50 Years On by Tom Clare

[mehro]

50 YEARS ON – “The Smiling Executioner”

His smile would have brightened even the darkest room. With his black curly hair, mischievous eyes, that smile and good looks, Tommy Taylor, standing at 6’1” tall and weighing in at 13 stones, he was the epitome of the professional athlete. Like the “Bestie” of a few years hence, it is true to say that Tommy Taylor would not have looked out of place on a Holywood film set. It is also true to say that the female contingent of Manchester United’s following back in the 1950’s looked upon him as a replica of Adonis!

Tommy Taylor was born on January 29th 1932, in Barnsley, Yorkshire, into a working class mining family. The details of his early life are rather sketchy and buried in the mists of time. From what I remember, Tommy didn’t actually take to playing football seriously until his early teens. He wasn’t a schoolboy international, and I am pretty certain that he didn’t even play for the Barnsley Boys team. Football to the young Tommy Taylor was just a game to be enjoyed with his contemporaries, nothing more, nothing less. He certainly had no aspirations at that early age for a career in the professional game. But as he moved towards his middle teens, he grew and filled out physically. He started playing for a local pub team when he was seventeen years old named “Smithies United.” Tommy started knocking in goals for them and soon came to the attention of the local Barnsley Football League Club. His progress was fairly rapid as he continued to find the back of the net on a regular basis.

He made his debut in the Barnsley first team and the goals continued to flow. Being a local lad, Taylor was blissfully happy playing for his home town team. Everybody knew him, he could live at home, and he was able to stay around his close circle of friends. But as the goals flowed, so his reputation was enhanced, and scouts from the top First Division clubs began to be seen at Oakwell, Barnsley’s home ground in large numbers. It didn’t faze him and he had no intentions of moving on – he was happy.

Manchester United at this time were in a period of rebuilding after their First Division Championship win in season 1951-52. A lot of that team were the wrong side of 30 and United were having trouble finding a goalscoring centre forward. Jack Rowley had moved out to outside left as Roger Byrne had moved to left full-back. Busby had experimented with playing John Aston Senior in the pivotal forward position, but this could only ever be considered a short term project. Eddie lewis filled the spot for a dozen or so games and wasn’t unsuccessful in that he found the net 6 times. However he was still young and raw. In the reserves, United were also experimenting with playing Bill Foulkes at centre forward and he was having quite a time. Bill hit the net regularly, and in one reserve game up at St. James’s Park in Newcastle, he scored four times! Busby was about to give Foulkes his head in the first team but an untimely ankle injury put paid to that plan. So in March 1953, he decided to take the plunge in the transfer market.

In the previous few months, Busby had sent Jimmy Murphy to watch Taylor closely in Barnsley’s matches. Both knew that there was a bevy of First Division clubs watching this exciting, athletic, young centre forward. On Murphy’s last visit to the Oakwell, he informed Busby that there had been more Managers, Chairmen and Scouts from other clubs in attendance, that he thought that there had been a general meeting of the Football League. Busby decided to strike. Both he and Murphy made contact with the Barnsley club, and were allowed to speak to the young Taylor. It was a hard job because Tommy was so settled and did not want to leave his native surroundings – he was settled and happy. One of their biggest problems was trying to convince the boy that he was good enough to play in the First Division. He was such a modest young man. It was the charm of the mercurial Busby that eventually turned the tide as he outlined the future plan that he had for Manchester United. Busby sold him on the prospect of being part of a very young team, and a club full of home grown young players – one of them, Mark Jones, also hailing from the Wombwell area of Barnsley. He convinced him that should he join United, the sky was the limit as to what he could achieve on the football field.

He sold Manchester United to Tommy with not only his charm, but his charisma as well. It’s well documented that he pulled of a coup in beating the other chasing clubs for Taylor’s signature. But the mark of Busby’s managerial qualities also came out in the finalizing of Taylor’s move. Barnsley wouldn’t settle for less than 30,000 pounds, which in 1953, was an astronomical figure. The British transfer record at that time was for inside forward Jackie Sewell who had moved in 1951 from Notts County to Sheffield Wednesday for 35,000 pounds. Busby did not want to burden young Taylor as being a “30,000 pounds player” so taking out his wallet, he pulled from it a 1 pound note and handed it to the lady who had been serving up the teas. The transfer went ahead for the agreed sum of 29,999 pounds and finally, Taylor’s signature was secured.

He moved over to Manchester and was placed into digs with David Pegg in Stretford. It was the beginning of a strong friendship that would only end for them both at the end of a snow bound Munich runway just less than five years ahead. Young David had made his debut for United in the December of 1952 away at Middlesborough and had begun to make the outside left position in the team his own. So it was that on Saturday, March 7th 1953, in front of 52,590 fans at Old Trafford, Tommy Taylor made his debut in the red shirt of United against their Lancashire rivals from Deepdale, Preston North End. It’s interesting to look at the team that lined up that afternoon; Crompton; Aston (Snr), Byrne; Carey, Chilton, Cockburn; Berry, Rowley, Taylor, Pearson, Pegg. Seven members of that team were over 30 years of age! However, it was a great introduction for the young Yorkshireman as he scored twice, his new friend Pegg scored twice, and the “Gunner”, Jack Rowley completed a 5-2 rout for United.

For the United fans of this era, it was the beginning of the club’s ascendancy to the summit of the football ladder. They were exciting times. The addition of Taylor was very instrumental to the team that was beginning to evolve. One by one Busby introduced his youngsters. Wood in goal; Bill Foulkes at right back; first jeff Whitefoot and then Eddie Colman at right half; Mark Jones at centre half; Duncan Edwards at left half; Jackie Blanchflower and then Billy Whelan at inside right; Dennis Viollett at inside left. It took two years from Taylor’s signing before the team really gelled, but once it did, they took British football by storm.

Taylor was a big strong, hard running forward who did not exactly fill the common perception of the barnstorming centre forward. He had great movement and real pace for a big guy, tremendous grace, and he moved wide to both the left and right flanks instead of ploughing the proverbial furrow down the middle of the pitch. He had two great feet and could really hit a ball. In the air, in my opinion he was the greatest header of a ball that I have seen. He had a prodigious leap and seemed to hang the air but still got tremendous force behind the ball. I heard him tell that as a young boy, he used to practice standing jumps. There was a small brick wall alongside a church, close to where he lived in Barnsley and he was eventually able to leap over it from a standing position. His timing was impeccable and to see him hurtling across the goal area to meet either a cross, free kick, or corner kick, was one of football’s joys. He had the ideal temperament – never let foul play get to him, and I saw him take a lot of stick from some of the better known defenders of his time. But he never retaliated, he just got up, got on with the game, and did what he did best – stuck the ball in the back of the opponent’s net. And boy, when he did – did that smile light up the stadiums. George Follows was a journalist who wrote for the Daily Herald, a national morning newspaper of that time. It was George who christened Tommy “the Smiling Executioner” – so apt for the big man. He really was a centre half’s nightmare because he would drag them all over the place and create so much space through the middle for the other forwards to capitalize on. He had the perfect foil in Dennis Viollet, and Dennis profited from so many balls knocked down to his feet by big Tom.

 

[mehro]

Just two months after joining United, Tommy became an international player. England embarked upon a South American tour in May 1953, and on 17th of that month, in Buenos Aries, Tommy debuted against Argentina in front of 91, 397 fans in a match that lasted just 23 minutes and had to be abandoned because of torrential rain. Seven days later and on that same tour he appeared against Chile, in the capital Santiago, and scored the opening goal in a 2-1 England win. A week later in Montivedeo, Uruguay, he scored once again when the Uruguayans defeated England 2-1. It’s interesting to note that the Referee in all three of those tour games was none other than Arthur Ellis, the Yorkshireman – yes, the same guy who compered the BBC Television prgramme, “It’s a Knockout.”

Tommy embraced the Manchester United family, just as that family embraced him. He was a fun guy with a perpetual smile. He never let the success that he found ever go to his head. Certainly, I don’t think that there was ever a bigger “catch” for the ladies than Tommy, but he had a local girl friend back home in Barnsley, and she traveled over the Pennines to be with him of a weekend. Both he and David Pegg embraced Bobby Charlton into their friendship and they were seen around together a lot. They used to love going into the local parks during the afternoon and watched the kids playing football. They liked nothing better of an evening than to walk into Manchester city centre (yes, I did say walk because they said that going on the bus was boring!) to go to the cinema. They were just everyday, down to earth, boy next door type of lads. No pretensions, no head in the clouds.

Tommy and David Pegg both had broad Yorkshire accents, and stood a lot of mickey taking from the other lads. But they both took it in good nature, and certainly gave back as good as they got.

Two games from Tommy’s career stand out in my memory. The first was an international game at Wembley on 9th May 1956 against Brazil. Tommy led the Brazilian defence a merry dance that afternoon and they couldn’t cope with him. He scored twice in an England 4-2 victory in a game where they also missed 2 penalties – Roger Byrne being one of the culprits. His strong running and aerial prowess caused the Brazilians all sorts of problems and they just had no answer to him Two years later, with the nucleus of the team that turned out that May afternoon, Brazil were World Champions.

The second game, and for me, probably his finest game in a Manchester United shirt came on February 6th 1957 at Maine Road against the Spanish Champions, Bilbao in the return leg of United’s first ever European Cup quarter final. Down 3-5 from the first leg, United were really up against it. Opposing Taylor that evening was probably one of the finest centre halves in world football at that time – Jesus Garay. Tommy ran his socks off that night, and inspired by the roars of the crowd, put in a superlative performance. He drifted, right, he drifted left, he was always there to receive the ball from defenders under pressure – no ball out of defence was a lost cause. He dragged Garay into positions he should never have been. Tommy scored the second goal that night, but during the last 15 minutes, as the United player's exertions began to take their toll, tiredness started to become a factor. They were defending the 18 yards area when a cross from the left was aimed in and Mark Jones towered above all and thundered a headed clearance away and out to the right hand side. For the umpteenth time that night, big Tommy was after it, followed by his shadow, Garay. He collected the ball on the half way line, turned, and there was Garay showing him the touchline. Tommy held the ball inviting the tackle, but Garay was having none of it. They jockeyed each other down that touchline and Garay looked quite comfortable. Big Tom started to take the ball towards the big Spanish centre half, just about in line with the 18 yard line. He showed Garay the ball and then a quick dip of his left shoulder and movement towards the left and Garay pounced flying towards the ball. Alas, it wasn't there! Tommy pulled the ball back onto his right foot and was away a yard. Looking up he released a cross of stunning quality aiming and landing the ball just on or around the penalty spot - normally the area where he himself would be. But of all the big lads United had, not one of them was there - instead, the smallest guy in United's team, little Johnny Berry was haring in at full speed. He met the ball full on the volley with his right foot and crashed the ball into the back of the net - it sped in like the speed of a bullet. Maine Road really did erupt as did the United players. I’d never seen the big fella' jump and cavort about like he did at that moment, nor had I ever seen Roger Byrne so emotional – but none of them forgot the lad who had set it up. That was Tommy taylor, prolific goalscorer that he was, he had an unselfishness about him that few players had. He covered acres that night, and after the game, Garay was magnificent in defeat, claiming that Taylor was the best centre forward he had ever played against.

He may have been a star, an established international player, but he never forgot where he came from. He had time for the fans but most of all, time for the kids. You’d always see him walking up Warwick Road and off to his digs in Stretford after home games. Tommy had a great relationship with the press and in particular Henry Rose of the Daily Express. Henry was Tommy’s biggest critic, and once stated that in a match against Billy Wright and his Wolves team, that if Taylor scored, he’d walk back to the Express offices in Ancoats barefoot. Tommy scored twice that afternoon and dear old Henry kept his promise – followed by a huge posse of kids – it was like watching the Pied Piper! He loved the banter with the fans, loved the camararderie, loved his club and loved football. Never in the news for the wrong reasons, he was just simply a lovely, lovely, person.

Rest on in Peace Tom – you gave us so much to remember.

Tommy played a total of 191 games in all competitions for United scoring 131 goals.
He was capped 18 times for England and scored 16 goals.

