the head and a small cut'?" recalled Charlton.

"Even now, what happened still reaches down and touches me every day. Sometimes I feel it quite lightly, a mere brush stroke against an otherwise happy mood.

"Sometimes it engulfs me with terrible regret and sadness - and guilt I walked away and found so much.

But whatever the severity of its presence, the Munich air crash is always there."

Those close to Charlton say he was never the same after the experience of Munich, that the gruff, diffident image he has presented to the outside world was not of his making but forged as a direct consequence of the tragedy.

In short, he may have physically survived the Munich disaster, but the trauma robbed Charlton of his youth and left him burdened with a lifetime of guilt which success, in its many forms with United, England and in business, has never allowed him to forget.

Jack Charlton, like Bobby a member of England's World Cupwinning side, admitted his younger brother was badly affected.

"In a way, Robert was never the same again," said Jack. "I saw a big change from that day on.

He stopped smiling, a trait that continues."
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http://www.mirror.co.uk/munich/news...ulfs-me-with-terrible-sadness-89520-20308534/

Stud83 · Feb 3, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

Irish Munich disaster victim remembered

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has laid a wreath to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of former Republic of Ireland and Manchester United soccer player, Liam Whelan.

The 22-year-old was among 23 people. including seven other Manchester United players, who died in the Munich air crash 50 years ago next week.

At a ceremony on the Liam Whelan Memorial Bridge in Cabra this afternoon, wreaths were laid by Mr Ahern, Mr Whelan's family, members of the Man United Supporters Club and local representatives.

AdvertisementA memorial mass is being celebrated by auxiliary bishop of Dublin, Dr Eamon Walsh.

Later a football match will take place to honour the local hero.

Inside right player Liam Whelan had four caps for Ireland when he died.

He made his debut for Manchester United aged 19 and had 96 appearances for the team, scoring 52 goals.

He helped Manchester United win consecutive league titles in 1956.

An Post will also commemorate the anniversary by launching a specially designed stamp featuring Mr Whelan's image and that of the Munich Memorial Clock at Old Trafford.
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http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0202/munich.html

Stud83 · Feb 3, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

Busby Babe Albert Scanlon recalls Munich disaster

If he closes his eyes, he can still see their smiling faces... those carefree young men with the world at their feet.

But that was 50 years ago. Today, as he queues at the turnstiles, Albert Scanlon looks like any other fan along to see his beloved Manchester United.

None of his fellow supporters realise this shuffling pensioner is a man who played a part in one of the defining days in the club's history.

A day that, in its poignant tragedy, helped establish Man Utd as the biggest football club in the world.

Albert was one of the Busby Babes, the talented young team which, under manager Matt Busby, was poised to become one of the best ever seen - until that dreadful day, February 6, 1958.

Eight of the team were among the 23 who died as the plane flying United back from a European game crashed in heavy snow on take-off from Munich airport.

Today, only five of the players who survived are still alive to remember.

"I can sit and reminisce about them for hours," Albert, 72, says. "It's easy for me to conjure up the ghosts.

"I see their faces - still young men's faces - and I go through them one by one, weighing up their talents and their skills.

"Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Dave Pegg, the great Duncan Edwards... I pick a team from them for an imaginary game, just as if they were alive today.

That's how I deal with the memories."

A regular in the side, Albert played in the ill-fated game in Belgrade, the second leg of a European Cup quarterfinal against local team Red Star.

The team drew 3-3 in the Yugoslav capital. It meant they had made it through to the semi-finals on aggregate and they were in high spirits.

Albert says the journey from Belgrade to Munich had been a good one, with the squad playing cards and chatting happily to the journalists travelling with them.

But, while on the tarmac at Munich, the snow worsened and temperatures fell. Albert remembers the first two attempts at take-off, when the plane taxied on to the runway, gathered speed - and then braked to a sudden halt.

By the third attempt, the mood was tense and silent, and the card schools had been put away.

The British European Airways plane crashed at the end of the runway, ploughing through the airport perimeter fence and into a house.

Albert was knocked unconscious and thrown clear of the wreckage. He was found under one of the wheels, with a fractured skull and a broken leg.

