Manchester United Plane Crash in 1958

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Manchester United Plane Crash in 1958 Introduction: My talk is about the Manchester United Plane Crash in 1958 and about the people who died on the plane. Before the Crash: In the early 50’s, Manchester United built itself up under the watchful eye of Sir Matt Busby mainly through a successful youth training policy. The younger players in the squad easily made the tough change to senior football. When United won the Championship in the 1955/56 season, the average age of the squad was 22. Throughout that season, and the next, journalists were labelling United as invincible. In the 57/58 season, United became the first English Team to enter into the new European Cup. They easily dealt with Shamrock Rovers and Dukla Prague in the early rounds. All the players were in impressive form. United had just beaten Arsenal in a 5-3 classic in what turned out to be United’s last domestic game before the crash. 65,000 watched that particular game at Highbury. Back to the European Cup and the home leg against Red Star was fairly uneventful. United managed to edge out their promising opponents to win 2-1. The Match before the Crash: The crash came after they’re European Cup Quarter-Final match in Munich. It was a Thursday, the 5th of February 1958, and United had just managed a 3 all draw against Red Star in the 2nd leg to qualify for the next round 5-4 on aggregate. Bobby Charlton scored a hatrick in that game and his goals secured a semi-final match again... ... middle of paper ... ...ly at 21 after just 4 years as a professional. He was seen by many as the perfect player. Conclusion: It was concluded that snow on the runway was to blame for the crash. United were offered free entries into next years European Cup but they refused, perhaps understandably. In their next game after the crash, United ran riot and beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0. Ray Wood, a Munich survivor passed out 80 minutes into the game because of tiredness. All the United players suffered from tiredness after that game. 2 days later, Duncan Edwards died. United ended up finishing 9th in the league from a comfortable 1st. United had to wait until 1965 until they won the League Title again. Several years after the disaster, Manchester United wore black as an official home kit as a mark of respect for The Busby Babes.

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