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The Busby Babes and the 50's


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Every football fan learns about the Munich disaster whilst young but I don't think the sentiment really hit me until I started to read up on the teams achievements and the individuals themselves.

This was more than a team of potential, they were already 2x League title winners 2x European Cup Semi finalists, nearly did the 1st double the year before the crash.

I watched the 1957 FA Cup Final in full and it was a farce how they lost it tbh.

The team got to the 1958 FA Cup Final again, despite losing 8 of their players 3 months before. The team was made up mainly of youth team players.

3 starters of the England team were lost which affected their 58 World Cup chances.

Roger Byrne Captain of Man U, his wife found out she was pregnant a few days after he died.

Tommy Taylor, top striker, 16 in 19 for England, the record would have probably been his not Bobby Charlton's in all honesty.

Duncan Edwards, died at 21, hard to describe the potential this boy had. Probably the most gifted footballer this country ever produced. 

I am reading Edwards' self written book on his short life and football. I was shocked to learn he had written something so early in his career at such a young age.

He was an old wise head, naturally right footed but with enough insight to train his left to be as good as his right as a kid.

I saw him take the corner in the 57 Cup final which Taylor scored the header from with his left foot.

He was something else, Man U debut at 16 (still the record) England debut at 18 (broken 40 years later by Michael Owen) he was a prodigy.

If you see the detail with which he talks about football in his book it's apparent Man U lost more than a player, he was a philosopher in the vein of Cryuff. I'm convinced he would have been groomed and taken over as Manager when Busby left in 69.

So the success in the 70's was potentially lost aswell.

I recently went to his home town of Dudley to pay my respects, saw his statue in town, went to the archives where they have some of his shirts and caps, went to his grave aswell, was a wonderful day.

Just thought there should be a thread focusing on this era of football and in particular the jewel in the crown which was this team that perished.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Interesting piece of trivia for out of towners.

The street that Coronation Street is based on was Archie Street in Salford.

coronation_street_mobile_top.jpg

Eddie Colman, "Snakehips" 1 of the Busby babes who died, was born and lived at no.9 Archie Street.

Bobby Charlton and everyone else not from Manchester stayed in digs but Colman just lived at home cos he was local.

It was at no.9 all the team went after home matches on Sat, Colmans parents and his Grandad would usually entertain the team before they hit the town that night, supposedly some great stories happened here.

They vacated the street and built a through road over it 2 or 3 years after Munich so it no longer exists unfortunately.

But the set of Coronation Street hasn't changed since the 60's and is a perfect replica.

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