Manchester United had navigated its way through to the 1958 European Cup semi-finals thanks to a quarter-final victory over Yugoslav champions Red Star Belgrade, following a 3-3 draw at The JNA Stadium.
The disaster in Munich took the lives of eight players, including captain Roger Byrne, centre-back Mark Jones and full-back Geoff Bent. Winger David Pegg, ‘Snakehips’ Eddie Colman, Billy Whelan and centre-forward Tommy Taylor died instantly.
As the news spread back home, supporters of the club, fans of football and even those with no interest in the game waited anxiously for news of survivors, including that of a man labelled as the finest of them all, Duncan Edwards.
Edwards had debuted for United at just 16 years of age and had already participated in 175 matches for the Reds by the time of his death at just 21.
At the time of the Dudley-native signing professional terms at Old Trafford, Edwards was described by his manager Matt Busby as:
“…the most complete player I’ve ever seen.”
“In Duncan Edwards, I believe I have the greatest footballer in the world.”
England’s greatest ever footballer, Sir Bobby Charlton, repeatedly stated his admiration for his former teammate, even saying that Edwards made him feel inferior,
“Duncan didn’t set out to make anyone feel inferior, but that’s the effect he had upon me. I couldn’t imagine ever being as good as he was.”
When you cast your mind back to the type of players Charlton shared a football pitch with, it adds even greater gravitas to his comments about Edwards. Two fellow Ballon d’Or winners in Denis Law and George Best at Manchester United, plus the likes of World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore and Brazilian great Pelé, are all former teammates or opponents of the long-time United stalwart.
Following the crash, United won just once in the First Division in the 14 remaining fixtures and ended the season in ninth place, a complete irrelevance with what the club was going through.
Remarkably, and against all odds, Bubsy’s side finished second in 1959, six points behind champions Wolverhampton Wanderers. That proved to be an anomaly over the next few seasons, as United managed two 7th place finishes, a 15th place in 1962 and narrowly avoided relegation in 1963 as they finished 19th on 34 points.
Despite their league struggles, United did have success in the FA Cup, going all the way and winning the competition thanks to a 3-1 victory over Leicester City at Wembley. David Herd scored twice, and Denis Law scored to seal the win and bring home the club’s first silverware since Munich.
With Munich survivors Harry Gregg, Bill Foulkes and Bobby Charlton still playing key roles in the team and being complemented by the likes of Scottish superstar Denis Law, future World Cup winner Nobby Stiles and Paddy Crerand, Busby was firmly in the process of building another great team.
Allow me, if you will, the indulgence of speculating the magnitude and magnificence of a side Charlton, Gregg and Foulkes alongside Law, Stiles and the greats from ’58 like Edwards, Billy Whelan and Eddie Colman.
It is hard to imagine anything other than the club dominating English football and adding more titles to those of 1952, 1956 and 1957 and being able to mount a serious challenge to the European dominance of Real Madrid, who won the top continental prize five years in a row from 1956 to 1960 and again in 1966.