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For people who support Manchester United , the 6th of February carries a special meaning. It marks anniversary of the tragedy that saw one of the greatest teams of all time almost completely wiped out by an air crash in Munich.
The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. On the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the “Busby Babes”, along with a number of supporters and journalists.
The Babes were returning from a European Cup match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), against Red Star Belgrade and had to make a stop in Munich for refuelling. The team had to reach Manchester so that they could fulfill their league commitments, as the officials could not postpone their upcoming league match. Afrer two unsuccessful take off attempts, the pilots made another attempt to take off, but in the meantime , snow had accumulated on the runway. The plane crashed through the fence and hit a nearby house. 21 people died in the crash, including 8 United players and 3 staff members.
Duncan Edwards survived the crash. When Jimmy Murphy (assistant manager) came to see him shortly in the hospital, he asked what time the kick off of their next match was. Duncan’s body was not as strong as his desire and will, as he died in the hospital after 15 days of the crash.
Aviation Disasters, Sport, pic: February 1958, Manchester United’s Bobby Charlton lies in a German hospital after being injured in the Munich Air Disaster in which 23 people died, 8 being Manchester United footballers
Matt Busby (manager) also had severe injuries and it took him 2 months to come out of the hospital. Bobby Charlton was one of the few lucky ones who managed to escape death, but he was so devastated by the death of his mates that he decided he would never play football again. Busby convinced him to play later, but he had lost the smile which was present on his face whlist playing with the Babes.
The club secretary suggested that the team not play any match but Jimmy Murphy insisted that they compete and play for the players and people who had died in Munich. And Manchester United were back on their feet and played football with relatively unseen faces and players from the youth and reserve squad. The United team ended up in mid-table and had reached the FA Cup Final, with the whole nation urging the team on. United lost the final 2-0 to Bolton.
Busby resumed his managerial duties in the next season and slowly built the second generation of the Busby Babes, which included Denis Law and George Best. He won the European Cup ten years later, beating Benfica 4-0 after extra time. Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes were the only two crash survivors who were in that side.
