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SIR MATT BUSBY |
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Full
Name
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Alexander Matthew
Busby
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Date
of Birth
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26th
May 1909
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Place
of Birth
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Orbiston,
Glasgow
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.....
United
under Busby: 1945-1969
and 1970-1971
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League
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P
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W
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D
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L
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924
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481
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162
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281
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| FA
Cup |
P |
W |
D |
L |
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98
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61
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17
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20
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| Europe |
P |
W |
D |
L |
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58
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35
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11
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12
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1968 European
Cup
1967 1st
Div League Championship
1965 1st
Div League Championship
1963 F.A. Cup
1957 1st
Div League Championship
1956 1st
Div League Championship
1952 1st
Div League Championship
1948 F.A. Cup
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At the back of Old Trafford's East Stand stands a statue of Sir Matt Busby. Many who pass by it on match-day probably do not realise that without him they wouldn't be there. They'd be most likely supporting some other football team. Sir Alex Ferguson's success has made Manchester United the Goliath of world football that it is today but it was built upon Busby's legendary foundations.
For, Busby is the man who made Manchester United a world famous name way back in the 1950's. He established the club's footballing
ideology, its playing style and philosophy, while in the process building two of English football's most famous ever teams.
Born in Orbiston, Lanarkshire, Busby
was a legend hewn from the same
rock as those other Scottish managerial
legends Bill Shankly, Jock Stein
and of course, Sir Alex Ferguson.
As a player he was a half-back who won one international
cap for Scotland in 1933 and an
FA Cup Winner's medal for Manchester
City in the following year. Ironically
Busby played for United's bitter rivals
Manchester City from 1929 to 1936
and for Liverpool from 1936 to 1939. His playing career was cut short by the outbreak of war, in which he served in the Army Physical Training Corps.
In 1945 at the young age of 36, he was offered a job on the coaching staff at Anfield. Luckily he turned it down and accepted the post as manager
of Manchester United. It was a daunting task as the club were
in disarray. Old Trafford had been
heavily damaged in the blitz of
World War 2 and the team was poor,
14th in Division One and had achieved little success in the
previous 15 years.
It's fair to say, Manchester United then,
were like the present-day Sheffield
Wednesday or Man City. A big northern
club with potential, but under-achievers
and not really supported or renowned
outside of their own city. United had not won a trophy since 1911, a gap of 34 years.
Arsenal were undeniably the biggest club in England following their four League title
wins in the 1930s. |
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Busby's First great team |
Busby
set about changing that. The Scotsman believed
in attacking free-flowing football, he wanted his teams to not only be successful but to excite the crowd as well. This approach would form the basis of United's playing style through to the present day.
The team played at Maine Road for his first 3 years as Old Trafford had been bombed out in the war. While the stadium was being rebuilt so was the
team for in 1947 a large youth policy was organised and the scouting system was expanded and reorganised. By skilful planning and wise buying Busby created a team that made it to the 1948 FA Cup Final and defeated Blackpool 4-2.
Playing were the first of the
pre-war United greats, Carey, Mitten, Pearson
and Rowley. From this success, after
being runners-up for years, United
went on to win the League Championship
in 1952 scoring bucket-loads of goals
along the way.
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Busby the Man |
Unlike his pre WWII predecessor Scott Duncan and a lot of managers of the era, Busby was very much a hands-on, modern style of management. He preferred to wear a track-suit and to coach his players on the training pitch, that way he could get his idea's directly across to his players.
The image of Busby is very often that
of a kindly grandfather figure who
preferred his assistant, Jimmy Murphy
to do the disciplining. The truth
is that Busby used this image in
public but in private he could be
as ruthless as any.
It would
be naive to to think someone without some degree of steel could
win as much in the cut-throat world
of football. Unlike many, he was not an advocate of improved player power with better contracts and wages. While he tolerated
the wayward genius of George Best he punished other players harshly,
such as Charlie Mitten, for stepping
out of line and undermining his managerial
authority.
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The Busby Babes and Munich |
Following the 1952 season's success Busby felt his
team had lost its edge, the fire
and flair had gone. To remedy this
he made a drastic and famous decision
by replacing most of his first team
players with bright exciting young
players: the legendary Busby Babes
were born.
A team of mainly youngsters
took the league by storm and brought
a breath of optimistic fresh air
to austere post-war England. With
such talents as Bobby Charlton,
Duncan Edwards, Eddie Colman, Dennis
Viollet, Tommy Taylor, Bill Foulkes
and Jackie Blanchflower, they were
exciting, brilliant and devastating.
Two League titles followed in 1956,
and 1957, and the visionary Busby
entered United into the European
Champions Cup.
As the first English club to do so, Busby rightly saw
European competition as the future
of club football and defied the
League's opposition. It was a vision
not shared by the narrow minded
Football authorities at the time.
They gave United no help in fixture
arrangements meaning the team was
frequently rushing back from European
games with little preparation.
After returning home from a Euro
game against Red Star Belgrade in
1958 tragedy struck when the team
plane crashed on a Munich airfield
killing many of the aircraft's passengers,
including eight of the players and
severely injuring Busby. The team
that were champions of England for
the past two season had been almost
entirely wiped out.
