1945 saw the appointment of Matt Busby to the manager's post at Old Trafford. He took an uncommon
approach to his job, insisting that he be allowed to pick his own team, choose which players to sign and
direct the team's training sessions himself. He had already missed out on the manager's job at his former
club, Liverpool, because the club saw those tasks as jobs for the directors, but United decided to take
a chance on Busby's innovative ideas. Busby's first signing was not a player, but a new assistant manager
by the name of Jimmy Murphy. The risk the club had taken in appointing Busby paid immediate dividends,
with the club finishing second in the league in 1947, 1948 and 1949 and winning the FA Cup in 1948, thanks
in part to the locally born trio of Stan Pearson, Jack Rowley and Charlie Mitten (Rowley and Pearson
both scored in the 1948 Cup Final), as well as the centre-half from the North-East, Allenby Chilton.
Charlie Mitten had fled to Colombia in search of a better salary, but the remainder of United's old
heads managed to win the First Division title back in 1952. Busby knew, however, that football teams
required more than just experience in the side, and so he adopted a policy of bringing in players from the
youth team whenever possible. At first, the young players such as Roger Byrne, Bill Foulkes, Mark Jones and
Dennis Viollet, took time to bed themselves into the side, sliding to a low of eighth place in 1953, but the
team won the league again in 1956 with an average age of only 22, scoring 103 goals in the process. The youth
policy set in motion by Busby has now become a hallmark of the most successful periods in the club's history
(the mid-1950s, mid-to-late-1960s and 1990s). Busby's original "crop" of youth players was referred to as the
Busby Babes, the jewel in the crown of which was a wing-half named Duncan Edwards. The boy from Dudley in
the West Midlands made his United début at the age of just 16 back in 1953. It was said that Edwards could
play at any position on the field, and many who saw him play said that he was the greatest player ever. The
following season, 1956–57, they won the league again and reached the FA Cup final, losing to Aston Villa.
They also became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, at the behest of the FA, who had
denied Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season, and reached the semi-final, only to be knocked out
by Real Madrid. En route to the semi-final, United also recorded a win that still stands as their biggest
win in all competitions, beating Belgian champions Anderlecht 10–0 at Maine Road.
   Tragedy struck the following season, when the plane carrying the team home from a European Cup match
crashed on take-off at a refuelling stop in Munich, Germany. The Munich air disaster of 6 February 1958
claimed the lives of eight players – Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards, Mark Jones,
David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Liam "Billy" Whelan – and another fifteen passengers, including United staff
members Walter Crickmer, Bert Whalley and Tom Curry. There had already been two attempted take-offs before
the fatal third, which was caused by a build-up of slush at the end of the runway slowing the plane
down to a speed insufficient for take-off. The plane skidded off the end of the runway, through a fence and
into an unoccupied house. United goalkeeper Harry Gregg managed to maintain consciousness after the crash,
and through fear of the plane exploding at any second, he grabbed both Bobby Charlton – who had made his
United début less than 18 months earlier – and Dennis Viollet by their waistbands and dragged them
to safety. Seven United players died at the scene, while Duncan Edwards died a fortnight later in hospital.
Right-winger Johnny Berry also survived the accident, but injuries sustained in the accident brought his
football career to a premature end. Matt Busby was not given much hope of survival by the Munich
doctors, and was even given the Last Rites at one point, but recovered and was finally let out of hospital
after over two months.
  Despite the accident, they reached the FA Cup final again, where they lost to Bolton Wanderers.
United managed to push Wolves right to the wire the following season, finishing in second place. Busby
rebuilt the team throughout the early 1960s, signing players such as Denis Law and Pat Crerand, all
the while nurturing his new generation of youngsters. Perhaps the most famous of this new batch was a
young man from Belfast named George Best. Best had a natural athleticism rarely seen, but his most
valuable asset was his close control of a football. His quick feet allowed him to pass through almost
any gap in the opposition defence, no matter how small. The team won the FA Cup in 1963, albeit finishing
in 19th place in the First Division. The FA Cup triumph seemed to reinvigorate the players, who helped the
club to second place in 1964, and then went one better by winning the league in 1965 and 1967. United won
the European Cup in 1968, beating Eusébio's Benfica 4–1 in the final, becoming the first English club to
win the competition. This United team was notable for containing three European Footballers of the Year:
Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best. Matt Busby resigned as manager in 1969 and was replaced by
the reserve team coach and former United player, Wilf McGuinness.


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