"I don't remember much other than going up the runway. The next thing I was in hospital holding the hand of a nurse - and I was swearing.

"Then, I remember waking up and there was a Sister Almunder, who was one of the nurses looking after me. She joked, 'Ah, Mr Scanlon, it's nice you've decided to join us... you've been here six days'.

"I'd no idea what had happened or the lads that had died. An Australian priest, Father O'Hagan came and told us about the other lads... that was it."

The full horror of the crash began to sink in as Scanlon started to make his way around the hospital in a wheelchair.

"Sister Almunder wheeled me round to see the other lads but some of them, like Johnny Berry and Jackie Blanchflower, were too ill to talk," he adds. "I also looked in on the boss, Matt Busby, he was in an oxygen tent and was in a mess.

"Then there was Duncan Edwards, sitting up in bed. He was shouting about wanting to get up to play, but the reality was he was in such a bad way he eventually died."

Amazingly, Albert recovered enough to play another season with United. But he was never the same player. His speed - his greatest asset - was gone and, after spells at Newcastle and Mansfield Town, he retired from the game.

On Wednesday, 50 years to the day since the Munich air disaster, Albert will join fellow survivors Sir Bobby Charlton, Kenny Morgans, Harry Gregg and Bill Foulkes for an emotional anniversary memorial.

With them will be 500 fans, the current Man Utd management and the stars of today's side, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

These players live a life a world away from the likes of Albert and the rest of the Busby Babes. At the height of his stardom, Albert earned £12 a week. After he finished his career, he went labouring on the docks, ending his working life as a factory nightwatchman.

Yet he doesn't begrudge today's stars, who earn tens of thousands every week.

"I know plenty of people criticise the modern players for the money they earn, but I don't," he says. "If some 18-year-old can go on telly and earn a fortune for singing no better than someone down the pub, then they deserve every penny they get.

"I'd have been delighted to earn big money if I'd been given the chance.

Although perhaps it's as well I never did, because it would have killed me.

"There's never been anything called saving as far as I'm concerned.

If I have it, it goes!

"When I first started we were earning £7 a week in the season, £5 a week in the summer, and I remember (players' union leader) Jimmy Hill addressing a players' meeting, telling us he thought he could get us all on £25 a week. We laughed... we thought he was crackers."

It's only a short bus ride for Albert from the sheltered flat he now lives in to the stadium where they used to chant his name.

He still goes, as often as he can.

"I'm still a United fan, I'll always go to watch them," he says.

"And today I still go through the same routine as I did when I was a player - a bit of superstition before a match. I shave, clean my teeth and put on a fresh shirt. The other week I didn't have a shave before the game with West Ham and they lost, so I still have some influence!

"I'm glad I'm back here where I started, close enough to go down to the ground. You see, United's in my blood."

So how do today's players compare with those who were lost in the disaster?

"It's a different game now, all about pace and speed, but in my day we had lads who were as quick as they are today," Albert says.

"The ones I rate now are Rooney, Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and the lad Nemanja Vidic. Any of them would have found a place in our squad."

Albert, who's been twice divorced and has seven children, is now happily settled in a long-term relationship.

But his journey after Munich, out of football and into the world of ordinary work, would read like a horror story to today's multimillionaire players.

After his playing days ended at Mansfield Town, he was 31, with no pension, no savings.

He took a job in a bakery in the Nottinghamshire town, working 12-hour shifts. "It was hard," he says. "I'd never been in a factory until then. But people were good to me. They knew who I was and they treated me well.

"I took the tins containing the loaves out of the oven and put them on trays. That was my job."

When he moved back to Manchester, relatives who worked on the docks found him a job there.

He was still unfamiliar with his new world. On his first day he turned up in new trousers and a Crombie overcoat.

His new mates gave him the nickname Pockets Scanlon - because, they told him, "Albert, you're always standing around with your hands in your pockets, talking football."

It was tough, dirty work, but it paid well. A basic of £12 a week. With overtime, a docker could earn more than a footballer.

"I loved the docks, it was almost like playing football again, because we were all mates, like a team," Albert says. "I was always being asked questions about soccer. The lads always wanted my opinion on this team or that, this player or that.

