Tribute to the 'Busby Babes'

"They came to conquer but perished in the process"

February 6th of 1958 witnessed one of the most terrible tragedies in world sports. That was the day when 23 people including 8 Manchester United footballers lost their lives in a plane crash in Munich. Manchester Utd. took on Red Stars Belgrade in the European Cup quarterfinals. The match was drawn 3-3 but ManU qualified on a 5-4 aggregate. That was the last time the 'Busby Babes' played together. They took the British European Airways from Belgrade and made a scheduled stop at Munich to refuel. The plane did not take off on two attempts due to engine problems. But on the third attempt the plane failed to gain enough height and crashed into a nearby fence and into an unoccupied house. 23 of the 44 passengers succumbed to injuries including 8 of the ManU players. The players who lost their lives were Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, David Pegg, Duncan Edwards, Eddie Colman, Tommy Taylor, Liam Whelan and Mark Jones. The survivors included the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton. ManU finally won the European Cup in 1968 but the players and manager Matt Busby were too moved with emotion to celebrate. On 10th February 2008 the derby clash between ManU and Manchester City was played after players and fans paid tribute to those who died in the crash. The ManU players wore jerseys without displaying the sponsor or player names. Recently striker Wayne Rooney said in an interview"For a disaster like that to happen is horrible in any walk of life. For a football club to bounce back from something as terrible as Munich, and to go on and become the huge club it is today, it's just an honour to be a part of it and part of the history of United,". Be proud to be a Manchester United fan.