Choosing "the greatest ever" is normally an activity for a long car journey or drawn-out dinners. Yet Sir Matt Busby was so certain which Manchester United side was best, he could have finished any debate in the time it takes to turn an ignition key or pick up a menu. "Old-timers may say the 1948 FA Cup-winning side, some will say the pre-Munich team, The Babes, and there are those who, because of the magic of Charlton, Law and Best, will say the European Cup-winning team of 1968," Busby wrote. "They were all great teams, but the pre-Munich team was potentially the best club side I have ever seen, about to take over that crown from Real Madrid when the Munich crash ended them."
The XI that drew 3-3 with Red Star Belgrade on February 5, 1958, to reach the European Cup semi-finals had an average age of 23, yet United had just won consecutive league championships and pursued a third. They had been to a European Cup semi-final in 1956-57 and were FA Cup semi-finalists. United's Treble in 1999 was portrayed as an achievement of the impossible, but a side much younger than the current Arsenal edition nearly got there first, four decades previously.
The incomparable Duncan Edwards is the best remembered, a talent so prodigious that one newspaper described him as "among savants of soccer . . . almost a living legend" - and that was before his first-team debut. The prowess of the other seven players who died when flight BEA 609 crashed on a slush-glazed runway at Munich airport at 3.04pm on February 6, 1958, is sometimes forgotten.
There was Roger Byrne, who had played 33 times for England and was United's captain, "an aristocratic footballer", remembered Busby, so confident a left-back that when a cross came into the box, he could sell his forward a dummy and collect the ball when it dropped rather than head it clear. There was Tommy Taylor, scorer of 131 goals in 191 games for United and 16 in 19 games for England. There was David Pegg, another England player, a brilliant winger. There was Mark Jones, a gentle-giant centre-back, and Geoff Bent, a fine utility player. Finally, there was Eddie Colman, "snake hips," whose midfield play made him an Old Trafford favourite, and Billy (Liam) Whelan, a sublimely gifted, free-scoring inside-forward. Jimmy Murphy, United's seldom-impressed assistant manager, said he never saw another player with Colman's "flair or personality" - and Murphy coached George Best. Whelan, said Busby, "had he been spared, would have been one of the greatest players of all time."
Busby's buccaneering blueprint was established by his 1948 FA Cup winners, who featured the artistry of Jimmy Delaney and Johnny Carey and the goalscoring of Jack Rowley. The promotion of youth began in 1949, when a wave of young talent arrived, including three 16-year-olds, Dennis Viollet, Jackie Blanchflower and Jeff Whitefoot. Blanchflower, by then 18, and Byrne, 22, had debuts at Anfield in November 1951, and United secured a draw that set them on a run that culminated with Busby's first league title.
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In 1952-53, more youngsters were promoted, including goalkeeper Ray Wood, Bill Foulkes, a granite-clad defender, Pegg, then 18, and two gifted 17-year-olds, John Doherty and Eddie Lewis. During the Easter programme, Edwards was fed into the side. He was just 16, but already 5ft 10in and 13st. His performances as England Schoolboys' captain had made him a sensation. He tackled like the best defender, passed like the best midfielder, headed as well as anyone, struck sledgehammer shots with both feet and did not so much beat as dismiss opponents on his storming runs. "I know about all the great players - Pele, Maradona, Best, Law, Greaves - but he," said Charlton, "was better."
More talents emerged. Whelan, the flying winger Albert Scanlon and Colman. Taylor was signed from Barnsley in 1953-54 and his goals propelled the Babes to their first title, by 11 points, in 1955-56. Recalled Doherty: "You saw Taylor tear open a defence . . . the work of big Dunc . . . Peggy dashing down the wing and Byrne playing with so much to spare and you thought, 'Bloody hell, where is this going to end?'"
Yet Busby wasn't finished. In 1956-57 the 18-year-old Charlton scored twice on his debut and United were champions again. They were 90 minutes from the European Cup final until the Real Madrid of Gento and Alfredo Di Stefano halted them.
When their plane home from Belgrade stopped in Munich, United were again in the last four of the European Cup, on an FA Cup run that was to take them to the final and challenging Wolves at the top of the league. An entire team was lost. Dead were Byrne, 28, Taylor, 26, Colman 21, Whelan, 22, Jones, 24, Pegg, 22, Bent, 25 and Edwards, who died 15 days after the crash, aged 21.
Blanchflower and Johnny Berry survived, but never played again. Kenny Morgans, an 18-year-old Welsh winger, was never the same after the crash. Busby didn't return to management for a year. He and Charlton felt acute survivors' guilt. When United won the European Cup, in 1968, both saw the triumph as their way of honouring the fallen. "I'm pleased to talk about Munich because it's right they should still be recognised," said Charlton. "Duncan might have played in the World Cup in 1966 and he'd have been captain. I'm not saying these things because this is an emotional time. He has and will always be in my mind."
The Babes who lost their lives
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Billy Whelan Brilliant, Irish inside-forward
Eddie Colman The youngest to die, aged 21
Dave Pegg Winger and devotee of Sinatra
Duncan Edwards The star of the Babes
Mark Jones Centre-half and pipe-smoker
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Tommy Taylor Imposing, muscular striker
Roger Byrne Captain tipped to lead England
Geoff Bent Reserve full back
The legend lives on
GARY NEVILLE "As a United fan it's impossible not to know about Munich. You think of the Busby Babes as Godlike figures. To follow in their footsteps, starting out at the Cliff training ground, wearing those blazers that they wore, winning the FA Youth Cup, all of these things are special."
SIR ALEX FERGUSON "Matt's commitment to playing youngsters is something I aspired to. The Champions League has extra significance this season because of the anniversary. This was always going to be an emotional year and in terms of the European Cup, I'm a bit afraid of letting the club down."