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Flightpath to tragedy for Busby Babes
The irony is that the disaster of British European Airways Flight 609 would not have happened if the conservatism of the Football League had held sway.
The ruler of the domestic programme was hostile to the idea of competitions involving foreign teams, boycotting the first European Cup in 1955.
Sir Matt Busby was ahead of his time, and equally determined to challenge traditional values. Having already won three League championships in five seasons, he wanted his youthful teams to be able to test themselves against the best on the Continent.
After the Football League had relaxed its rules, they'd reached the semi-finals of the tournament the previous year. They were heading home, having done so again, when their chartered airliner crashed during its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem airport at 3.04pm.
Seven players – Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Liam Whelan, and the trio from South Yorkshire, Mark Jones, David Pegg, and Tommy Taylor – were killed. The great Duncan Edwards died from his injuries 15 days later.
United's chief coach, trainer and club secretary, eight journalists, among them Frank Swift, the former England goalkeeper, two members of the crew, a supporter and a travel agent, also died.
Among the 21 survivors were nine players and their manager, although Busby's injuries were so severe he was twice given the last rites.
Such was the blow, there was speculation that United as a club might die, too. Yet in its first match after, a team made up largely of reserves and youth team players beat Sheffield Wednesday 3–0. The match programme showed a blank space instead of the names of the United team.
Under their stand-in manager, Jimmy Murphy, the club, almost unbelievably, reached that season's FA Cup Final. When Busby returned, he built successful new teams dominated by Charlton, Best and Law, and eventually won the trophy his previous generation had died pursuing.
Another casualty of Munich was the pilot, Captain James Thain. Originally the crash was blamed on him.
His name was cleared eventually when it was accepted that a build-up of slush towards the end of the runaway had restricted the aircraft's power. The findings led to changes in operating procedures at airports.
For Thain the truth had come too late. Having been dismissed by BEA shortly after the accident and never re-engaged, he retired from aviation and ran a poultry farm. He died of a heart attack at the age of 53, in 1975.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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