Manchester United: The Legend of Munich

Have anyone of you watched the 2011 movie “United” directed by James Strong? I guess a lot of you must have, and therefore would completely understand when I say that I still get tears in my eyes even when I watch it for the umpteenth time. This movie is based on the true story of the 1958 Munich air crash that claimed the life of 23 people, including 8 of Manchester United’s first team players, or the “Busby Babes” as they were fondly known. This team was the youngest side ever to win the football league in England, but after that day in Munich, 8 of them would never again put on the shirt they so revered.

Today, Manchester United is the highest valued sports team in the entire world at $1.86 billion, and perhaps the most widely supported football team as well. But it isn’t merely a football club. It has transcended all boundaries to become a religion; a religion with millions and millions of followers who believe in what this club stands for. And for people like me, it is perhaps the only thing that is worshipped. But how did this small club founded by the members of the Carriage and Wagon Department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways depot at Newton Heath become so big, so popular and such a craze? Well, if there is one moment that perhaps defines Manchester United as the club that it is now and the club that everyone around the world loves so much, it is perhaps that tragic accident on that unfortunate afternoon of 6th Feb, 1958.

On 6th Feb, 1958 the British European Airways Flight 608 took-off from Belgrade carrying the victorious Manchester United side, along with a few supporters and journalists. The Busby Babes had booked a seat in the semi-finals of the European Cup against AC Milan after beating the Red Star Belgrade team, 5-4 on aggregate. The plane made a routine stop at Munich to refuel, landing at 13:15 GMT. After refuelling, the pilots tried to take-off, but they had to abandon their efforts twice due to engine problems. It was the third attempt that proved fatal. The plane couldn’t take-off and ploughed through the fence at the end of the runway before the left wing smashed into a farm-house. The wing, the tail unit and the undercarriage were ripped off and the house burst into flames. The right side of the fuselage behind the remaining wing had struck a wooden hut that contained fuel and truck tyres.

Disaster had struck. Manchester United lost eight of its most beloved sons, Roger Byrne, the captain, Geoff Bent, Mark Jones, Eddie Colman, David Pegg, Liam Whelan, Tommy Taylor and the mercurial Duncan Edwards, who fought with death for 15 days before eventually passing away on 21st Feb, 1958. Johnny Berry and Jackie Blanchflower survived, but were never able to play again. But more than those who died, it was about those who survived.

Harry Gregg, the goal-keeper who had just signed for United three months before the crash, was undoubtedly ‘the Hero of Munich’. He had sustained some minor injuries, but despite that, he remained behind to pull out survivors, including Bobby Charlton, Dennis Viollet, Jackie Blanchflower and Matt Busby from the wreckage. Gregg even played in the FA cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday, merely a week after the crash. He went on to represent United till 1966, playing nearly 250 games in the process. Dennis Viollet went on to play for United till 1962, scoring 178 goals in 291 matches. He still remains one of Manchester United’s finest forwards.

Then there were Bill and Bobby. Bill Foulkes went on to captain United after the crash and played till 1970, representing United in 688 games. Bobby Charlton, perhaps one of the most easily recognized footballers of all time, wore the red shirt of Manchester United for 15 more years, playing in 758 games as a United player, a record which lasted for 35 years before Ryan Giggs finally broke it in 2008. The other players who survived were goal-keeper Ray Wood and wingers Albert Scanlon and Kenny Morgans.

But it is not that people from across the planet support Manchester United because they feel sorry for them. People don’t choose their football team out of sympathy. It was not the loss at Munich but the comeback that Manchester United made which won the hearts of millions and millions around the globe. A few United players died in the crash, but the club didn’t. Munich resurrected United. Manchester United, after 6th Feb, 1958 wasn’t just a football club; it became an institution.

On 4th May 1949, a plane carrying the then Serie A champions, Torino, crashed in a church in a Turin suburb and everyone was killed including 18 players, 10 of whom were Italian internationals. With just 4 matches remaining that year, Torino did win the Scudetto as their opponents were instructed to field their youth teams, because Torino had no choice but to field their youth team. But Torino never recovered from that tragedy. After five years, they were bankrupt and had to even sell their ground; more often than not, they play in Serie B these days.

Many felt Manchester United might follow the same path, but I can proudly say that they didn’t and that is what has defined the club. Manchester United chairman Hardman said that United should fulfill all the fixtures in all the competitions they were involved in, even if it meant heavy losses. The League game against Wolves on the 8th of Feb was delayed, and the FA cup game against Sheffield Wednesday was rescheduled for four days later, which United eventually won; the whole nation rejoiced, perhaps with the exception of the blue half of Sheffield. Red Star Belgrade wanted United to be declared that season’s honorary European Champions, but the club didn’t want that. They wanted to survive on their own strengths, and they did.

Perhaps the spirit of Matt Busby and Jimmy Murphy defines what this club stands for more than anything else. When Murphy went to meet Busby in the hospital after the crash, Busby, through a morphine haze, instructed him: “Keep the flag flying, Jim, till I get back.” And Murphy did keep the flag flying high. Manchester United went on to the finals of the FA Cup with mostly youth team players and the Munich survivors, but they lost the final to Bolton 2-0, a team they had thrashed 7-2 in the league in January. They could win just one of their remaining league fixtures to finish 9th that season but yes, they did beat AC Milan 2-1 in the first leg of the semi-finals only to lose the tie 5-3 on aggregate, with Milan winning their home leg 4-0. But what that season proved, more than anything else, was that Manchester United would go on and on and on.

On the afternoon of 6th Feb, 1958, Manchester United stopped being just another football club. The tragedy spread the club’s name around the globe in hours following the accident. “Before Munich, it was just Manchester’s club,” said Bobby Charlton. “Afterwards everyone owned a little bit of it.”

Today, when I look at Manchester United with all the trophies and all their successes and fan following, I just can’t seem to disagree with Rio Ferdinand, who had this to say on the 50th anniversary of the tragedy:

“Munich was the starting point, really, for the tradition, the start of settling down the standard for Manchester United Football Club.”