 

[mehro]

50 Years On – Ray Wood

Ray Wood is a name often forgotten about whenever the “Busby Babes” are mentioned. The signing of Harry Gregg in December 1957 seemed to signal the end of Ray’s career at Old Trafford, but personally, I would never have bought into that theory. At the time of the tragedy he was still too good a goalkeeper not to have bounced back. However, Harry’s heroics at Munich tend to overshadow the part that Ray Wood played in the “Busby Babes” story.

Ray began his career as an amateur with Newcastle United but after failing to make his mark at St. James’s Park, in 1949 he moved on to Darlington where he signed as a professional. His stay at Feethams was short – just three months in duration. However, during that three month period his performances for Darlington were such, that he came to the attention of Manchester United and they secured his signature for a 5,000 pounds fee. For the affable young Geordie it was a dream move. United had bought him with more of an eye on the future, but because of injuries he was immediately pitched into the fray in a First Division game against Newcastle United at St. James’s on December 3rd 1949 in a game that finished 1-1.

He went back to the Junior teams after that and began learning his trade as understudy to Jack Crompton and Reg Allen. There was not much chance for him to progress his ambitions over the next few years and it was not until the 1952/53 season that he started to see more first team opportunities due initially to Allen’s retirement through injury, and Crompton’s intermittent form. Ray was a versatile sort of player and as was the want back then, there did at times seem to be some strange selections as junior players were shuffled about in the “A” and “B” teams as the coaches worked out which position they were best suited for. He was given a run at centre forward in the “A” team for three games and raised some eyebrows when he scored six goals in those few appearances! He was extremely quick off the mark and surprised a number of defenders with his pace. What they didn’t know though was that in earlier days he’d been a professional sprinter up in Northumberland amongst the various pit villages where he “dashed for cash.” His speed was an asset with his goalkeeping and he was probably the quickest goalkeeper of his era when it came to moving off his line.

He finally cemented his place in the first team in the 1953/54 season and his performances began to make the England Selectors take note. He was certainly in line for nomination to the England World Cup squad of 1954 but sadly for him, a broken wrist towards the end of that season put paid to his international chances. England came back from that World Cup in Switzerland with their tails between their legs, but when the next season began, Ray was selected for the first home international against Northern Ireland at Windsor Park, Belfast in October 1954 and ended in a 2-0 victory for the English. It was a feather in his cap really as at that time there was so many good English goalkeepers around – Merrick of Birmingham, Ditchburn of ‘Spurs, Williams of Wolves; all great goalkeepers in their own right.

Wood continued to play exceptionally well for United. He was as I said, exceptionally quick off his line and had great anticipation and a safe pair of hands. His bravery was unquestioned and was a terrific shot-stopper. If he did have a fault, it was coming for crosses and sometimes could be found hesitant. However his strengths outweighed his weakness and he was integral to the team that developed and won two consecutive championships in 1956, and 1957.

I suppose that the thing Ray will most be remembered for was the 1957 F.A. Cup Final against Aston Villa when he was on the end of the most horrific, premeditated, and violent assault, that I have ever seen perpetrated upon a football pitch. Just six minutes into the game, in a Final of which United were red hot favourites to win, McParland, the Villa left wing, headed a ball tamely into Wood’s hands. The ball was already safe in Ray’s capable hands but McParland continued to charge through, launching himself through the air and connecting with his head into Wood’s face, shattering his cheekbone. He took no real part in the game after that even though he wandered around for a while on the left wing as a little nuisance value. At half time, with the score 0-0, Sir Matt sent physio Ted Dalton outside of the stadium with Ray, the object being to throw a ball at hime a number of times to see how he reacted. They went out onto the grass verge and Dalton began throwing the ball to him – poor Ray hardly saw any of them. As they finished this little exercise, a young boy who had been playing football on the verge just a short distance away from them, meandered over and said; “Mister, you can come and join me and my mates in our game if you’d like to!” Just yards away, 100,000 spectators were all awaiting to see if Wood could rejoin the United team in goal for the second half of the F.A. Cup Final. Unbeknown to them, here he was being offered a game in kid’s football! Ray did go back out onto the field but not in goal. United fell behind by 2-0, ironically to two goals scored by McParland. However with 8 minutes to go, Taylor pulled a goal back from an Edwards corner and Wood returned back between the sticks as United went all out on the attack to try and pull back the one goal deficit. Great effort though it was, it was all to no avail and United lost that final by 2-1.

Wood was back for the start of the next season, and by United’s standards, they weren’t firing on all cylinders. In December, after a couple of results that hadn’t gone their way, Busby acted by first signing Harry Gregg, and then for the game against Leicester City on December 21st, he dropped Ray together with Johnny Berry, Liam Whelan, and David Pegg. Sadly for all of them, although they weren’t to know it at that time, they were never to play in the first team again.

Ray Wood was on the aircraft that fateful day in Munich and did suffer bad injuries to his head, leg and hip. He returned back to Manchester after convalescence and tried to pick up his career at United. Sadly it wasn’t to be, and he was never the goalkeeper that he had once been. In December 1958 the legendary Bill Shankly took him over the Pennines to Huddersfield Town. It seemed to me personally that it was an obscenely short time between the disaster and his release from Old Trafford and one that in later time he came to be bitter about. He was to serve Huddersfield for the next 4 years and I can recall in March 1963 seeing him return to Old Trafford to play against United in an F.A. Cup 3rd round tie. 1963 was a bad winter and the tie had been postponed since the January. Unfortunately for Ray, although it gave the United fans one last chance to see one of their former heroes, it was a bad night for him personally as United romped away with the game 5-0, Denis Law scoring a hat-trick aided by goals from Albert Quixall and Johnny Giles. It’s hard to imagine what his feelings were as he left the pitch that he had graced so well just a few short years before.

He left Huddersfield in 1965 and played for short periods with Bradford City and Barnsley before retiring from the game in 1968 – ironically the year that United lifted the European Cup. He spent most of his time abroad from then on, coaching in places like Ireland, USA, Zambia, Canada, Kenya, Greece, Kuwait and Cyprus. He went through a very bad time in his personal life and his first wife Elizabeth certainly blames the part that the tragedy played in their lives. It was Elizabeth who campaigned so vehemently on behalf of the families, and it was those efforts which finally got the Club to allow a testimonial match to be played at Old Trafford in 1998 for those families. It is sad to note that she was one of the many of the families to fall on hard times. Just prior to the staging of that benefit match in 1998 she had written to Martin Edwards because she was overdrawn at the bank and was having difficulties even meeting her train fare to attend the game. She had asked for an advance against her share of the game’s payout only to receive a reply from him being told that ; “it was against Club policy.” Hard to take when here was a woman that had witnessed the horrors of the aftermath of that tragedy; who had stayed by her husband’s side in the hospital for almost eight weeks and watched as close, personal friends fought for their lives. She pointed out that it was British European Airways that flown the families of the survivors out to Munich immediately after the disaster, and that it was they, and not the Club, who made sure that they had daily expenses. Ray was also bitter about the treatment that the families received from the club and in his own words not too long before he passed away, felt that they had all been “shafted”.

I can recall him so well. He was so soft spoken and never one for the ‘limelight”. As I said at the beginning, Ray Wood’s name is one that hardly ever gets mentioned in regards to the “Busby Babes”, but there is no doubt that as the last line of defence in over 200 games for United, the likeable young Geordie played more than a passing part. Ray passed away at Bexhill on Sea in 2002 at the age of 71 years.

Rest on in Peace Ray and thanks for all the memories.

Ray Wood played in 208 games in all competitions for Manchester United and won 3 full international caps for England.

 

[mehro]

50 YEARS ON – Roger Byrne

“Captain Marvel”, “Captain Fantastic”, “Captain Reliable”. All accolades given to Captains of Manchester United during the last thirty years. United have had some great Captains at the Club down through the years and they have all left their own legacy on the Club’s history. Roger Byrne is certainly up there with the best of them, and he led by example on the field, and with quiet effective authority off it. He was certainly the buffer between the dressing room and the manager’s office.

Roger Byrne’s progression to Manchester United began at the Ryder Brow Boys Club in the Gorton area of Manchester. He initially played at inside forward and his wing partner back in those days was a person who was also going to go on and represent his country, but alas, at a different sport. That person was a certain J.B. “George” Statham who was to find fame and glory as a fast bowler with Lancashire C.C.C. and England.

Roger was never a schoolboy star, but he must have taken the eye in his performances with Ryder Brow for he was taken on at Old Trafford as junior, initially as an inside left. Again his progress was halted as he had to complete his National Service Service and he was enlisted into the R.A.F. It was quite amazing to find out that during his service time, he was considered as not good enough to play in the Station football team and so ended up having to play rugby! National Service completed, he returned to Old Trafford and it was then that his career began to progress.

He was a deceptive type of player and many outside of Old Trafford came to the conclusion that there would be no place for him in regular First Division football. There is a record of a scout’s report produced after one of Roger’s performances for the Reserve team which read as follows; “Heading – Poor; Tackling – Ordinary; Right Foot – Fair; Left Foot – Non-Existent; Overall Impression – Disillusioned.” The scout could not have got it more wrong, and fortunately for the staff at Old Trafford, they saw the real qualities in him and were able to bring those to the fore as he started to mature as a player. His chance came on November 24th, 1951 when he was selected at left back for the game at Anfield against Liverpool which ended in a 0-0 draw. He was to be ever present from then on in what was to be the first Championship winning team since 1911. He played on the left wing for the last six games of that season, scoring six goals in the process.

Although the 1951/52 season finished with him winning a First Division Championship medal, the following season saw him become discontented. To some people they saw him as arrogant with a big ego. Without doubt, Roger Byrne was very singe minded even to the point of being stubborn. The cause of his discontent was the fact that he didn’t like playing at outside left. He pointed out to Matt Busby that he was more at home playing in a defensive role and preferred the left full back berth. Busby unhesitatingly told him that he would play in whatever position that he was selected to play in and that there was no negotiating about it. There was an impasse between manager and player and Roger handed in a transfer request. Johnny Carey was the Club Captain at the time and he took Roger to task about the situation as did Allenby Chilton and Jack Rowley. They all pointed out that something new and exciting was about to be unleashed on British football from within Old Trafford. The three elder statesman explained to Roger that they were nearing the end of their careers and that a defensive position would be his for cementing if he buckled down to it, and that the young players that were beginning to emerge within the club from the junior teams would make Manchester United the team of the future. Fortunately, after being shown the error of his ways, Roger withdrew his transfer request. Busby had left him out of the team for a few games after his transfer request, but once it was withdrawn he put him back in – at full back, and he was to stay there for until fate curtailed his career.

Johnny Carey retired and Allenby Chilton was made Club Captain, and Busby’s man management skills showed when he made Byrne the team’s vice-captain. There was no doubt in the two years that followed, Byrne learned much from Chilton’s leadership and Busby’s management skills even though the former was very autocratic. He bridged the gap between those young players in the dressing room and Chilton, and was also their bridge to the manager. He truly blossomed as a full back and it wasn’t too long before he began to catch the eye of the international selectors with his displays. Byrne was extremely quick, and was never one for diving into the tackle. He was slightly built for a full back but had a very good tactical brain. It was unusual that he played in that left back role because his stronger foot was his right foot, but it never seemed to deter him. He would “jockey “ wingers into positions where he wanted them to be and was so adept at “nicking” the ball away from them. He was masterful at reading the game and had an uncanny sense of anticipating danger which was often seen when he came across to the middle covering behind the centre half whenever the situation was needed. Jimmy Armfield was given the tag of the first full back to start the “overlapping full back” ploy. This is nonsense. Roger Byrne was the first full back to be seen to do this regularly in games. As a player with the experience of having played on the wing, he was always very comfortable at getting forward and supporting attacking play.

Even today, Roger Byrne is probably one of the quickest defenders I have ever seen. His recovery speed was phenomenal and many was the time as I watched games, wingers would have thought that they had “skinned” him, only to find that he was there in front of them again. On April 3rd 1954, he made his debut for England against Scotland in the cauldron that was Hampden Park and shone in an England victory by 4-2. This began a run of 33 consecutive international games for his country. Quite phenomenal back then when players were in and out of the team at the whim of selectors. Billy Wright, the blue eyed golden haired man from Wolverhampton Wanderers was the England skipper, but I’m sure that Byrne would have succeeded him in that role. To be honest, in my opinion, Wright was past his sell by date from the mid fifties onwards, and was very fortunate indeed to amass 100 caps.