"I have to say I loved it, because it meant they accepted me and at the same time had a bit of respect for what I'd achieved earlier in my life.

"I was still the bloke who used to be Scanlon of United."

'I woke up in hospital and could hear Duncn Edwrds shouting from his bed'
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http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/...anlon-recalls-munich-disaster-98487-20307337/

jddphd · Feb 4, 2008

MUST, the independent Manchester United supporters' trust has some articles on our site pertaining to the Crash and the 50th anniversary, including several essays from our friend Tom Clare, a passionate United supporter whose knowledge of the club is encyclopaedic. You can see these links on our homepage this entire week if you're interested. Just go to http://joinMUST.org.

Also, if you are unable to attend the numerous anniversary tributes in person, you are welcome to join us on our website for the singing of The Flowers of Manchester on 6 Feb - 15:04 GMT. All traffic to the site will be automatically redirected to our online tribute, so you can simply go to joinMUST.org and we'll take care of the rest.

- JD

Red 11 · Feb 4, 2008

sdotsom · Feb 4, 2008

Ray Wood's wife remembers...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7211922.stm

sdotsom · Feb 4, 2008

Some of the Guardian's original reporting on the tragedy..

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2251377,00.html

Stud83 · Feb 4, 2008

Ryan Giggs: We carry on for the Babes

We have to carry on the legacy. If you are representing Manchester United, you have to play in the right manner, excite supporters and wherever you go, get people off their seats. That has got to go on because that is one of the things that sets this club apart. You never stand still. It always goes forward. There's Juventus and Barcelona but Manchester United always seemed to have that much more support and seem that much more special. Of course, that is down to history and what Sir Matt did."

Sir Bobby saw me at The Cliff (United's old training ground) when I was 14. He also watched David Beckham and Paul Scholes. When I played in a tournament in Switzerland, Sir Matt travelled out to watch it. You could see the love and affection for him. That has an effect on you because these are great people. They are legends who don't have to do that sort of thing but they enjoy it. They want to do it and that's been ingrained in them from a young age, probably since Sir Bobby was 14. Fans also want to see young players coming through and do well which we do on a regular basis at this club."

"Sir Bobby talks a lot about Edwards. He played with Denis Law and George Best but he still ranks Duncan Edwards as the greatest player he ever played with. He must have been some player."

"There's a link (with the class of '92) because a group of players came through at the same time and all got into the first team at such a young age. The Busby Babes won the FA Youth Cup five times on the trot which in this day and age is unbelievable. But there are so many things that are relevant to us today. While our generation won it just once a number of players went on to play not only for United but for our countries as well
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http://www.sportinglife.com/footbal...CCER_Munich_Nightlead.html&TEAMHD=premiership

GranCanMan · Feb 4, 2008

Saw that Giggs interview earlier. The legacy of that side has never died. To play ther game the right way.

The papers here have been full of articles regardnig this for the last week. Even though I'm 24 and far too young to have been there, it still brings a lump to my throat to read about it, especially the personal accounts of it from the likes of Harry Gregg, Bill Foulkes and Bobby Charlton. All depply saddening accounts of a trajedy that ruined the world of football.

My deepest sympathies and respects go out to those who died and the families and friends they left behind.

israbeckham · Feb 4, 2008

I dont know about you guys, but every time I read something about how they Babes died or even think about it, I get shivers.

Achtung · Feb 4, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

These players live a life a world away from the likes of Albert and the rest of the Busby Babes. At the height of his stardom, Albert earned £12 a week. After he finished his career, he went labouring on the docks, ending his working life as a factory nightwatchman.
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Amazing how the guys on the team were essentially no different in terms of pay from the folks working in town. I'm sure it gave the tragedy an extra connection to the people of Manchester.

Really looking forward to hearing from the people who were around at the time over the next few days. Especially for those who attended the matches, it must have been on the level of losing your own friends, people you could identify with.

sdotsom · Feb 4, 2008

Re: The Munich 50th Anniversary Thread - Open Discussion

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.

- From Wikipedia