The events in Munich on 6 February 1958 forever shaped Manchester United’s identity. To commemorate the anniversary of the disaster, this piece recounts memories from Mike Carney, Roy Cavanagh, Derek Manton and James Vance, who were young supporters at the time of the crash, and Tony Street, who was a junior player.
There was no doubt about it. The Busby Babes breathed vibrant life into a sport that desperately needed it.
Football resumed after the war with players who had lost years of their careers to service in the army, and national service was still a thing years into the 1950s. But the Babes were a representation of a new generation.
“It was a game where the control of the ball wasn’t that good,” recalls Mike Carney. “It was slow. It was grey. But then the Busby Babes came along, and really, you’d have to look at it as a cultural shift.
“They were colourful, fashionable. The V-neck, a different collar, shorter shorts. They were quicker, stronger. It was a different sort of game, not as tactical. It was ‘you attack, we attack’. It was about having space and seeking space – players seemed to have more time on the ball. The game was slower, but I found it more enjoyable to watch, because the games were more open.”
The theme of colour is one which often crops up in the recollections of supporters from this era.
“Everything, to me, seemed colourless,” says Roy Cavanagh. “The men would have grey, long coats and caps or whatever, the working men would be in dark clothing. Old Trafford is known as the Theatre of Dreams, but, to me, it was actually a theatre of colour.
“Living where I did on Ordsall Lane, there were no gardens, there was no grass. There was Ordsall Park, but you didn’t see green. The first view of Old Trafford is a green pitch. It might have been muddy, it might have been not as smooth as it is today, but wow: green.”
It was also a time where the average supporter could consider themselves likely to bump into one of their heroes, particularly if they lived in Stretford or made journeys to or from Old Trafford to pick up tickets. And in a United team packed full of stars, there was one particularly distinctive talent: Dudley-born Duncan Edwards.
“When I began playing for one of my school teams, every Saturday morning, after the match, I would head for Old Trafford, if we were at home,” remembers James Vance. “It was during that period when I often met Duncan Edwards walking to the stadium. I was small in stature and he was a ‘giant’ but he would always find time to chat and answer questions from an inquisitive youngster. He was my hero … my favourite player of all time!”