The Manchester United team decimated in Munich has become the subject of football folklore.
Here, we take accounts from those who saw what made the Busby Babes so unique…Ken Merrett, former Manchester United club secretary“United were the glamour team of the 1950s.
Everyone knew all about them. I remember going to watch the European Cup tie against Athletic Bilbao at Maine Road in 1957, and that was just an incredible evening.
United were 3-5 down from the first leg and won 3-0. The atmosphere that night was unbelievable.
“The only thing I can compare it to was the famous tie at Old Trafford against Barcelona in 1984, when Bryan Robson scored twice and we came from behind to win 3-2 on aggregate.
That night at Maine Road against Bilbao was the same. “There were so many superb players in Sir Matt Busby’s team, it was a thrill to watch them.
Tommy Taylor, Roger Byrne, Duncan Edwards, these were England internationals, but there was an enormous buzz around the whole club at the time, not just the first team.
“I had a part-time job selling tea, coffee, Oxo, pies and so on at Old Trafford, and that wasn’t just for senior games; the club would ask me to come in for the Reserve team games as well, because there were so many fans coming along to watch, trying to spot the next stars coming through.