February 6 –Munich air disaster: Following a European Cup quarter-final tie in Belgrade against Red Star Belgrade, Matt Busby's Manchester United stop over in Munich for refueling. Two attempts to take off from the Munich-Riem airport are aborted, with a third attempted at 3:04pm on Flight BE609, a British European Airways "Elizabethan" class Airspeed Ambassador charter aircraft G-ALZU 'Lord Burghley'. On take off, the aeroplane, carrying players and backroom staff of Manchester United F.C., plus a number of British journalists and supporters, crashed in a blizzard. Twenty-three of the 43 passengers on board the aircraft died in the disaster, including eight Manchester United players, of whom seven died instantly, including the team's captain Roger Byrne. Centre-half Duncan Edwards succumbed to his injuries three weeks later. Two other players were forced to retire from professional football as a result of their injuries. Manager Busby was left fighting for his life, and was given the last rites twice, before eventually returning to Manchester in time for the start of the following season.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.