An early report said that seven of the team had died in the tragedy on 6 February 1958. It was later confirmed that eight players were killed. Other passengers, including journalists and club officials, were among the 23 dead. All were on board a UK bound flight that lost control when taking off in poor condition at Munich-Riem Airport.
The plane was bringing the team home after a successful European Cup semi-final in Belgrade. Their aircraft had stopped in Munich to refuel.
In an interview, one of the players that survived, goalkeeper Harry Gregg, said that in the moments before the crash “everyone sensed it was going to happen.”
In a telegram, the Queen paid tribute to the players who died. Red Star Belgrade, the side that Matt Busby’s team had just knocked out of the cup, said Manchester United should be made honorary European champions that year.
In the inside pages of the paper, a piece in praise of the Busby Babes acclaimed the ‘finest club team ever produced’. The talented young side, average age 22, had already won several trophies. Some of the players, like Bobby Charlton, who survived the crash, had represented their country.
In a leader column, the paper said that the loss of so many gifted players was a catastrophe for both British and world football.
That sense of loss was most keenly felt in the bars and cafes around Manchester United’s ground, Old Trafford. One supporter spoke of how the accident was a cruel blow for the club “just as Matt Busby was bringing them on.”
H D “Donny” Davies, one of the eight journalists who died in the crash, was a sports writer for the Guardian. His obituary was also published on the the day after the disaster.
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