The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 276 The Red Devil Will Never Die

"The blow that the Munich air crash brought to the Red Devils was devastating, but the Red Devils will not disband because of this, Busby will not give up, and the spirit of the Red Devils will never die."

--Inscription

The Red Devils won the English League One title, the FA Cup and became the strongest club in the British Isles, but Busby was not satisfied with that.

Busby believed that the Red Devils had to go to Europe, become the best team in Europe, and even become a world-renowned club. Busby told the board: "I want to lead the Red Devils to participate in the European Club Championship. Our battlefield must go beyond the English League One and we must compete with the strongest teams in Europe."

Busby had an extraordinary vision, especially since the Champions League had just begun at that time, Busby realized that the Red Devils had to go to Europe to show their prowess.

All along, the major European leagues were held separately, and there were only some occasional invitational tournaments between football clubs of various countries. It was not until 1954 that Gabriel Jarno, the founder of the European Footballer of the Year selection event, proposed to establish a football competition for clubs from various European countries. FIFA and UEFA were arrogant. They were not interested in non-national team matches and refused to organize such cross-league competitions. Jarno's proposal was eventually responded to by several clubs such as Real Madrid, Anderlecht, and Rapid Vienna, and was also warmly welcomed by the Hungarian Football Association. At about the same time as this plan was proposed, UEFA hoped to organize a cup competition in which representative teams from major European cities participated, which was obviously not feasible in Europe. UEFA soon gave up the city cup and instead supported organizing competitions between clubs. On May 1955, 5, UEFA and related football clubs held a meeting in Paris and decided to organize championship competitions for various top European leagues and named the event the European Club Champions Cup.

This is the earliest origin of the Champions League.

At the beginning of the first European Cup in the 1955-56 season, a total of 16 teams signed up to participate, and the champion was decided through a knockout match. In the 1956-57 season, a round of qualifying matches was added, and the 16 teams participating in the main competition remained unchanged. In the 1972-73 season, the European Cup cancelled the qualifying matches, and the number of teams participating in the main competition increased to 32 teams, and the knockout competition system remained unchanged. In the 1991-92 season, the European Cup reformed the competition system again. The 32 teams first played two rounds of home and away knockout matches. After the 2 teams advanced, they were divided into two groups. The teams played a round-robin group match, and finally the first place in the two groups played in the final. Then in the 8-1998 season, the European Cup was reformed again, and teams were sent to participate according to the European war points of the major leagues, and the competition system was changed to a combination of group matches and knockout matches.

The English Football Association looked down on the European Cup at that time and directly banned the English League One champions from participating, so Chelsea, the champions of the 1954-55 season, did not participate.

In the 1955-56 season, when the Red Devils won the English League One championship, Busby directly announced that he would lead the Red Devils into Europe.

The English Football Association was furious, but they suddenly found that there was no written rule that could prohibit the Red Devils, so they could only threaten to punish the Red Devils and deduct their league points. The Red Devils argued their case and were not deducted points in the end.

Busby led the Red Devils to participate in the European Cup, and the first opponent they encountered was the Belgian champion Anderlecht. Old Trafford had not yet installed floodlights, so Busby had to rent the Maine Road Stadium from Manchester City. Manchester City Club at the time was not optimistic about the European Cup, thinking that the maximum number of spectators would not exceed 1, so it offered a rental fee of 3000 pounds, or 15% of the ticket revenue. Busby agreed to pay 3000 pounds directly. The Red Devils' first Champions League game attracted many fans to watch the game, and the game was very exciting. The Red Devils finally won the opponent 10-0, and all the forwards were almost crazy. In the end, the Red Devils counted the number of fans who entered the stadium to watch the game and found that as many as people poured into the stadium. Excluding the venue rental and necessary expenses, the Red Devils won a great victory in both the game and business.

"We paid for the floodlights at Old Trafford in one game and earned a season's wages for the team," Busby said.

The Red Devils' next opponent was former West German champions Dortmund. Maine Road welcomed spectators. In the end, the Red Devils won the game 3-2. The Red Devils and Dortmund jointly presented a wonderful confrontation, and the fans who watched the game all felt that the trip was worthwhile.

The Red Devils then defeated Athletic Bilbao and advanced to the semi-finals, where they lost to defending champions Real Madrid, ending their Champions League campaign.

The Red Devils made it to the semi-finals in their first Champions League campaign, a surprising result. Busby's team gained valuable European experience, increased their confidence, and also allowed more fans on the European continent to get to know the Red Devils.

In the 1957-58 season, the Red Devils continued to compete in the Champions League.

On February 1958, 2, the Red Devils suffered the tragic Munich air crash. The plane carrying the Red Devils' first-team players failed to take off twice after refueling at Munich Airport. During the third takeoff, it ran off the runway and crashed, breaking into two pieces and exploding. Seven Red Devils players, the Red Devils club secretary, coach and a trainer on board were killed on the spot. Duncan Edwards, who was only 6 years old, was seriously injured and eventually died.

Busby was also in a critical condition at the time, and even said his last prayers twice, just one step away from death. Even so, Busby did not succumb to death at all, and always maintained a strong will to live.

The losses caused by the Munich air crash were devastating. The Red Devils did not even have enough funds to pay the pensions, and had to continue to borrow money from various shareholders. In addition to the compensation, the club was almost unable to maintain operations due to a shortage of staff. In the face of the crisis, many Red Devils club staff and players gave up their salaries and donated money to help the club through the difficulties.