At United, the “Babes” were starting to emerge. In 1955 Chilton retired and Busby appointed Byrne as the Club Captain. It was the only choice because Roger was a born leader in reality. He kept the “kids” in check and was never afraid to take them aside and have a “quiet word” if he thought that they were transgressing or that their off the field activities were beginning to affect their form. He wasn’t autocratic as Chilton had been but he had this calm, confident manner that players respected and his authority never came into question. His relationship with Busby deepened and I am sure that in Roger Byrne, Busby saw the man who would eventually take over the mantle from him as Manager of Manchester United.

 

[mehro]

The “Babes” were a wonderful set of young men led by an exceptional Captain. They were different in that they were all big friends even away from the playing side of their lives. Roger met his future wife Joy when he enrolled on a physiotherapist’s course at Salford University. Joy was on the same course and their relationship blossomed as the course progressed.. He was the only United player at that time to own a car, not that he was a prolific driver! Shortly after he had obtained a permanent driving licence, Busby was at home in King’s Road, Chorlton cum Hardy one evening, when there was an almighty crash outside of his home. On going out to investigate, he was confronted by the sight of Roger in his car half way down his front lawn after having crashed through the garden wall!

Success came to the “Babes” in that 1955/56 season when they won the First Division Championship with the youngest team ever and by the largest difference in points from the team finishing second. I can recall racing across the Old Trafford pitch from the “Glover’s side” at the conclusion of the last home game of that season against Portsmouth on April 21st 1956, to see them presented with that wonderful old Championship Trophy. The crowd was huge in front of the old main stand and player’s tunnel as Roger led his young team up a makeshift stairway and podium to be handed the trophy by Joe Richards, the Football League Chairman. Those young boys mounted the platform at the top of the stairway and their smiles and exuberance told such a story. As Byrne brought the trophy and his team down the stairway, they were happy to talk to the fans, show their medals and allow fans to touch the trophy before they disappeared up that tunnel and into the sanctity of the dressing room. No laps of honour back in those days!

The following season, Roger led his “Babes” into Europe, and his performances were inspirational. He led from the front and on the field he could also be a “minder” to some of the younger players. I can recall a game against Aston Villa at Old Trafford in September of 1957, when the Villa left half, Stan Crowther (who was to join United later that season on the night of that first game after Munich against Sheffield Wednesday) was giving Billy Whelan a tumescent time physically – in fact he was lucky to stay on the field. Byrne had a word with Crowther and got no real response. He bided his time and it came in the form of a long high ball dropping towards him as Crowther moved to close him down. Roger was quite deliberate in what he did and he met the ball full on the volley with his right foot. It went with the speed of a bullet and Crowther could not get out of the way as the ball hit him full in the face knocking him out. He was taken off the field with concussion and never returned to the game. Roger let no one take liberties.

He and Joy had married in early 1957 and had settled down in Flixton. Life was good apart from the away trips into Europe which kept them apart. United retained their title in 1956/57 and narrowly failed in their first European quest, as well as falling valiantly to Aston Villa in the F.A. Cup Final. Despite being on the end of the most violent premeditated act of violence that I have ever witnessed on a football pitch which left his team a man short for most of the game, the mark of Roger Byrne the man, was shown after the final whistle in the match had blown. Despite the bitter disappointment of losing at Wembley in the Final, and despite the nature that alluded to that loss, Byrne gathered his young team mates around him, and as Johnny Dixon, the Villa Captain, arrived at the top of the Royal Box, Byrne led his young charges in applause for the victors of the day as they received the famous old trophy. I could never envisage anything happening like that in this modern era. I will always recall a newspaper headline from the morning after that Final which said; “Villa Get The Cup But United Get The Glory” – never were truer words ever written.

The following season, 1957/58 was looked forward to so much. The word “treble” was now in the football vocabulary, and this was United’s aim that season. They started out brightly enough but had a mid season “blip” and going into February of 1958 they were second in the League table just 6 points behind Wolves, who were scheduled to play at Old Trafford on February 8th. After losing a League game to Chelsea on December 14th 1957 by 1-0, Busby decided to freshen up the team. He went out and bought Goalkeeper Hary Gregg from Doncaster Rovers for a British record transfer fee for a goalkeeper of 23,500 pounds. For the game against Leicester City on December 21st at Old Trafford, he left out Wood and introduced Gregg, and also left out Berry Whelan and Pegg, introducing Morgans, Charlton and Scanlon. The side that was then ever present for the next 11 games leading up to that fateful afternoon in Munich hit a rich vein of form. In those games in all competitions, they won 7 and drew 4, scoring 34 goals and conceding 16 in the process. They were back on track led by their inspirational Captain.

In Belgrade in the evening after the game against Red Star which had seen the team ease into the European Cup semi-finals, spirits were high at the reception that followed the game. Formal speeches were made and Byrne led the players in a rendition of Vera Lynne’s famous old wartime song of “We’ll Meet Again”. Sadly that was never to be. He again showed the other side of him as some of the younger players grew restless and impatient as midnight approached. They wanted to leave and visit a watering hole. Roger wrote a message on a napkin and passed it up to the top table where Busby was sat. The message on that napkin read “You promised the boys that they could leave once formalities were over. Permission to go?” A simple nod of the Manager’s head acquiesced to the request, and the young guns were away to enjoy themselves.

We all know the tragedy that was Munich and at what cost it came. Roger died instantly in the carnage of the disaster and Harry Gregg found him on the tarmac with not a mark upon him and with his eyes wide open. Even today, Harry sadly regrets not closing his eyes. Roger was just two days short of his 29th birthday. The biggest sadness was also that he was not to know that Joy, his wife was pregnant, and that he was never to see his son Roger junior. Roger’s body, together with those of his colleagues was flown home to Manchester and they rested initially in the gymnasium underneath the main stand at Old Trafford. The young policeman who had the duty of guarding the gymnasium door that night recalled that it was the longest and saddest night of his career. After a funeral service at Flixton Church, Roger was laid to rest.

United lost not only a great skipper that sad day, but also a man of great integrity, a born leader. He was certainly a man that exuded class and was full of charisma, whose sense of fair play and leadership, gained him the respect of not only his team mates, but everybody who came into contact with him. His tongue could be sharp at times, but those young kids accepted him and his discipline without question. He was simply their Captain.

Rest in peace Roger. I can still see you even today, leading those “Babes” out of the tunnel, tapping the ball up twice into your hands then kicking it up into the air towards the Scoreboard End goal. So many memories of a wonderful human being.



Roger played 277 games for United scoring 19 goals. He also made 33 consecutive appearances at international level for England.

 

[mehro]

50 Years On – “The Wizard of the Wing”

He was the smallest, the oldest, and the vice - captain of that great “Busby Babes” team of the 1950’s. Born on June 1st 1926, in the Hampshire town of Aldershot, he was considered as being “too small” to make a career in football with the “Shots.” How wrong could people have been! So when he left school, he took a job as a trainee cinema projectionist. He played his formative years of football with local amateur teams. In 1945, shortly after he began his National Service, he was sent to India, and it was whilst he was playing out there for the British Army team that he came to the attention of a man named Fred Harris who was the Birmingham City Captain. After being demobbed in 1947 the man I am writing about signed for Birmingham City, first as an amateur, and then later as a professional. That man is Johnny Berry.

Johnny had a fairly productive time at St. Andrews and spent just 4 years there. His journey to Old Trafford came after he had destroyed United in a First Division league game in Birmingham, a performance that Matt Busby never forgot. With Jimmy Delaney having left a few months earlier for Aberdeen, United needed a fast, direct winger who had experience to help with their push to achieve their first championship win since 1911. So it was then that in August 1951, United paid Birmingham 25,000 pounds for the diminutive little winger. He had an immediate impact and United duly achieved their aim, being crowned Champions at the end of the 1951-52 season for the first time in 41 years. Berry’s debut game came on September 1st 1951, at Burnden Park in front of 52,239 fans, in a game against Lancashire arch rivals, Bolton Wanderers, which United lost 0-1. United’s team that day was; Allen; Carey, Redman; Gibson, Chilton, Cockburn; Berry, Pearson, Rowley, Downie, Bond. His first goal for the club came just two weeks later on September 15th at Maine Road in a 2-1 victory for United – a nice start to his “derby” career! He made a total of 36 appearances that season scoring 6 goals, and collected his first Championship winner’s medal.

Johnny was extremely quick and would run at defenders with pace and could move the ball with either foot which enabled him to go either inside or outside of his marker. He was an exquisite dribbler and was a nightmare for a full back to mark. His crossing was deadly accurate with either foot and United’s strikers benefited a tremendous amount from the service that he provided. He was also dangerous in that he would also drift into the middle and suddenly arrive inside the penalty area unsuspected and would be there hammering the ball into the back of the net. For a little fellow, he packed quite a shot, again with both feet. He was a delight to watch especially when he was in full flight. That he only won 4 caps for England is again one of football’s travesties in my opinion. You have to remember that occupying the outside right berth in the England team during those years was a certain ageing, Stanley Mathews. The national team was also picked by a Selection Committee at that time which was made up of several League Club Chairmen – a sad state of affairs, and the reason why the England team was hardly consistent from one game to the next!

I often wonder how today’s fans would view Johnny Berry. To be honest, as they adore a certain young Portugese young man who wears the current number 7 shirt, I am more than certain that they would also have taken Johnny to their hearts. For all of his short stature, Johnny had the heart of a lion. He faced some of the toughest full backs in the game during his time at United, and was targeted for brutality on many occasions. This was a time when there was so much robust physical contact in the game and defenders could tackle from behind and get away with it. He had an unflappable temperament and was just so exciting to watch. Like Cristiano today, Berry could certainly get your arse on the edge of a seat – he completely baffled and bewitched full backs with his trickery, and this produced an awful lot of end-product!

As I said, his international career was so short. He went on the South American tour of 1953 and played in all three games. His next and last cap came some 3 years later in a game against Sweden in Rasunda which ended in a goalless draw. There was some tremendous wingers about during his time and no one could ever say that Tom Finney wasn’t worth his place in the team – but he operated mainly in the left wing berth, and there were many players who got caps during Berry’s time who were nowhere near as good as him. Stan Mathews, as Sir Matt once so aptly put it, loved to “play the Paladium” meaning he loved London and particularly Wembley, but he never liked playing at the likes of Old Trafford, Burnden, Hampden Park, Ninian Park, or Windsor Park!

Johnny reveled in seeing the young “Babes” being introduced around him. He was vice-captain of the team and had the nickname of “Digger” which referred to his powerful shot. As the “Babes” came to the fore – in that Championship winning team of 1956, only he and Roger Byrne remained from the team that had won the Championship some four years earlier. As United entered the new European Cup competition, he was paranoid about flying and certainly didn’t like it, which was the same for a few of the younger players as well. He was always suspicious of foreign food and used to take his own “goodies” with him on the foreign trips, together with a primus stove, which was often the source of merriment from the young lads.

He was an essential cog in that young team, and his form on the whole was so consistent. He also scored some very vital goals and amongst those that I can remember are the one against Bilbao at Maine Road that took United into the European Cup semi-final at their first attempt; the winner against Bournemouth at Dean Court in the F.A.Cup 6th round tie in 1957 that took them into semi-final; the winner in a crucial home League game against Blackpool at Old Trafford in April of 1956 which gave them a 2-1 victory that ensured the First Division title. He was also United’s spot kick expert for a number of years, having taken over the role from Roger Byrne.

Unfortunately for Johnny, in the middle of the 1957-58 season, Busby decided he needed to freshen up his team, and in the December of 1957, after a run of bad results he took action. He bought Harry Gregg from Doncaster Rovers for a British record fee for a goalkeeper of 23,500 pounds. On Saturday, December 21st 1957, Gregg made his debut against Leicester City at Old Trafford, consigning Ray Wood to the Reserves. Also left out of the team were Johnny Berry, Billy Whelan, and David Pegg, and they made way for Kenny Morgans, Bobby Charlton and Albert Scanlon. Sadly for those left out, none would ever play a competitive game in the first team again.

