Building the Dynasty by Iain McCartney

Author:Iain McCartney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2015-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Jousting With Giants

Season 1956-57

SO, the First Division championship trophy once again stood proudly in the Old Trafford directors’ room. Although United hadn’t exactly dominated the First Division from start to finish during that 1955-56 campaign, they had eventually stormed ahead, ending the season eleven points ahead of second-placed Blackpool. It was a title well deserved, going hand in hand with the plaudits that had been thrown in United’s direction over the past couple of seasons. They had been there before, of course, in 1952 with an ageing team, but now there was the elixir of youth, new foundations had been laid, and continuing this initial success with arguably the youngest first and second teams in the country was paramount.

The future of Manchester United was certainly bright, the championship success sounding out a warning to the rest of the Division that despite the injuries, the lack of form and the introduction of youngsters, they were a force to be reckoned with – the team to beat, if others wanted to claim their crown. For those would-be contenders, there was also the frightening prospect that the Old Trafford club could only get better. A daunting prospect, indeed!

There was of course the FA Cup to recapture, but it was not only on the domestic front that Busby looked to excel. He was aiming much higher.

Past close-season tours of America and Canada, and more recent trips to Scandinavia, had not simply been relaxing breaks with a handful of fixtures thrown in to amuse the locals and to keep the United players in shape; nor were they money-making ventures. They were all part of a development programme, a learning curve for both manager and players alike. Such tests against opponents from different countries and continents meant United had to adapt to compete. Friendlies at home and abroad often involved a mixture of personnel and although a competitive streak could often be found within each ninety minutes, results mattered little.

With the dark shadow cast by the Second World War all but past, everyday life was changing for the better, while football as a game was progressing in a positive direction. Floodlighting was one such area of development, with Wolves – First Division champions in 1953-54 and runners-up the following year – using their pedigree to organise midweek friendlies against the likes of Racing Club of Argentina, Spartak Moscow and Honved. Such encounters did not go unnoticed, and when a journalist for the French sports paper L’Equipe reported back to his editor about the success of the South American inter-club championship, Gabriel Hanot, amused by the Molineux club’s claim to be ‘Champions of the World’, began to put into place a concept for a similar tournament in Europe, eventually presenting his ideas to UEFA. His ideas were duly accepted and in the summer of 1955 invitations were sent out to sixteen clubs, not necessarily the champions of their respective countries, to take part in the inaugural competition. One such invitation went to English First Division champions

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