Sunday, May 18, 2008

The Busby Babes: Part Two

The scale of the Munich air disaster, the sheer tragedy of the events and their subsequent impact is difficult to impart to a new a generation of football fans. This was a team that had achieved considerable success and while so-doing won the hearts of a nation, not just the red half of Manchester.

Two consecutive league championships, a runners-up place in the 1957 FA Cup final, five back-to-back FA Youth Cups between 1953-57, a place in the 1957 European Cup semi-finals and the same again in 1958.

The Busby Babes were on the brink of greatness, the future was theirs. There seemed to be no limit on what they could achieve.

That they had managed to accomplish so much is remarkable in itself, but it was the manner in which it was achieved that endeared so many to that Manchester United team. It was a side that not only played with style and panache, but they did so with players who broke the mould.

The commonly held belief at the time was that to compete at the highest level required experience in every position, blooding a youngster represented a considerable risk. While Busby recognised the importance of experience he believed that youth was an undervalued asset and could give him the edge.

So rather than buying seasoned professionals, as was the norm, Busby built a side around youth; it was a gamble, but one that paid off. The average age of his 1956 championship winning side was just 22. The average age of the side which flew back from Belgrade in February, 1958 after securing a place in the European Cup semi-finals was 23.

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