We all know that sad events of the tragedy, and it is amazing that Johnny Berry ever survived at all. His injuries were so horrific; fractured skull, broken jaw; broken elbow, broken pelvis, broken leg. When his wife Hilda arrived at the Munich hospital her first sight was one of him surrounded by packs of ice which was there to try and keep the swellings and bruising to a minimum. He was also in a coma and remained so for almost two months.

Sadly when he returned home to Manchester months later, he still had no clear idea of what had happened, and initially thought that he had been in a car crash. On the flight home from Munich he was accompanied by two nurses who had a bag full of tranquilisers should he have had any sudden flashback to the disaster. He was admitted into a Manchester hospital upon arrival and even then had to undergo the removal of all his teeth to help with the jaw injuries. His first knowledge of what had happened came when he picked up a newspaper which had a report of a United game on the back page, and when he saw the team line-up, he could not believe it. He badgered the nurse and she had to call a doctor who explained to him exactly what had happened. After Johnny asked about his team mates, the doctor went through the team name by name, and the doctor told him whether they had survived or not. Although he had been inside that ill-fated aircraft, he must have been the last person in the world to know it.

His injuries meant that he was never able to pursue his career in football again. He took a job with Massey Ferguson in Trafford Park but in 1960, United asked him to vacate their club house in Davyhulme to accommodate the signing of Maurice Setters. All I’ll say is that it was a sad state of affairs and one that made the Berry family understandably, very bitter. The family moved back to Aldershot his home town, and Johnny and his brother Peter opened a sports shop in the little village of Cove, close by. In 1963 I can recall that I was playing in a match at Aldershot, and needed some studs for my boots. I called in to Berry’s sports shop and it was John that actually served me. He spent great time advising me on what type of studs I needed and he actually fitted my boots with them for me. We spent time talking a little about Manchester but neither he nor I mentioned United. He looked a sick man even then. The sports shop business went on for 20 years, and Johnny spent the last few years of his working life as a storemean in a television retail chain warehouse. Sadly, he didn’t enjoy a long retirement passing away in March 1994 aged just 67 years.


Johnny Berry played 276 games in all competitions for United scoring 45 goals.

 

[mehro]

50 Years On - "Snake Hips"

Cheeky, precocious, exuberant, effervescent, bubbly, exciting; all those words could be used to describe Eddie Colman. But as far as football is concerned, you could only ever describe him as supremely gifted and talented. He was certainly one of those players that left an indelible imprint on your memory with his own style of playing the game. He was definitely different from his contemporaries of that era – in many ways – but more of that later.

Eddie was born and bred a Salford lad and entered this world on November 1st, 1936 – just one calendar month later than the indomitable Duncan Edwards. He was born at number 9, Archie Street, Ordsall, a really tough area that lies close to what is now Salford Quays, but back in those days was simply known as “the Docks.” Like most of Manchester’s inner city areas, Ordsall was an area of industrial buildings and streets made up of murky, dark bricked, two – up, two – down, terraced houses in cobbled stoned streets where the local people were housed. The original opening frames of the long running soap opera “Cornation Street” showing back to back terraced houses divided by an “entry” were of Eddie’s birthplace – Archie Street. They were honest, (well some of them!) hard working, God fearing people who lived there – but tough as granite and you had to be able to “look after yourself” to survive in those parts. He was born a few years before the outbreak of World War Two, and during those hostilities, with both the Manchester and Salford Docks and Ordsall’s industrial buildings being an obvious target for the German Luftwaffe, the area saw a lot of devastation. Many of those terraced houses were blitzed and there were many casualties. This was the initial environment that the young Eddie grew up with.

Ordsall lies virtually alongside Old Trafford, and it’s no surprise then that the local kids grew up supporting Manchester United. If they were not at school, kids back then spent most of their time outside, and for the boys, it was always football through the autumn, winter, and spring, and cricket through the summer. Very few working class families owned television sets back then and computers were virtually unheard of – so kids did not have the distractions that they have today, and tended to expend their energies outdoors. It was unusual to find a boy who wasn’t interested in football. Games of football would take place in those cobbled stoned streets and on the “crofts” where houses had been demolished as a result of the bomb damage. The “matches” would go on for hours, and if a youngster had a ball, no matter what size (although usually tennis balls were the norm), then there was a game.

This was how the young Eddie initially honed his footballing skills. Academically, he was an average boy. Physically, he was small in stature with a tiny frame, blonde hair, and a cherubic face. But that was misleading to say the least. To look at him, he was the angelic “boy next door”, but Eddie had an impish streak and was a born practical joker, which offtimes got him into trouble both at home and at school. However, he shone on the sports field and had great abilities both playing football and cricket. His size never deterred him on the football field and he was never ever afraid to get “stuck in” and “mix it” with boys that were physically more mature than him and in most cases, older. In the immediate post – war years, he began to develop and it was no surprise therefore that he started to attract attention as first he starred in his school team, and then made selection for the Salford City Boys team, a year earlier than was normal. Eddie was a United fan, and after playing school football on a Saturday morning, he would walk the short journey with his mates, along Trafford Road and across the “Swing Bridge”, to watch United. Busby’s team at that time was the team to watch, but it was also at this time that he was starting to implement his youth policy, gathering the best young talent available and bringing them to Old Trafford.

Although there was a multitude of football scouts queueing up at the Colman household’s front door, there was only ever one club that Eddie was going to sign for – and that was Manchester United. He joined United in 1952, and immediately settled in trying to establish himself alongside a multitude of talented youngsters – many of them had been schoolboy internationals. But this never ever deterred young Eddie, he had absolute belief in himself and a temperament that was mature beyond his years. There was a lot of competition amongst the youngsters back then, but Eddie never shirked that challenge, and although still small, he put in some sterling performances for United’s juniors in his first year, playing in matches against teams where the opposition players were mostly adults.

Eddie’s personality was impish but to see this side of him, you really had to know him. His team mates soon found out that Eddie was the complete prankster! It got him into a few scrapes, particularly with Jimmy Murphy, but I’m sure that Jimmy, after his initial annoyance, sat down and laughed also. Eddie was very popular amongst his team mates, and as he moved up through the “B” and “A” teams, that popularity never dimished. He captained a very successful Youth team for the first three years and amongst that team were the likes of Duncan Edwards, Billy Whelan, Bobby Charlton, Wilf McGuinness, and Shay Brennan. His style of play from the right – half position was different from the normal wing half of his day. Normally, wing halfs back in those days could be likened to “enforcers” – they were normally well built and most were destroyers. Eddie, because of his size and stature was full of guile and craft and had a quick footballing brain. He was an exquisite passer of the ball and could thread it through the eye of a needle. He could also tackle, a tact that a lot of pundits of the time failed to see. But he had developed this wonderful body swerve, the likes of which people had never ever seen, and haven’t since.

Just eleven days after his 19th birthday, on November 12th, 1955, he made his first team debut in 1-3 defeat at Burnden Park, against Bolton Wanderers. At 5’7” and just 9 stones 2 lbs, against such a physical team that Bolton was back then, you would have feared for young Eddie’s safety! Not a bit of it – he was in amongst the “Trotters” like a Jack Russel hanging on to a trouser leg! This was the first time that his trade mark body swerve had been seen at the top level of the game in England. The man on the receiving end was none other than Nat Lofthouse, “the Lion of Vienna.” Lofthouse was the typical old fashioned centre forward, tough as teak and no-holds barred and was also a seasoned international player. He was very, very physical. As young Eddie carried the ball away from danger just beyond the 18 yards line of United’s goalmouth, Lofthouse made for him. It was a “David and Goliath” situation. There was this young, blond, angel faced kid making his debut, and was just about to be introduced to the tough professional game of First Division football, by the old wizened master of his craft. As Lofthouse moved in for the kill, the youngster made an exaggerated movement with his hips and arse - it was as though he was on the dance floor doing a rumba! It mesmerized Lofthouse into taking the movement and with just another little swift movement of those hips and arse – Eddie was off in the opposite direction with the ball, leaving Lofthouse in “no-man’s land!” Not only did that dummy confuse Lofthouse, but it also confused most of the people inside Burnden Park that afternoon, particularly those sitting in the Manchester Road Stand for there was a murmur went out like you’d never heard before! Eddie Colman had arrived.

He was to remain a permanent fixture in the team after that and he played a huge part in “the Babes” winning their first title in that 1955/56 season. The fans took to him as one of their favourite sons and christened him “Snake Hips – the boy with the Marilyn Monroe wiggle.” He was the perfect foil for Edwards in the middle of United’s midfield. They complimented each other so well – were so precocious and feared nobody and no reputation, and they were a formidable partnership together. He was never amongst the goals and only twice scored at first team level. His first came just two weeks after his debut when he scrambled the ball home from close range at White Hart Lane against ‘Spurs in November 1956. His second was all important when again he forced the ball home from close range at Old Trafford against Red Star on that dark, January foggy night in 1958 that gave United a 2-1 lead to take with them on that ill fated trip. His sense of humor was to the fore when Henry Rose, the Daily Express journalist, asked him after that European game, what it felt like to score such an important goal. Eddie responded; “You know me Henry, I’m the most dangerous player in the world from two yards!” Just a year earlier, when United had flown to Spain for the European Cup Quarter Final first leg game against Bilbao, upon landing in Basque capital, he was one of the first players to alight from the sircraft. Instead of being met by glorious sunshine, it was sleeting heavily and Eddie was heard to remark; “Caramba! Just like Salford!”

 

[mehro]

It was true to say that Eddie was now an established, and integral member of “the Babes” and once again, he picked up another Championship winner’s medal as well as playing in the F.A. Cup Final, in the following season 1956 – 57. I have no doubts at all in my own mind that he would have gone on to win full England international honours had fate not decreed otherwise. He was in superb form at the time of the tragedy, and together with the established English internationals of Byrne, Edwards, and Tommy Taylor, I also think that Eddie, Mark Jones, and David Pegg would have made both the World Cup squad that went to Sweden in 1958 and that they would probably have been the backbone of the England team for years to come.

Off the field Eddie just loved life. His impish sense of humour was so infectious, and he became very close to Bill Foulkes, and Foulkes’s wife, Theresa. He was very fashion conscious and in the middle fifties when “drain pipes”, “winkle pickers”, and threequarter-length jackets became the style, Eddie was one of the first to be seen wearing that garb. Eddie’s best friend as I recall was a little guy whom I think was called Jimmy. They were inseparable and there was no show without “Punch” – where there was one, there was the other! They could both be seen around the local dance halls at weekends, but Eddie would never let on to the girls that he met, what he did for a living. Whenever they asked he would just tell them; “I work in Trafford Park” or “I’m a painter and decorator”.

He loved a pint, and going out with the lads for a drink and a sing song. There was numerous times that Eddie, Wilf, Bobby, Tommy, David, Billy, would gather down at a pub in Sale. Eddie idolized Sinatra and fancied himself as a pianist/crooner. He used to do his “party piece” in the singing room – “Pennies from Heaven” – much to the delight of the locals. His liking for a pint did lead to some trouble for him though, and it came from none other than Roger Byrne, the United captain. No doubt the exuberance of youth was the main culprit, but on a couple of occasions Eddie did let his standards drop a little and once or twice turned up late for training. The occasion of Byrne’s intervention was after one of the famous “killer ball” games that the players used to play on the gravel at the back of the Stretford End. The players were stood around when it had finished and Roger barked at him that he wanted a word. He took him out of earshot of everybody and when their conversation was over, Eddie was white-faced. It transpired that Roger had certainly left him in no doubts that if he didn’t pull his socks up and get a grip on his lifestyle, then there was no doubt that he would be on his way out of Old Trafford. That he heeded Roger’s advice was to his good. Shortly after this, Eddie met a wonderful young girl named Marjorie English and he was smitten.

Eddie was another of “the Babes” who was idolized by thousands of young kids of that era. Again, like most of those boys that he played alongside, there was no airs and graces with him – just a plain little Salford lad that happened to play football for the Club that he adored. Nothing flash, no pretentiousness. It was a common site to see him walking off home after playing in a match at Old Trafford, chatting to fans as he went. My last sight of him was after the FA Cup Fourth Round tie against Ipswich Town at Old Trafford on January 25th 1958. United had strolled through the game to win 2-0. About half an hour after the game finished he came out of the main entrance wearing a big black duffle coat with wooden buttons, and was immediately surrounded by kids. He signed away smiling and laughing, and then joined some friends and they walked away down past the old ticket office and out of sight.