A few days after the Munich air crash, the Red Devils had to participate in the FA Cup. The whole team discussed and decided to continue playing. At that time, the entire first team was seriously short of players, and the Red Devils had to recruit players urgently.

The Red Devils finally had 11 players to compete, and the club began to struggle. The Red Devils subsequently failed in the Champions League and FA Cup, and eventually lost the league championship, but the Red Devils team still maintained their dignity and played every game with an unyielding fighting spirit.

The disaster plunged the Red Devils into the abyss, but also forged the Red Devils' unyielding soul.

The Red Devils team has withstood the test of disaster, and their struggle has been sublimated. They were not ordinary to begin with, and now they have become even more legendary. The Red Devils team did not succumb to death, did not succumb to the economic crisis, and survived tenaciously and fought tenaciously, and the entire team has been sublimated in values.

Throughout Europe, and even the world, the Red Devils won respect because of the air crash.

The Red Devils were eliminated by Milan in the Champions League that season, and were once again defeated. Even though the Red Devils were unable to compete in Europe in the following seasons due to a significant loss of strength, no one would think that the Red Devils should give up the Champions League.

After a long period of treatment and rehabilitation, Busby finally returned to the Red Devils.

Is he still ready to continue leading the Red Devils?

The answer is yes.

The disaster did not make Busby give up football. He remained strong, still had the desire to win, and was still full of confidence in the game. In addition, his previous tough guy image changed. Busby, who walked slowly and was thin, made people feel sad. His eyes were often as weak as a kind grandfather.

After Busby recovered, he began the process of reviving the Red Devils.

Busby spent more time on the Red Devils' training. He stayed in the office for a long time, studying bit by bit how to improve the team's strength. He constantly pondered new tactics, constantly studied the playing styles of other teams, carefully analyzed the room for improvement of his players, and carefully planned every step of youth training. With Murphy's full support, the new Red Devils quickly took shape. The Red Devils became more united and brave. All the players realized that their mission was to comfort this aging coach with a little unknown sadness with victory.

Bobby Charlton recalled, "The most difficult thing for us to face was Matt after we lost. He would not get angry at you, but look at you with sad eyes, with a unique calmness that was simply heartbreaking. He would even comfort us silently, making us feel extremely guilty. We could not accept failure and fought hard in every game. He was like a kind father, and sometimes even like a grandfather who could not cry."

In the summer of 1962, Busby recruited George Best. This young man from Belfast was handsome, with amazing football skills, varied rhythms, and delicate footwork that could be described as colorful. Best's breakthroughs and dribbling skills were superb, and his face was always full of sunshine, bringing rare vitality and overflowing confidence to the team. This Red Devils superstar had incredible skills, extraordinary running speed, excellent dribbling ability, superb shooting skills, and all kinds of strange ideas and inspirations, which often dazzled opponents and made them at a loss.

Best not only brought victory to the Red Devils, but also brought extraordinary charm. He was born handsome and was deeply loved by the fans. His performance on the field made the fans crazy. His handsome appearance like a movie star outside the field made him the hottest superstar in Britain and a popular lover.

Best was very self-centered, extremely confident, and had a bit of rebelliousness in his character, but more of it was unrestrained and full of passion for showing off his skills. Busby used a special management method to make Best feel at home, happy and blessed. Best also always maintained respect for Busby. Best once said, "I never care what others think. My only worry is not to stimulate the old man too much. I often worry that the old man's heart may not be able to bear my juggling tricks. I often pass people and score goals as I please, playing freely on the court. The old man may be very happy in private, but he always looks sad in front of me, which makes me can't help but score more goals to comfort him."

Busby also recruited another superstar, Dennis Law, who was a super striker with great energy and strong offensive ability. In the Red Devils' offensive formation system, Law's talent was even magnified and strengthened. Law later recalled the years and said, "I was completely attracted by Coach Busby. His fighting spirit and great goals inspired me. I hope to create miracles with him."

Denis Law had a distinct personality and hated evil. He was even more stubborn than Best and more accustomed to using dirty tricks to deal with opponents than Charlton. The Ballon d'Or winner, who was famous for his endless fouls and pranks on the court, said, "Coach Busby gave us unlimited freedom and taught us how to face challenges on the court, and how to win and enjoy these victories. No matter how excessive, arrogant or fierce we were, he was always happy for us. Sometimes the three of us would pass all the defenders of the opponent and pass the ball back and forth in front of the goal, and he would watch with relish on the sidelines. In the face of accusations from reporters, he always supported us and was the pillar of stability behind us."

Under Busby's call, the rebuilt Red Devils welcomed a large number of talents such as Denis Law and George Best, and also waited for the resurgence of players such as Charlton. The team was reborn after the tragic blow of the Munich air crash.

In the 1964-1965 season, the attacking quintet consisting of Best, Denis Law, David Herd, Nobis Tils and Bobby Charlton, and the defense line with veteran Stiles as the core, burst out with strong power, helping the team beat Leeds United and win the league championship. Denis Law won the honorary title of European Footballer of the Year that year.

In the 1966-1967 season, Busby led the Red Devils to win the league championship again and enter the European Cup.

Busby led the Red Devils to participate in the Champions League for the fourth time. They were ambitious and swept through the competition, defeating Scotland's Herbery team, Yugoslavia's Sarajevo team, Poland's Zabrze team in succession, and even defeated the super favorite team to win the championship that year, Real Madrid, in the semi-finals and advanced to the final.

Busby led the Red Devils to the final and launched an attack on the Champions League title.