The Busby Babes were gone and the world was robbed
of players like Edwards and Taylor
forever. The tragedy had a profound
effect upon the British people.
Munich became not a Manchester United
disaster but a national disaster.
In this less cynical age, a huge
wave of sympathy and support welled
up for United. Fans from all over
the world now knew of the great
team from Manchester that was wiped
out. People who had merely followed
the results of their team felt drawn
to the club, those who had never
followed them before, now had a
special place in their hearts for
United.
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Busby returns to conquer Europe |
Busby,
after first doubting he could carry
on, recovered from his injuries
and set about creating the third
great and greatest of all sides. The
one that would do what his babes
never did. Again his youth policy
was established and United uncovered
the talents of Stiles, Brennan,
Kidd and the genial George Best.
Together with Munich survivor Bobby
Charlton, signings Crerand and Denis
Law, United were soon back at the
top winning the FA Cup in 1963 and
two League titles in 1965 and 67.
Playing as the babes before, with
style, genius, flair and attacking
brilliance, the 60s United of Charlton,
Best and Law captured a whole new
legion of fans and the imagination
of football fans the world over.
The 1967 win gave Busby probably one
last crack at his "holy grail" and
on May 29th 1968, the greatest of
his three United sides won the European
Cup defeating Benfica 4-1. The entire
nation was behind United on that
night, people wanted them to win
it for those lost in Munich. This
was Busby's greatest achievement,
the first English side to win the
trophy, so exorcising the ghosts
of Munich, now Manchester United
had become a national institution.
Busby
was knighted in 1968 and having
achieved his goal, retired from
Manchester United as manager in
1969. He still maintained a role at Old Trafford as general
manager and this would effect his successor. Aged only 31, Wilf McGuinness was appointed in April 1969 but the Scottish legend's shadow loomed large over him. Sadly McGuinness was a dismal failure and the board made Busby take charge again in December 1970 to steer the club from the relegation situation it found itself in.
In June 1971 Busby handed over power to Frank O'Farrell and took up a position on the United board. Sir Matt was always going to be a hard act to follow. His immediate successors were always in his shadow and simply could not live up to the high standards he set. As the stars of the Sixties retired or moved on they were not adequately replaced, plus the mercurial George Best desperately needed Busby's fatherly influence to curb his rebellious instincts.
The club went into sharp decline and relegation
followed in 1974. Only 6 years after
their greatest moment the Reds were
at their lowest point since the
1930s. Eventually United got back
to winning ways but no-one could
come close to Busby's achievements until 1986 when another
canny Scot called Alex Ferguson came south of the border. Busby went on to become United's
club president in 1982 and also had
a high position in the Football
League management committee.
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Conclusion |
On
the 20th January 1994 Busby died
aged 85, but he lived long enough
to see the red empire he created
in safe hands. He had taken great
pleasure in presiding over Ferguson's
revival in which United played with
the style and flair he had loved
in his own teams. United were the
best in the land once again and
5 years later, on his birthday in
1999 they would better his achievement
of 1968 and win the Treble of European
Cup, FA Cup and Premier League title.
The legacy of Busby is that he provided
the foundation, philosophy, style
and passion that turned a once ordinary
club from the grim industrial North
of England, into today the most
famous, glamorous, richest and now
undoubtedly biggest team in the
world. Sir Matt Busby created the
Manchester United legend and in
doing so, has himself became a legend
forever in footballing history.
Busby trivia
Busby was born in a two-roomed pitman's cottage in the mining village of Orbiston. The village has since been absorbed by the larger town of Bellshill.
His family is partially Eastern European Jewish in origin. His father and all his uncles were killed in World War I.
Known to all as Matt, his first name was in fact Alexander - meaning both Manchester United's greatest ever manager's share the same Christian name.
As a player Busby joined Liverpool for �8,000 from Manchester City in March 1936 and was immediately made captain.
He was mentioned in a line in the Beatles song, "Dig It".
Sir Matt did not buy any players between 1953-57. Before Munich, he bought only 16 players and 4 of those were goalkeepers.
At Munich, Busby was so severely injured that doctors gave him little chance of recovery. He was twice given last rites.
As well as the Knighthood from the Queen in 1968, Busby (who was very religious) was made a Knight Commander of St Gregory in 1972. This is one of the highest civil honours in the Roman Catholic church.
In 1958 Busby persuaded wealthy local butcher Louis Edwards to invest his money in the club. By 1964 Edwards was chairman and his family held power at Old Trafford until 2000.
Sir Matt's seat in the Old Trafford directors box remained un-used for many years after his death until his son Sandy decided in 2002 that it should be made available again.
On retirement, the Edwards family gave Busby the proceeds of the United Souvenir shop as a pension fund. This arrangement ended when the club became a PLC in 1991.
The nickname "The Red Devils" was started by Busby. In the early 1960's Salford Rugby club were known as "The Red Devils" but Sir Matt liked the sound of it and adopted it for Manchester United.
In 1993 Warwick Road North was renamed Sir Matt Busby Way in his honour.
The Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year Award is a prestigious honour in which the fans vote for their favourite United player that season. Eric Cantona, David Beckham, Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy are past winners with Gabriel Heinze the current holder.
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