After the disaster, I would often play “wag” (truant) from school, and walk from my home in Chorlton-upon-Medlock, through Hulme and on to Regent Road in Salford. I would trek up Regent Road into Weaste and then into Weaste Cemetery. Eddie was buried at the top of the main drive on the right hand side, on the corner, just in front of the church. His family had a beautiful white marble statue of him passing the ball, commissioned and sculptured in Italy. It stood about three feet tall and was so beautiful. I spent many an hour stood there in front of his resting place and that statue, reliving old memories and shedding many a tear. Unfortunately, I believe that the statue was vandalized many years later and is no longer there. In February next year, I will make another pilgrimage to his resting place, and no doubt the tears and the memories will flow once again.

Rest On In Peace Eddie, you are never forgotten.

Eddie made just 107 appearances in all competitions for United Scoring 2 goals.

 

[mehro]

50 Years On – Mark Jones

That the “Busby Babes” were the glamour team of their era is beyond doubt. Sir Matt had quietly introduced his youngsters into First Division football between the 1952 – 53, 1953-54, and 1954-55 seasons. It had taken three years to assemble this array of mercurial young talent, and there had been some setbacks along the way as his young apprentices came to terms with First Division football. By the start of the 1955-56 season his young team had an average age of around 22-23 years – unheard of in those times. Talk to people about the “Babes” today and they will automatically come up with the names of Edwards, Taylor, Byrne, Colman, Pegg. But just as there has been unsung heroes in all of Fergie’s past and present United teams, so it was with the “Babes.” The man I am going to write a few lines about was certainly an unsung hero, but he was as essential to the “Babes” team as has been Vidic, Ferdinand, Stam, Bruce, Pallister, McGrath, McQueen, Buchan, Holton, who played in the United teams that followed afterwards.

To meet Mark Jones was an absolute pleasure. He was so quiet, unassuming, modest, down to earth, and could even be termed shy. He was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire on June 15th 1933 and once again, details of early childhood are buried in the mists of time. What is known though, is that he developed into an outstanding young schoolboy footballer. A no nonsense type of centre half. He was so good, that he captained not only his school team, but also his City Boys team, Yorkshire Schoolboys, the North of England Schoolboys and finally, England Schoolboys. So it was no wonder then that he had come to the attention of many of the top clubs in England. He had only thoughts of joining Manchester United though because his idol was Allenby Chilton, the United centre half. I think that it is true to say, that Mark was certainly one of the “original Busby Babes” when he signed amateur forms for United in the summer of 1948.

He would travel over from Barnsley twice a week to train with the juniors at the Cliff. It must have been a tiring experience for him because after leaving school, he also apprenticed as a bricklayer – hard work in a time when Britain had started to rebuild immediately after the war years. The work helped Mark fill out physically and before too long here was this big strapping young teenager standing over 6 feet tall and weighing around thirteen stones with the physique of a heavyweight boxer! He progressed through the junior teams and in the summer of 1950, finally signed professional forms for United. In the autumn of that year, 7th October to be precise, the day that he had dreamed about arrived when he was selected to make his first team debut against Sheffield Wednesday at Old Trafford in a team that read; Allen; Carey, Redman; Gibson, Jones, McGlen; Delaney, Downie, Rowley, Pearson, McShane. United won 3-1 that day and it’s interesting to note that Harry McShane, actor Ian McShane’s father, was amongst the goal scorers. He was to play a further 3 more games that season and was never on the losing side defeating Everton 4-1 at Goodison, Arsenal 3-1 at Old Trafford, and the return fixture against Wednesday at Hillsborough 4-0 – a terrific start to his football career at top level. He was to play a further 3 games in season 1951 -52, United’s first Championship winning season since 1911, and again, he never finished on the losing side. But unfortunately, three appearances didn’t qualify him for a winner’s medal. In 1952 – 53 he played two games, only this time, he tasted defeat for the first time in both games.

It was in early 1953 that he also left to do his two years National service and he never figured in any first team games again until after his demobilization in early 1955. That he’d been kept out of the first team before call-up by his boyhood hero Allenby Chilton, must have been of little consolation to him, but Chilton’s remarkable consistency of form and fitness over a period of four years when he was well into his thirties, was of tremendous credit to the older player. It has to be stressed that Chilton had a great effect on shaping the player that Mark was to become as he honed him into the centre half that United needed. Chilton’s days came to an end in early 1955 after some bad defeats – two of which were in games that I saw against Manchester City. I had attended my first ever “derby game” at Maine Road in late September 1954 when City won 3-2. On February 12th 1955, I watched my first “derby” game at Old Trafford, but it was a disaster for me, and United, as City went “nap” winning 5-0. The following week on May 19th, United were away to City again in the fourth round of the F.A. Cup and once again, City triumphed by 2-0 in a game that United really dominated but suffered because of their wastefulness in front of goal. It was also a game that saw Chilton sent off for foul and abusive language to the referee – how would the referees cope in today’s modern game! What an introduction for me to “derby” matches! Chilton’s last game for United was at Wolves the week after that Cup tie and once again United lost by 4-2. For the next game, because of Chilton’s suspension, Mark played his first game at senior level for two years and was to make the position his own from then on

There was certainly no frills where Mark Jones was concerned. He was a bone crunching tackler and majestic in the air and after he had won the ball, there was no just hoofing it upfield as many of the centre halves back then were want to do. He was quite content to play it simple and give the ball to Colman, Edwards, Viollet or Whelan who could use the ball much better than he could. He was certainly a stopper, and he was very adept at it. For a former bricklayer, he became the rock, the cornerstone of the defensive stonewall!

There is a little bit of a myth that abounds in United’s history that the centre half position was complicated by a continual battle between Mark and Jackie Blanchflower for the number 5 shirt. This simply isn’t true. Mark was virtually ever present during the 1955-56 season when the “Babes” secured their first Championship win. He was also almost ever present in the 1956- 57 season, until a knee injury in the sixth round F.A. Cup tie at Bournemouth in March of 1957 kept him out of the team. Jackie Blanchflower had played most of his career at inside right for United, but he was very versatile player, and Busby had experimented with him at centre half once or twice in the Reserves. Ronnie Cope was normally Mark’s deputy, but after the Bournemouth game, Busby went with Blanchflower, who it has to be said, played so superbly that he couldn’t leave him out. Blanchflower played for the rest of the season winning a championship medal and also playing in the F.A. Cup Final, and he also played into the November of the following season, when a dip in his form allowed Mark to reclaim the number 5 shirt which he kept until the time of the tragedy.

After he was demobbed from the Army, Mark had married his childhood sweetheart June and they had settled down to married life in the Flixton area. It was well known back then that Mark Jones and Jackie Blanchflower were close friends; so much so that Jackie was best man at Mark and June’s wedding. He was never a man for the bright lights and after a game it was commonplace to see him emerge out of the main entrance wearing his trilby hat, smoking a pipe, and the gabardine raincoat. The pipe smoking was the point of a lot of banter from his young team mates who christened him with the nickname “Dan Archer” after the character in the famous “Archers” BBC radio programme. Off the field he was such a mild mannered person, quiet, and loved nothing better than to get off home to June, his labrador dog whom I think was named “Gyp” and his newborn baby daughter. He also had a passion for breeding budgerigars which often led to other bouts of mickey taking from his young mates. But he took it all in his stride. “The Gentle Giant” was a nickname given to the late, great, John Charles back then, but it was also a name that would describe Mark Jones so aptly.

 

[mehro]

He put in some tremendous games for his beloved club and none more aptly than that glorious night at Maine Road when United triumphed over Bilbao in the European Cup. The Spaniards threw everything they could at United that evening, but they could not breach the defence at which he was the central lynchpin. He faced some of the toughest and hardest centre forwards of his era, but none ever baulked him – household names of the time like Lofthouse, Ford, Hickson, Milburn, Revie, Swinbourne, Allen, Wayman, Bentley, Smith. Unfortunately fate decreed that he would never ever realize his ambition of playing for his country. He was called up into an England party when he was named as a reserve but that was as far as it went – no subs or place on the bench back then. That dream would, I am certain, have been realised as he was certainly knocking on the door at the time of the tragedy. I also believe that had he lived, Billy Wright would not have reached the figure of 105 caps for England.

My own experience of meeting Mark came on a couple of occasions through schoolboy football. In 1957 my school team had reached the final of a knockout competition and it was played at Newton Heath Loco in the Newton Heath area of Manchester. For us kids that night, it was like the experience of professionals reaching Wembley – an enclosed ground, nets, referee and linesmen, a large crowd (we played before the start of a game between Manchester Catholic Boys and Liverpool Catholic Boys) and we were all so starry eyed. My school team lost that Final by 4-2, and although I was disappointed at losing, I had played fairly well. It was great consolation to me that the medals were presented by Mark, and that for me was just thrill enough. I couldn’t wait to receive mine and as I did, he handed me the medal and ruffled my hair saying in his thick Yorkshire accent, “well played young ‘un.” In November of 1957, he again did the presentations for a school’s 5-a-side competition which was held at The Proctor’s Gymnasium and Hulme Lad’s Club in Hulme, which my school side won. That night he had the Labrador dog with him and it just sat at his side as he spent time with all the kids, signing every bit of paper that they put in front of him. Here was an established United player giving of his free time to schoolboy football in the Manchester area. He was such a very gentle man off the field.

June, his wife, was five months pregnant with their son Gary at the time of the disaster. After it happened, the Labrador dog pined for him so badly and died in the March just a few short weeks afterwards. I have great memories of him playing for United and as I said at the beginning, he really was one of the unsung heroes. The doughty stopper, the uncompromising centre half, the archetypal pivot, the seam of Yorkshire granite. Most of all, I remember a man who loved his family, loved his club and was indeed a very gentle giant.

Sleep on in peace Mark – never forgotten.

Mark played in 121 games in all competitions scoring just 1 goal.

 

[mehro]

50 Years On – Duncan Edwards

Football throughout its history has thrown up players who are talked of as greats, legends, even icons. I suppose that as impressionable youngsters, we take to players who become our favourites, and no amount of criticism would ever sway the way that we think about them. The impressions that we have of those players when we are so young never alter and we always look back on the careers of those players with a great fondness and affection. I was certainly no different. The views and affections that we have for those players are then passed on down through the years to our children, grand children, and even great grandchildren.

As a youngster I had my favourites – two of them to be honest. My second favourite you might be surprised to hear, played for Manchester City and he was Bert Trautmann, the big blonde German goalkeeper. Bert was a young man when he was first captured by the Russians in late 1944, but he escaped and was fortunate to be recaptured by the British who brought him to England and to a POW camp just outside St. Helens. Initially, when playing football he was a half back, but in a game at the camp when they were short of a goalkeeper, he volunteered and took to the task like a natural. After the War ended he stayed in the St Helens area and joined the St Helens Town club, quickly becoming the first choice ‘keeper. It was in a friendly match between St. Helens and Manchester City that he again took the eye and City signed him not too long after that game. The legendary Frank Swift was coming to the end of his career and Trautmann was the ideal replacement. The City fans did not take to him at first and he faced a lot of prejudice. This was mainly due to his nationality and the fact that the Second World War had not been over for that long. However, he kept at it and eventually won them over with the strength of his performances. The very first time that I ever saw him play was on September 25 1954, at Maine Road, in the very first derby game that I ever attended. United lost that game by 3-2, and I recall that the difference between the two teams that day was one Bert Trautmann. He had such great presence and was a commanding figure in his area. Fearless and brave, and terrific at coming out for crosses which he sometimes took with great effect with one hand, he was probably the first goalkeeper to start off counter attacks by quickly throwing the ball out to his full backs or wingers. As a budding goalkeeper myself, even at such an early age, it was Trautmann that I tried to model myself upon. I never got tired of wataching him, even in derby games against United when he so often frustrated the United teams.

