Manchester's Finest by David Hall

Author:David Hall [Hall, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Non-Fiction, Soccer, Football
ISBN: 9781407033433
Publisher: Transworld
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

8

Keep the Red Flag Flying

Throughout the week after the crash, as all the funerals took place, Manchester still seemed to be dumbstruck by what had happened. When I talked to people about that week, what Madge Williams said she remembered particularly was the silence all over the city.

It was so quiet. Everywhere you went, everyone was feeling the trauma of everything. It was a solemn place to live, Manchester. That week after the crash when all the funerals were taking place was a horrible week. Everywhere you went everybody was quiet, and when they saw you they'd turn their heads away because they didn't know what to say to you. It was very sad. And when you went into a shop there was no chit chat with the shopkeeper or anything like that. It was all hushed, everything was very hushed, and you were frightened of buying a paper because you didn't know what the latest bad news was going to be. It was very sombre; a very depressing time.

But somehow life had to go on, and for Manchester United that meant getting back to playing football. When, the day after the crash, Matt Busby had managed to whisper to his friend Jimmy Murphy 'Keep the flag flying', the responsibility for the survival of Manchester United was placed on his shoulders. But how do you get a team together and continue playing football in the midst of so much suffering and grief? Murphy was faced with the most remorseless task ever faced by anybody in sport. He had been an integral part of the creation of the Busby Babes, working with the reserves and juniors, honing them, ready for the final push into the first team. Few at the club had been closer to these boys, yet now, even as they were being buried, he was faced with the task of replacing them. Before he left the Rechts der Isar Hospital, a pale and drawn Jimmy Murphy told reporters, 'Manchester United will field a side against Sheffield Wednesday in the Cup on Saturday [15 February]. It may not be our strongest side, but the Busby spirit will be there. Goalkeeper Harry Gregg and Bill Foulkes are coming with me by train tomorrow and if the doctor agrees to let them out of hospital, so will Bobby Charlton and Ken Morgans. Charlton and Morgans definitely won't play on Saturday and I can't see Gregg or Foulkes playing either, but 1 will leave it to them. They are tough lads, although I fear the reaction will certainly hit them soon.'

It seemed incredible that there was going to be a match that Saturday, but that was the plan. In the papers on the Monday morning after Murphy's announcement there was a reminder that the eleven players who turned out for United in that first match would not be the only ones who would be affected: 'There will not be the usual heart about the Sheffield Wednesday players when they start their preparations today for their Cuptie at Old Trafford,' the papers said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.