The Busby Babes: Part Eight

Through death and injury the United squad was decimated, such was the shortage of players facing Murphy that players were brought in from outside the club and, 17-year-olds were called up from the second reserves.

In stark a illustration of the problems facing the club, United winger Kenny Morgan recalls: 'I was back playing about a month after the crash. I shouldn't have played until the following year. But there were no players at United. All the wingers were killed.'

Morgan, who was only rescued hours after the crash when two German reporters were scouring the wreckage for the film of the Red Star game, never reclaimed the form he showed before the disaster.

On February 19th 60,000 fans crammed into Old Trafford for the postponed FA Cup 5th round tie against Sheffield Wednesday; it was United's first game after the disaster. In the programme for that game 11 blank spaces appeared where the United players should have been.

Amazingly, two of the survivors took the pitch for what was to be a 3-0 win; Bill Foulkes, who Murphy made skipper that day, and Harry Gregg who just two weeks earlier had helped pull survivors from the wreckage, including Charlton and Busby.