However, my firm favourite was a young man who indeed is an icon, a legend, an all time great, and one who, for those of us that had the privilege of seeing him play, will never ever be forgotten. Three dates will always be imprinted in my mind and in my heart until the day that I draw my last breath; 6th February 1958, 1st October 1936, and 21st February 1958. The first date is obviously the one that commemorates the saddest and blackest day in my Club’s history. The other two commemorate the birth and the passing of my hero and you all know that it is Duncan Edwards. In today’s modern game, eulogies like, “legend”, “great”, “maestro”, “world class”, are bandied about all too frequently on players, whom in my honest opinion, come nowhere near to the class that was “big Dunc”. It’s difficult for younger people today, who never had the chance of seeing him play, to accept that there was once a player who was the “perfect player”, who had “everything”. We who did see him play however, were so lucky to watch a boy who was a man before his time, a player who had so much love for the game of football that he would get as much joy out of playing in a kick about game with kids in the street, as he did in turning out for his country at Wembley in front of 100, 000 spectators.

It was this love of the game, his youthful exuberance out on the pitch, and his so modest personality, that endeared him to so many people - not only at Manchester United, but throughout the whole of British football. He was revered by the fans, his team mates, and his opponents alike. His impact on British football for one so young was astonishing and what he achieved in his short life time bears this out. The testimonials from his contemporaries of his era about just how good he was, bear witness to his abilities as a player; to his temperament, to his technique, and to him as a person. Never in the public eye for the wrong reasons, never one to court publicity or blow his own trumpet; off the field he was just a shy, retiring type of young person. No airs or graces, no ideas of grandeur, just a young man with his feet firmly planted on the ground. He received his fair share of criticism in the press but it never bothered him. He used to tell reporters; “you’ve got your job to do, and I have mine – that’s fair enough by me.”

It’s said by people today that he never fulfilled his potential. I don’t buy into that line of thought at all. Fate decreed that his career would be cut short, and that was cruel as it robbed British, indeed World football of probably the greatest all round footballer that the game has seen. But he was without doubt in my opinion the finished article. 177 games for United with 21 goals, 18 England caps with 5 goals. He also played in games for the Football League, The FA XI, England “B”, England Under 23, and for the Army. He won two Championship winner’s medals, he’d played in the FA Cup Final, and had also appeared in European Cup football as well. It’s documented that in one season ( I think that it was 1955/56) he played in 84 first class games. He just lived to play football and he had a love of the game that I haven’t seen in any other player.

Duncan was special, everybody at that time knew it – Sir Matt, Jimmy, the fans, his team mates, opponents – even Duncan himself knew it, but it never ever affected his ego. I treasure the memories of him cycling down the Warwick Road on match day, his perpetual smile and cheery wave to the fans as they called out to him. I’d give an arm and a leg just to see him once again come bounding out from that old player’s tunnel, taking those giant leaps into the air as he headed an imaginary ball. He’d trot over to the popular side with Eddie Colman and Mark Jones or Jackie Blanchflower, and they would pass a ball about in triangle until it was time to kick off. Jack Irons used to be the United mascot at that time, but in the immediate months before the disaster, there was a young boy of around 7/8 who used to lead the United team out wearing the United kit, and on the back of his shirt was the number 6. He’d trot over to that popular side and Duncan would be the first to pass the ball to him. I often wonder what happened to that young boy.

The disaster hit us all so hard, but I think that the real body blow that finally brought everything home was Duncan’s quiet passing in the early hours of the morning on February 21st 1958. If there was one person that you wanted to survive, and this is not being disrespectful to those other wonderful young men who perished, it was Duncan. Whilst he was still living, there always seemed so much hope. I recall that morning so often and remember when my Mum came up the stairs into my bedroom, gently shook me into wakefulness, and then explained to me that Duncan had passed. The feeling that came over me as a young 13 years old boy is indescribable. During my lifetime I have lost people very close to me on more than the odd occasion, but their passing has been something that I have always managed to cope with. Even today the grief that I feel about Duncan’s passing is so hard to explain – it’s still there even after all these years. If I close my eyes I can still see him, still hear his voice with that West Midlands accent, still feel him ruffle my hair as he signed my book or piece of paper, still see him disappearing up the Warwick Road on his bike after he’d played in a match. I suspect that for most of my generation that follow United, they share those same feelings and always will do.

 

[Suresh]

Nice work, Mehro.

And thank you Tom Clare for your brilliant efforts.

 

[dno]

Seconded. Hagiography, but a fine read. Well done mate and thanks for posting.

 

[ERICSAGOD]

Well done Mehro, have a house point.

Great posting.

 

[Nick 0208 Ldn]

Haven't read it all yet, there's a fair bit you understand.

But thanks.

 

[ecantona7]

this is great work mehro

much appreciated

 

[Steev]

Nice one Methro

If anyone hasn't read these yet, I recommend you put the kettle on, make a cup of tea (with biscuit of choice) and read it through.

EDIT - Where is Tom these days?

 

[BahamaRed]

Hey mehro, that was great. Thanks for the effort.

 

[manux399]

magnificent work chaps..!

 

[p_ps_sock]

so sad, thanks tom and mehro

 

[Suresh]

For those of you wanting a decent wallpaper* of the Babes.

* Courtesy of BeardedGenius.

 

[DanH]

nice one for this.

 

[ralphie88]

EDIT - Where is Tom these days?

The States I think, usually pops over a couple of times a season. Goes to the odd FC game. Posts a lot on the MUST board.

 

[Man Utd Mrs]

Thanks Mehro & Tom.
A fantastic read.........it's taken me ages but i've enjoyed it immensely!

 

[Shane B]

Good Stuff Tom mate.

 

[Longlivekeano]

Cheers Tom. Excellent piece.

 

[ConnemaraRed]

That's a great read, thanks lads.

 

[Crispy71]

Top post -

 

[Derek Brown]

If ever you need historic information on United, Tom's your man. Always great reading.

Good posting mehro.

 

[TomClare]

Thanks good people. I have had a heavy workload this last few months, plus I have been doing some work for the BBC. I'm travelling over to UK tomorrow and will be at the 'Spurs game on Saturday. Will go up to Manchester on Monday and will be at Old Trafford on the 6th for the singing of "The Flowers". Will also be there for the "derby" game, and return back to Houston the following day.

It's a special time for me this next week, and I hope that every associated with it gets the dignity and respect the week deserves.

 

[Richter]

Ty Tom that took a while to read hehe.

 

[TomClare]

Belgrade - 5th February 1958 - The Final Game

The European Trail – Red Star Belgrade – Second Leg – 5th February 1958

After the 2-1 win against Red Star Belgrade on the night of 14th January 1958, Manchester United would have to wait for three weeks before the tie would attempt to be resolved in the second leg which was to be played in Belgrade on February 5th 1958. It would be the most difficult European adventure in terms of travel and distance that the Club had undertaken in European competition so far.

We were never to know at that time just how important those next three weeks would be in playing their part in the future of a club that had already skirted with the dangers of foreclosure on two occasions in its history. However, since the end of World War Two, with the foresight of a great Chairman, and a backroom staff that fully supported his vision, it had laid the foundations of what was fast becoming a dynasty in British and European football. The appointment of Matt Busby as team manager was certainly the catalyst that brought Chairman Gibson’s initial dream to fruition. Busby had shown great foresight in placing his own back room team around him after his appointment was rubber stamped by the Board. The appointment of Jimmy Murphy as his second-in-command was the real master stroke, and Murphy’s role in the formulation and emergence of the club’s youth policy should never be forgotten or ever understated.

Without doubt, the fiery but genial Welshman played just as important part in Manchester United’s history from 1946-1970, as did Sir Matt Busby. Whilst there is not a shadow of doubt that Busby was “The Boss” – “Jimmy” was the man who worked with all the young kids from the moment that they arrived at the Club. His presence was enormous on the training ground at both The Cliff and at Old Trafford and he worked so hard in tandem with Matt Busby to achieve the goals that they had set out to aspire to. From the moment those youngsters became Manchester United players, they were all well aware of just who “Jimmy” was. He was the man who eventually moulded them into the players that they were to become. Hours and hours were spent on those training grounds bollicking them, cajoling them, urging them, willing them, pleading with them, trusting them, but most of all, teaching them and toughening them for a life in professional football. He had a fierce bark, but deep down, he loved working with all those youngsters and there developed a special bond between them and him and even today as most of the players that passed through his hands are now into their old age, they speak of him with reverence.

Jimmy was in charge the inaugural Youth team set-up in 1952-53, and it says so much for his hard work that for the first five years of the F.A. Youth Cup competition, the teams that he fielded were unbeatable. Their record of five successive F.A. Youth Cups has never been beaten even into this modern day. Fuelled by Joe Armstrong’s scouting team’s special talent for spotting promising young football players from all over Great Britain and Eire, there was a never ending stream of talented youngsters coming into that youth team.

Many were to become household names in British football in future years, but as they have all related in their later years, the influence that one Jimmy Murphy had on their careers is unquestionable, and the debt that they owed him in shaping their futures was a debt that they, or anybody else, could never put a price upon.

For the people of Manchester, those coming three weeks in late January and early February of 1958 would be gripped by “European fever” and talk of “the Treble” once again. The previous season had seen some epic battles and games fought on a knife edge between United and Atletico Bilbao, and Real Madrid. The game against Red Star in Belgrade was so critical for their chances of achieving the “treble” dream. It was now becoming just as intense as the battles against the Spanish teams the previous season, and with such a slender lead to take with them to such a far flung venue, everybody was again asking; “can they do it?”

The Red Star game at Old Trafford had been hard fought and there were some bumps and bruises to be tended to the following day. The next First Division fixture after the Belgrade home game was to be played on Saturday, January 18th 1958 at Old Trafford and the opponents were those old foes from Burnden Park, Bolton Wanderers. Bolton always seemed to have some kind of Indian sign over Manchester United, and it had been no different during the 1957/58 season. After making such a promising start to the season winning 5 and drawing 1 of the first 6 fixtures, they had gone off to Burnden Park in mid-September firing on all cylinders having scored 22 goals and conceding just 5. However, Bolton put a stop to that run and routed United 4-0! So the forthcoming game with the “Trotters” was quite significant, especially as United were still playing “catch-up” in the League, chasing Wolverhampton Wanderers. Just prior to the Bolton game, they were lying in fourth position some 8 points behind the Wolves with 26 games played and just 16 games left to pull back that deficit.

On the Thursday before the Bolton game the sports sections in the morning newspapers led with the announcement that Matt Busby had been appointed as team manager to the Scottish international team. It was a great honour not only for Matt himself, but also for Manchester United Football Club, and it was recognition for his sterling work in making United Britain’s leading football club at that time. Everywhere you went at that time, whenever and wherever football was discussed, and the name of Manchester United was to the forefront.

The “Busby Babes” had captured the hearts and minds of football followers throughout the nation. The announcement of his appointment concluded that his appointment would also take in the 1958 World Cup Finals which were to be held in Sweden in the summer of 1958. They were also quick to point out that in those finals he could well come up against his number two at Old Trafford, Jimmy Murphy who just a few months before had taken up the appointment as the Wales international team manager. For the only time in Britain’s footballing history, all four home nations had qualified for the World Cup finals. We looked forward to the summer with great interest.

Saturday morning 18th of January arrived and I recall it was bitterly cold. After doing household chores early in the morning, I made my way down to Wyman’s Pet Shop earlier than usual as I was off to the United - Bolton match immediately after I had finished deliveries. Jean and David were both there, and the loaded my delivery bags, handed me my flask of Oxo, and off I went. The banter with the customers was its usual good natured self as I made the rounds, and those that had bet with me on the outcome of the Red Star game the previous Tuesday evening, paid up with their three penny bits! Some of them thought that after the game later that afternoon I would be returning my gains and so we decided on “double or quits” and I was so happy as I walked the route.

Delivery orders completed, I was off up to Old Trafford and remember having a certain amount of trepidation because we were playing Bolton. I wanted so badly for United to win because in the three and a half years since I had been attending first team matches, United had only beaten Wanderers once in seven attempts! They were a real bogey team! My desire was also fuelled by the fact that the skipper of my school team was a huge Bolton fan and he never failed to rub it in my face whenever they put one over on United. I smile as I recall that boy now because he did go on to play for Manchester United and made just one appearance in the first team. We would walk the school yard together each day talking about football and our rivalry between us over our teams was intense.

