The Munich air disaster occurred on Thursday, 6 February 1958 when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the "Busby Babes", along with supporters and journalists. There were 44 people on board, 20 of whom died at the scene. The injured, some unconscious, were taken to Munich's Rechts der Isar Hospital, where three more died, resulting in 23 fatalities with 21 survivors.
Duncan Edwards was an English footballer who played as a left-half for Manchester United and the England national team. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young United team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid-1950s, playing 177 matches for the club. He was noted for his physical strength, toughness, and level of authority on the pitch, and has been ranked amongst the toughest players of all time. One of eight players who died as a result of the Munich air disaster, he survived initially but succumbed to his injuries in hospital two weeks later. Many of his contemporaries have described him as one of the best, if not the best, players with whom they had played.
George Best was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A skillful dribbler, he is considered one of the greatest players of all time, along with being considered one of the most talented to play. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1968 and came fifth in the FIFA Player of the Century vote. Best received plaudits for his playing style, which combined pace, skill, balance, feints, goalscoring and the ability to get past defenders. His style of play captured the public's imagination, and in 1999 he was on the six-man short-list for the BBC's Sports Personality of the Century. He was also an inaugural inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
Natascha Abigail Taylor, known professionally as Natascha McElhone, is an English actress. On television, she has starred in the ABC political drama Designated Survivor (2016–2017). She portrayed Penelope Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten of Burma in season 5 of the Netflix historical series The Crown. McElhone currently portrays Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey in the Paramount+ series Halo.
Sir Alexander Matthew Busby was a Scottish football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of an English team to win the European Cup and is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time.
Geoffrey Bent was an English footballer who played as a left back for Manchester United from 1948 until 1958. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid-1950s. Bent only made twelve first-team appearances for Manchester United, who already had an international-quality left back in Roger Byrne. Modern writers speculate that at most other teams Bent would have been a regular starter, and he was the subject of interest from fellow First Division clubs, but Busby refused to let him leave. He was one of eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster, when their aircraft crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport after a European Cup match in Belgrade.
James Patrick Murphy was a Welsh footballer who made over 200 appearances for West Bromwich Albion and won 15 caps for the Wales national team, which he later managed. Murphy is most famous for being an influential figure at Manchester United from 1946 until the 1970s, as assistant manager, first-team coach, reserve team manager and a full-time scout, although he disliked the limelight and preferred to work quietly behind the scenes.
William Anthony Foulkes was an English footballer who played for Manchester United in the Busby Babes teams of the 1950s, and also in the 1960s. His favoured position was centre-half. For Manchester United, he played 688 games which places him at number 4 on the all-time list of appearances behind Ryan Giggs, Bobby Charlton and Paul Scholes. He made 3 appearances as a substitute. He also started in every single United game in the 1957–58, 1959–60 and 1964–65 seasons. He scored a total of 9 goals in his 18 seasons at United and helped the club win four First Division titles, one FA Cup and one European Cup. He was capped three times for England in 1954–55.
Wilfred McGuinness is an English former football player and manager, who played for Manchester United and twice for England in his short playing career.
The "Busby Babes" were the group of footballers, recruited and trained by Manchester United chief scout Joe Armstrong and assistant manager Jimmy Murphy, who progressed from the club's youth team into the first team under the management of the eponymous Matt Busby from the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s. The squad most associated with the name "babes" was that of the 1957–58 season, many of whom died in the Munich air disaster, and who, with an average age of 22, had been touted to dominate European football for the next few years.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, they changed their name to Manchester United in 1902.
The 1968–69 season was the 89th season of competitive football in England.
Brian Edward Cox is an English physicist and musician who is a professor of particle physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester and the Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science. He is best known to the public as the presenter of science programmes, especially BBC Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage and the Wonders of... series and for popular science books, such as Why Does E=mc2? and The Quantum Universe.
Altrincham Grammar School for Boys is a boys' grammar school in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England.
The Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year, previously known as the MUFC Members Player of the Year (1988–1995), is an award presented to the Manchester United fans' player of the season. It is named after former Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby, who managed the club in two spells, from 1945 to 1969 and from 1970 to 1971. The award was renamed in his honour in 1996, following his death in 1994, and a new trophy was commissioned – a scaled-down replica of the statue of Busby at the east end of Old Trafford.
Fergie's Fledglings were a group of football players recruited by Manchester United under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson and trained by assistant coaches Brian Kidd and Eric Harrison, before eventually progressing to the first team during the 1990s.
United is a British television film directed by James Strong and written by Chris Chibnall. It is based on the true story of Manchester United's "Busby Babes" and the aftermath of the 1958 Munich air disaster, with the film's events taking place between August 1956 and May 1958. In particular, the film focuses on the experiences of assistant manager Jimmy Murphy, played by David Tennant, and Bobby Charlton, played by Jack O'Connell.
Fatal Attraction is a 2014 play adapted from his original screenplay by James Dearden. It is based on the 1987 film Fatal Attraction, and it opened in London's West End at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 25 March 2014, following previews from 8 March.
Sam Alex Wisniewski is an English cricketer. He made his Twenty20 debut 17 September 2020, for Yorkshire in the 2020 t20 Blast. He played for Pune Devils in the Abu Dhabi T10 league in 2020/21, getting Nicholas Pooran out in this competition. He also was a child actor and currently plays for Lisarow in the Central Coast Cricket Association.
