뮌헨참사를 추모하며 | In Memory of Munich

This year sees the fiftieth anniversary of one of the most devastating events in football history, the Munich air disaster of 1958. The date was February 6th. The plane was carrying 44 passengers: the Manchester United football team and a group of supporters and journalists. Twenty three people died in the crash.

The Busby Babes

Following World War Two, Matt Busby took charge of Manchester United and was handed the task of rebuilding not only the team, but Old Trafford as well, following the bombing of the stadium by German planes during the war. With the implementation of a highly successful youth policy, Busby built a fresh, young team from local talent. There wasn’t a player in the team over 30.

The club began to dominate the domestic football scene. The 1955-56 team became the youngest ever to win the League Championship, with an average age of just 22. Consequently, the team were given the nickname “The Busby Babes”.

The European Cup

The European Cup started in 1955, but no English club had been allowed to take part due to Football League rules. In 1956-57, Manchester United were invited to take part in the competition and reached the semi-finals, only to be knocked out by Real Madrid.

The next season saw a confident United side battle to the quarter finals to meet Red Star Belgrade. The first of two legs was played at home on the January 14th 1958, where United beat Red Star 2-1.

On February 3rd, the Manchester United party flew from Manchester to Belgrade for the second leg, stopping at Munich in Germany for refuelling due to the limited range of the aircraft. On Wednesday February 5th, United played the second leg. They led 3-0 at half time, but by the final whistle, the score was 3-3, enough for United to qualify for the semi-finals for the second year on the run. The next morning, the party boarded the plane for the return flight to Manchester.

The crash

The pilot, Captain James Thain of British European Airways flight 609, was attempting to take off from the Munich-Riem airport in horrendous conditions after the scheduled stop in order to refuel. The runway was covered in slush, making take-off extremely difficult.

Thain had already made two attempts at take-off, but the plane had failed to gain sufficient altitude. At 3.04 pm, he made his third attempt. The slush on the runway meant that the plane failed to get up to flying speed, but was going too fast to abort the take-off.

The plane left the runway, crashing through a fence and crossing a road before hitting the side of a house and bursting into flames.

Fatalities

Seven Manchester United players were killed instantly in the crash: Roger Byrne, Geoff Bent, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Liam Whelan, Eddie Colman and Tommy Taylor. Walter Crickmer (club secretary), Tom Curry (first team trainer) and Bert Whalley (coach) also lost their lives.

Duncan Edwards and Johnny Berry sustained critical injuries and had to fight for their lives. Berry survived but would never play again. Sadly, Edwards succumbed to his injuries 15 days later, on February 21st aged just 21 but already considered one of England’s greatest ever players and described by the manager as the best player in the world. Busby himself was also seriously injured in the crash and remained in hospital for two months. Only nine of the Busby Babes survived, including a young man who would go on to become a legend for club and country, Sir Bobby Charlton.

There were nine sports journalists on the plane, eight of them died in the disaster: Alf Clarke, Don Davies, George Follows, Tom Jackson, Archie Ledbrooke, Henry Rose, Eric Thompson and Frank Swift. Amongst the other fatalities were one of the aircrew, the travel agent, and a supporter.

Memorials

Three memorials to the tragedy were later erected at Old Trafford. Above the entrance to the Directors’ Box was placed a plaque depicting a player and a supporter looking down at a wreath and a football, bearing the date and the names of the dead. In the press box, a plaque was placed inscribed with the names of the journalists. Finally, to one side of the South Stand, a clock was erected bearing the date of the crash and the word ‘Munich’.

In Germany, there are also two memorials, a small wooden trough in the village of Kirchtrudering and a granite memorial near to Munich Airport that was unveiled in 2004. For the memorial match, a derby which United lost to rivals Manchester City 1-2 at Old Trafford on February 10, the team wore a replica 1958 kit without names or numbers on the backs, and black boots.

- Chris Lea


1. DEATHS CAUSED BY AN ACCIDENT OR VIOLENCE.
2. GOT ON TO A TRAIN, SHIP OR AIRCRAFT IN ORDER TO TRAVEL SOMEWHERE.
3. AN ACCURATE COPY OF SOMETHING.
4. AS MUCH OF SOMETHING AS IS NEEDED OR NECESSARY.
5. TO BE AFFECTED BY SOMETHING SO THAT YOU DIE OR BECOME SERIOUSLY ILL.
6. VERY UNPLEASANT OR SHOCKING.
7. WORDS WRITTEN OR CARVED ON AN OBJECT.
8. SOMETHING SHOCKING AND UPSETTING.
9. SNOW WHICH HAS BEGUN TO MELT AND IS WET AND DIRTY.
10. CARRY OUT A PLAN OR SYSTEM.

Answer