Since Matt Busby had shaken up the team in mid-December, they had gone on an unbeaten run in all competitions. They had won one and drawn three away games, and won all three home games. They had an impetus going, but Bolton was going to be a test. For the 41,141 fans that braved the cold weather and went to Old Trafford that afternoon, they were treated to a football feast as United went rampant and destroyed Bolton by 7-2! Oh! What a performance as they ran the “Trotters” legless. Bolton’s goalkeeper was a guy by the name of Eddie Hopkinson – on the small side for a ‘keeper, but nonetheless, a very, very capable player. That afternoon though, he was so shell-shocked. He left the field at the end of the match having conceded more goals in a single league game than at any other time in his career!

It was a performance that must have had Busby chuckling because everything seemed to fire that afternoon. Bobby Charlton hit a hat trick – 2 were absolute screamers from over 20 yards out that Hopkinson never even saw. Dennis Viollet chipped in with a brace, and Albert Scanlon netted the sixth with a simple tap in. However, at 6-2 down and the game almost close to the final whistle, you could have forgiven Hopkinson thinking that his afternoon was over. In the dying minutes as United attacked with gusto once more, there was a melee in the Wanderers penalty area and the eagle eyed referee spotted a defender’s hand push the ball away – penalty kick!

How must Eddie Hopkinson have felt as he watched the player who picked the ball up, place it onto the penalty spot? It was none other than Duncan Edwards! Tom Jackson wrote in his match report for the Manchester evening News “Green ‘un” that evening; “I’ve little doubt that England’s ‘keeper Eddie Hopkinson will not face a fiercer shot than that which registered United’s seventh goal this afternoon. It was hit with such power that it was past the Bolton custodian before he could even move his feet.” Says it all really!

 

[TomClare]

As I made my way out from the ground, I can recall stopping along with a few hundred others as we congregated below the old scoreboard and waited for the score from Bloomfield Road to come through. Blackpool was playing Wolves that same afternoon. It was agonizing as first West Brom’s score went up from their home game with Sheffield Wednesday and it showed that they had won 3-1. There was cheers when the Preston North End result appeared – a 3-3 draw with ‘Spurs at White Hart Lane, so that was a point pegged back on them. The minutes ticked away and then suddenly a huge roar erupted below that old black and yellow wooden/corrugated score board as it showed below the letter D, first a 3, and then below it a 2 – Blackpool had beaten the Wolves by 3-2! The gap was now down to 6 points and the great thing from United’s point of view was that all three clubs above them, Wolves, West Brom, and Preston, still had to come to Old Trafford. The title race was on and United fans knew it!

The Monday after the Bolton game I couldn’t get into school quickly enough. The lad I was looking for though was conspicuous by his absence – that is until just before the bell went for classes to begin. We saw each other at the mid-morning break and I had my pound of flesh out of him. I do have to say though that he was absolutely smitten by Edwards’ performance that Saturday. In case you are wondering who that lad is, it is Wilf Tranter who went on to play for United, and made 1 appearance against West Ham at Upton Park in 1964.

On Monday 20th January 1958, it was announced that Jimmy Murphy would not be traveling to Belgrade for the second leg of the European Cup Quarter Final tie. The reason being was that Wales had a home World Cup Qualifying tie against Israel at Ninian Park, Cardiff, on Tuesday, February 4th – the day before United’s game with Red Star. Little did we know at the time of that announcement just how fortunate that arrangement was to turn out and what the implications of it would have?

For the next week I was a happy soul as I traveled my delivery rounds collecting my bets. The customers reveled in the banter with me and the reality was that most of them were actually United fans! I had begun to settle more at school and had started playing football again after the broken arm. The trial with me playing at centre forward for the school team had been a disaster, and it was a relief to me to find myself back in goal for the next game which was against Nicholl’s High School from just around the corner in Ardwick – a local “derby”. This game was played on the morning of 25th of January 1958 and was a game which we won comfortably 4-1. I rushed back to Wyman’s immediately after the game was over and did the delivery round as I wanted to get to Old Trafford for the afternoon’s FA Cup tie with Ipswich Town. Jean Wyman used to chuckle about my enthusiasm for United, and when I returned to the shop after completing the deliveries, she asked me for a favour. Apparently she had a neighbour whose son was United daft even though he was only 7 at that time. Jean asked if it was possible if I could obtain some autographs for him from the United players that afternoon – it was a request that I relished.

I recall that afternoon today with great sadness and a very heavy heart. Going up to Old Trafford on the bus, I was full of excitement, expectation, and the adrenalin flowed as it always did whenever I went to a first team match. The “Babes” were my heroes, as far as I was concerned they were a huge part of me. For the past three and a half years I had watched them make their transitions from young boys into young men. I was no different from thousands of youngsters just like me and it was the same for the adults as well. We had watched as United as a club had embraced everybody’s lives and for us youngster’s, we were growing up alongside them. We all felt so much a part of it. The players, the manager, the staff, were all very much large in the local community. There was no distance between any of them and the fans – they were in fact just young working class boys who loved to play football for the club that they loved. No airs and graces, no pretentiousness, no big egos – feet firmly planted on the ground. Manchester United was just one big happy family.

I was a little later than normal getting to Old Trafford and the crowd was much larger than expected. I entered by the Juniors entrance in what is now United Road and made my way to a place behind the goal at the Scoreboard End. After the shellacking of Bolton the previous week, most fans expected a goal feast that afternoon as the opponent was Ipswich Town. It wasn’t too many years before 1958 that they had resided in the old Southern League. They had a young manager at the time in his first season with their club. One who had graced the First Division for many years with ‘Spurs and England as a cultured left full-back. It was none other than Sir Alf Ramsey, who just 8 years later was to take England to a World Cup win. Also returning to Old Trafford that afternoon was a former Manchester United manager, Scott Duncan, who had held the post for a few years just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.

It had snowed earlier in the week and as the game started there were small snow piles all around the touchline as I recall, placed there by the ground staff who had swept the pitch clear. In goal for Ipswich that day was Roy Bailey, father of Gary Bailey who was to play his part in some of the successes of United during the 1980’s. The expected goal feast didn’t happen that afternoon and United did no more than they needed to do to forge ahead into the fifth round of the F.A. Cup. 53,550 fans saw United take the game at a slower than normal pace and with a brace of goals from Bobby Charlton, they won easily by 2-0. Since coming into the team in mid-December, these goals made it a total of 9 in 9 games for the likeable young Geordie.

Immediately after the final whistle, I made my way out of the ground and walked around to the main entrance just down by the railway side. As usual there was a horde of kids hanging about outside the door just waiting for the players to emerge some 30 – 45 minutes after the game had ended. It was dark and it gotten colder. As we stood there facing those great wooden doors, we could see the steam and hear the sound of laughter and banter coming out from the open windows of the dressing room. We youngsters waited patiently for our heroes. Around 5:30p.m. the players started to emerge. Mark Jones with his inevitable trilby on, and pipe in mouth; Harry Gregg; Roger Byrne, always in a hurry to get away; Tommy Taylor, Bobby Charlton, and Kenny Morgans; little Eddie Colman; Albert Scanlon and Dennis Viollet. With the exception of Roger Byrne, all of the players stood and signed our books and bits of paper etc and then they disappeared down towards Warwick Road. The “big fella” and Bill Foulkes would have left via the old ticket office as we didn’t see them at all. My abiding memory of those 15-20 minutes or so is of little Eddie who came out through those doors with a group of friends. He was happy, chirpy, bubbly, chatting away to those friends as he signed away. So full of fun was that young boy, and then he was gone, just like the others, off into the distance and darkness, and out of our lives.

I look back on that day with mixed emotions. We were not to know that this would be the last time that we would see them in the flesh. To have witnessed their smiles and their happiness is something that I will always treasure. They had their whole world in front of them. So many dreams to aspire to; so much vibrancy in their lives; so much to live for; so much to give. I had a book signed with a good few signatures, and on the Monday afternoon, I handed it over to Jean Wyman and she was so pleased as she would make her neighbour’s son such a happy young boy when she gave it to him later that evening.

On the Tuesday, January 28th 1958, Manchester United announced their travel plans for the forthcoming trip to Belgrade. When they had played the game against Dukla in Prague in early December of 1957, the return journey had been beset by problems. United’s European travels were taken using scheduled airline services in those days. Because of fog in England there were long delays in Prague, and eventually, the United flight was diverted to Amsterdam in Holland. The situation became serious and Walter Crikmer, the Club Secretary, had to run around organizing the different modes of travel required to get the team back into England in time to fulfill their First Division fixture with Birmingham City at St. Andrews on December 7th. They made the journey by sea, out from Amsterdam and they arrived in Harwich in the early hours of Saturday morning. From there they went by coach directly to Birmingham arriving just a few hours before the kick off time. It probably helps understand why United didn’t fire on all cylinders that afternoon coming away with a 3-3 draw. Not wanting a repeat episode, especially with the mouth watering clash against Wolves at Old Trafford coming immediately after their scheduled return from Belgrade, United announced that for the trip to Belgrade they would charter their own aircraft. They had contacted British European Airways and an agreement was reached to charter a 47 seated Elizabethan aircraft for the 2000 miles round trip to Eastern Europe. By doing this, United wouldn’t be tied down to having to adhere to the rigid airline schedules. When we now look back, this decision was to have monumental implications.

 

[TomClare]

On Friday afternoon, January 31st, United left London Road Rail Station and traveled down to London where they would stay overnight at the Lancaster Gate Hotel before fulfilling their fixture against Arsenal at Highbury the following afternoon. The players, management, and directors were all in high spirits as they headed south. The team had gelled and was playing some wonderful football and had not been beaten since mid-November. They knew that they had a monumental task on hand in trying to overhaul the lead that Wolves had established over them in the League, but they were confident that they could achieve this. The season was approaching its most exciting and important time – they were chasing that third consecutive Championship, were into the 5th round of the F.A. Cup, and also had the second leg of the European Cup Quarter Final less than a week away.

On Saturday morning the 1st February, there was a lot of activity inside the hotel where United were staying. It was established later on that morning, that Mr. George Whittaker, one of the Club’s Directors, had been found dead in bed in his hotel room. It was again, an event that would have serious implications upon the history, and future of Manchester United Football Club.

Traveling with the United party that day was a fan that was a dear friend, and very closes to Matt Busby. His name was Willie Satinoff. Willie Satinoff had become a very successful businessman and had mad his money in the “rag trade” in and around city centre Manchester. Outside of his business interests and commitments, he was a devoted family man, and his main leisure pastime was following Manchester United. He was a fanatical supporter and had traveled to League games and throughout Europe with the official Manchester United party. It was well known in Manchester sporting circles and especially amongst the press boys, that Willie was on the verge of becoming a Manchester United Director. Louis Edwards was around the scene in those days, but was looked upon more as a “hanger on” than anything else. George Whittaker loathed the man and thwarted him a number of times when he made an attempt to become a Board member. It was Willie Satinoff who was “flavour of the month.”

United traveled to Highbury for the game and as a mark of respect wore black armbands and a minutes silence ensued before the kick-off. I doubt very much whether anybody who entered that famous old ground that afternoon could ever have envisaged the game that they were about to witness. Here is an old newspaper report of that game:

1 February 1958, 20:25

Over 63,000 were present to witness Manchester United's first visit to the capital this season, and those lucky souls were privileged to witness not only the champions at their best, but also to see Arsenal produce one of their finest displays of determination and character since the days of Herbert Chapman. All this and nine goals as well.

Football League Division 1

Arsenal 4 Manchester United 5
Herd 58 Edwards 10
Bloomfield 60,61 Charlton 32
Tapscott 76 Taylor 43, 71
Viollet 64

Attendance: 63,578


It is to be sincerely hoped that this absorbing match did not take too much out of United before their difficult match in Belgrade on Wednesday. If United are to prevail in Yugoslavia, much will depend on the form of the young Bobby Charlton, who was superb here today, improving all the time as he continues his progress from the one-sided, rather limited midfielder that he was last season into the brilliant inside-forward who played at Highbury.
United have no patience with the modern trend of moving one, two or even three defenders back to cover the defence, and they deserve credit for keeping their attacking tradition intact; in fact, at times in this match their wing-halves joined in with the attackers to make six or even seven forwards. Of course, this occasionally leaves gaps in the defence, and it seemed early on that Arsenal might take advantage of this; in the opening stages Mark Jones and even Harry Gregg were called upon to intervene at the last moment to deny Arsenal’s forwards. But after ten minutes, United were first on the score sheet, as Dennis Viollet dribbled through the Arsenal defence before picking out Kenny Morgans; his cut-back found Duncan Edwards to open the scoring. Then Albert Scanlon became the scourge of the Londoners; first he ran at great pace with the ball, and when he crossed it hard and low Charlton was on hand to finish cleanly. Ten minutes later it was Scanlon again who caused the damage, when another low cross was knocked back across goal by Morgans and Charlton was there again to claim United’s third.

