Munich air disaster

In 1958, a team emerged from Manchester which threatened to dominate English and European football. The average age of the team was only 24 – they had their whole careers in front of them. Because of their youth, the team had been nicknamed the Busby Babes and that year they were one of the favourites for the first spot in the English championship as well as in the European Cup. The previous season, they had managed to get into the semifinals of the competition where they eventually lost against the future winners Real Madrid.
On February the 6th 1958 the Red Devils were on their way home from Belgrade, where they had played a European Cup match against Red Star. Although the game ended in a 3:3 draw, United won the tie 5-4 on aggregate and reached the next round of the competition. They hired an Airspeed Ambassador charter aircraft, operated by British European Airways, but the take-off was delayed because one of the players, Johnny Berry, had lost his passport. As the planes at that time were not as modern as today, the crew had to stop in Munich to refuel. As the plane was preparing to leave Munich's Munchen-Riem Airport, a blizzard started. The pilot, a man named James Thain decided to continue attempting to take off. Twice the pilot attempted to get the plane airborne, but both attempts were aborted due to the engine surging. On the third take off attempt, the plane failed to gain adequate height and crashed into a fence surrounding the airport, then into a house, which was unoccupied at the time. At first, blame was directed at the pilot for the accident, however further investigation found that the crash was caused by the build-up of slush towards the end of the runway, which prevented the plane from attaining a safe flying speed and achieving take off.
The consequences of the accident were devastating. Seven of Manchester United's players died immediately, whilst15 days later Duncan Edwards, heralded as the most gifted young Englishman of his generation, succumbed to injuries. 15 other people were also killed, including journalists and club officials. The team’s manager, Matt Busby was seriously injured, requiring a long recovery. However, he finally recovered and returned to his role as manager of the Red Devils. Two other players aboard the flight had to end their careers due to injuries.

Many thought that Manchester United would not recover from the accident, however the youth team players and the reserve players under the direction of Jimmy Murphy, one of Busby’s assistants, surprised the whole world and kept the club afloat. They even managed to reach the semi finals of the FA Cup where they lost against Bolton. Busby returned to managing the club the next season and he built a second generation of so called Busby Babes with George Best at the head. Ten years after the tragedy of Munich, the Red Devils won the European Cup for the first time. “This is the most wonderful moment of my life and tonight I am the proudest man in England”, said Matt Busby after the victory against Benfica. He died in 1994 at the age of 84 from cancer.