At half-time Groves and Tapscott swapped positions in the Arsenal forward line, and it seemed to have the desired effect. Suddenly Jones was having plenty of trouble in the United midfield, and because Roger Byrne was not giving Jones much in the way of support, the Arsenal attacking play became much more threatening. All of a sudden, Arsenal clawed themselves back into the game with three goals in as many astonishing minutes. Firstly, Bowen delivered a long pass into Herd, who took his chance coolly to give Arsenal some hope; two minutes after that Nutt ran down the left, his cross found Groves’ head, and Bloomfield converted the knock-down. Arsenal sensed a chance to capitalise on United’s sudden self-doubt, and sure enough, a minute after the second, Nutt had repeated his left wing cross, this time finding Bloomfield directly; the header crept just inside the post. A lesser team than United might have crumbled completely at this point, but the Reds simply went up the other end and scored themselves. Scanlon went very wide on the left, and linked up with Charlton; Viollet was on hand to head home Charlton’s cross. United’s fifth came from a tremendous piece of improvisation from Tommy Taylor, who found himself running in towards the Arsenal goal along the goal-line. With few options available in the middle, he elected to shoot, catching out Kelsey by scoring from an almost impossible angle.
Arsenal should have been done for by that fifth goal, but with fourteen minutes still left to play, Groves, who had run tirelessly in midfield all afternoon, set up Herd with a great chance. The Arsenal centre-forward, however, preferred to pass to Tapscott, who had managed to escape from Byrne’s attentions, and easily scored to make it 5-4.
Fortunately for United, the scoring finished there, and they were able to return north with both points to prepare for another European jaunt. But their satisfaction at winning at Highbury will have been tempered by news of the leaders Wolves beating Leicester 5-1, and furthermore United will know that they need to produce a performance of at least equal skill and determination if they are to hold Red Star on Wednesday night.

Arsenal: Kelsey; S. Charlton, Evans; Ward, Fotheringham, Bowen; Groves, Tapscott, Herd, Bloomfield, Nutt.
Manchester United: Gregg; Foulkes, Byrne; Colman, Jones, Edwards; Morgans, Charlton, Taylor, Viollet, Scanlon.


Nobody was to know that afternoon that this would be the last time that this wonderful young team would perform on the English stage. For the 63,000 present at Highbury that day, they were left with the memory of a wonderful young team; a wonderful bunch of young men; a team that played the game in the right way; played it in the right spirit; and left them with the memories of a wonderful game of football between two great clubs.
As the train headed back up north that evening, the players were elated. Even though they had conceded 4 goals, Busby didn’t seem to be too concerned. What was worrying him most was that his skipper, Roger Byrne had picked up a strain and initially was thought doubtful for the Belgrade game the following Wednesday. The players were in high spirits and eventually arrived at London Road Station just after 10:30p.m. For the married lads it was off home to their wives and families, but the single lads wanted a night out, so off they went into Manchester’s city centre to explore the nightlife. They found themselves in a club named “The Costa” and as they sat and enjoyed themselves, they were unaware that the blonde haired boy sat just opposite from them was in later years to play such an important part in reviving Manchester United’s fortunes and to write himself into the folklore of their history. It was a very young, Denis Law!

 

[TomClare]

Early on Monday morning, February 3rd, the players gathered at Old Trafford to catch the coach which would take them to Ringway Airport to catch their charter flight to Belgrade. Their departure was delayed because uncharacteristically, Mark Jones was late. It was a misty, foggy morning, and upon arrival at Ringway, they found that their departure would be delayed for at least an hour. The players broke off into their various groups, some playing cards, others just having a brew. The spirit amongst them was good especially after the win at Arsenal and there was a lot of banter. The flight to Belgrade took just over six hours and there was a re-fuelling atop en-route at Munich. As the aircraft approached Belgrade the weather was bad and there was snow and poor visibility. It circled the city a few times before it managed to land safely. Looking back, it is rather surprising to see that the records show that United’s charter flight was the only aircraft that managed to land in Belgrade that day.

Immediately upon deplaning and entering the airport arrivals hall, the players were surrounded by pressmen and photographers from news agencies all across Europe. The media interest in the forthcoming game was immense. The party departed the airport and went to their hotel and it was early evening and dark when they arrived. Their rooms were on the fourth floor of the hotel and the players were surprised but not alarmed to see armed guards on each floor. Much to their disappointment, the evening meal which they were served at the hotel was found to be cold. Some of them had taken their own supplies and so retired back to their rooms to supplement what they had eaten.

After dinner, a number of the players decided to have a walk about in the city. They donned their overcoats and off they went. It was a culture shock for all of them. Their eyes opened wide as they saw some of the poverty that existed back then. There was long queues at all of the shops and Tommy Taylor stared in disbelief pointing out that a number of people were wearing shoes made from old car tyres. As they walked about they came across what they thought was a skating rink. Upon closer inspection it was found to be a small park lake that had frozen over. Tommy Taylor, Jackie Blanchflower, decided to give it a try whilst the others stood back and watched. The management team would have had palpitations had they witnessed what these two international players were doing! After the skating episode, some of the players did a little late night shopping and bartered with chocolates, cigarettes, and toothpaste instead of using cash.

Upon arrival in Belgrade it had been rumoured that the game was in danger due the pitch being frost bound. However, the Red Star officials had assured United that the pitch would be thawed out in time for the Wednesday afternoon kick-off. On the Tuesday afternoon the United party, along with the press lads and the aircraft crew, l went to the stadium and the players trained. With the crew was a Steward, Tommy Cable. Tommy was a United nut and he had managed to change duties with the person originally selected to crew, just so he could fly with United and get to see the game. The surface of the pitch was still hard and under a covering of snow and there was ice patches all over it. Roger Byrne took a fitness test and declared himself fit to play. The party returned to the hotel and trainers Tom Curry and Bert Whalley got busy with the player’s boots making sure that they had studs of the correct length for the conditions.

The players were still in great spirit and that evening they all decided on a visit to the cinema. Much to their surprise, as they entered the cinema, the first two rows were cleared of people and the United party given preference! The players felt sorry for those poor people that had paid their hard earned money. However, they may not have been able to understand the film as it was all in English. With the film over, the players retired back to their rooms at the hotel and had an early night – the following day was going to be a huge test for them. Back in Manchester, we were all nervous and waited with anxiety as to how this game would go.

Wednesday February 5th dawned, and a lot of the players slept in. At lunchtime they had a light snack and afterwards they were told of the team selection and briefed by manager Matt Busby in one of the hotel’s dining rooms. When they left the hotel to board the coach for the stadium, there was hundreds of singing, dancing, Red Star fans outside. It was the same all the way to the stadium. The stadium was packed to capacity, many of the spectators being servicemen. The pitch was still not in the best of condition but from the very first whistle United had decided to take the game to Red Star. Within 2 minutes they had been rewarded. Red Star had an attack broken down just on the United 18 yards line and the ball was swiftly played up the channel on the right hands side of the pitch. Tommy Taylor had moved out wide to collect the ball just inside his own half. Turning quickly he was away down the right hand side as the Slav defenders retreated. Dennis Viollet had made a run inside of him and as the big Yorkshireman bore down towards the goal, instead of shooting himself he slipped a short ball inside to Viollet who made no mistake in putting it past Beara and into the net. The goal should have given United more breathing space. However they continued with their strategy of attacking the Slavs, and after 14 minutes thought that they had increased their lead when Charlton had the ball in the net only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. The Austrian referee was spoiling the game as he whistled so often, more often than not, and it was frustrating United as they only had to go near a Red Star player to be pulled for a foul. The game was stop – start and even the most innocuous of challenges was penalized. Big Duncan Edwards vented his feelings to the referee only to find himself being booked for his audacity! On 15 minutes, Bobby Charlton picked up a loose ball in central midfield just inside the Slav’s half. He drove forward until he was some 25 yards out and let fly with a blockbuster of a shot that hardly got off the ground. However, it was hit with such venom that once again, Beara got nowhere to it. Leading 2-0 and 4-1 on aggregate, the tie was virtually over and the Slav crowd was silenced. It got even better just two minutes later when on 17 minutes, after United had been awarded a free kick, there was a melee in the Red Star goalmouth. The ball fell to Edwards who miscued his shot which rebounded from Beara to Bobby Charlton who made no mistake from such short range. 3-0 up with just over a quarter of an hour played – 5-1 up on aggregate – things just couldn’t get better. To all intents and purposes, this tie was over.

For the remainder of the first half United were content to play the ball around, keep possession, and keep it safe at the back. The Red Star team looked demoralized and downhearted as the half – time whistle sounded and the teams made their way to the dressing rooms. Whatever was said by the Red Star management team in their dressing room during that break certainly had an effect! Within two minutes of the restart inside forward Kostic had pulled a goal back, and then just 10 minutes later there came an incident that is still talked about today. Bill Foulkes was marking Zebec tightly and the ball was played into the young Slav’s feet. He was blatantly backing into Foulkes and as he did so, they both went tumbling inside the penalty area. The United players were furious when Keitl, the Referee pointed to the penalty spot. It was a very suspicious decision but one that allowed Kastic to score and Red Star were back in the game at 2-3 and 3-5 on aggregate with still over half an hour to go.

United had to fight a hard rearguard action and for the remainder of the game, Edwards and Byrne marshalled their defenders magnificently. They did breakaway on a few occasions and after carrying the ball some 40 yards or more, young Kenny Morgans was unlucky to see his shot rebound off the inside of the post and out to safety. The Yugoslavian fans were now very noisy and as the minutes ticked away, they upped the atmosphere. Somehow United hung on until in the very last minute, Harry Gregg had to come racing out to the edge of his area to smother a through ball destined for the feet of Sekularac. The big Irishman made sure that he got there first but the impetus of his dive took him outside of the area and he was penalized. From the free kick, Kostic lifted it over United’s wall and into the United net to make the score 3-3 and 4-5 on aggregate. The crowd were in raptures, but unfortunately for them, the Referee blew up to end the game almost as soon as the game had re-started.

 

[TomClare]

Tom Curry and Bert Whalley ushered the players off the pitch as some of them were bombarded with lumps of ice from the disappointed Red Star fans. Once inside the dressing room there was relief. United were through and could now look forward to seeing who they would draw in the semi-finals. Busby’s reaction was one of elation and his words to the players were; “well that’s another one out of the way and we’re there again.” Afterwards, when the players met the Press and were asked about the second half, Roger Byrne told them; “We had to stop tackling because the referee was blowing up for anything and everything. We had to be careful and keep our composure. We just dare not go in.” The Red Star players were generous in their praise for United after the game and admitted that the best team over the two legs had won through.

The United party returned to their hotel and after a few hours rest. In the evening the British Ambassador was hosting a dinner for both teams at the Majestic Hotel. There was a lot of respect and camaraderie between the two sets of players and as the evening wore on, they just wanted to get away and enjoy themselves. Sir Matt had told Roger Byrne the skipper, that he would allow the players to leave once all the formalities and presentations were over. As it approached midnight the younger players were getting itchy feet, so Roger wrote on a napkin; “You promised the boys that they could leave once the formalities were over. Permission to go?” The napkin was passed up to the top table and upon reading it, Sir matt looked down the table to where Roger was sat and just nodded his assent. Roger rose and assembled his team together, and led them as they all joined in with a rendition of the old war time song that was such a big hit for Vera Lynn; “We’ll meet Again.”

Sadly, that was never to be and as the players slipped out of the Embassy into the snow and darkness, for the majority of them, although they were never to know it; their careers, European adventures, and their journey through life, was just a few short hours away from being over.

 

[Tyeza]

Reading alot of this, great stuff!

 

[p_ps_sock]

thanks tom

 

[rotherham_red]

Thank you so, so, so much...

 

[Tribec]

Thanks Tom and thanks to admin for putting them all together....