Matt Busby, head coach of FC Manchester United: biography, sports career

Matt Busby is a name that is familiar to anyone who enjoys football. Indeed, a person known by this name is a real legend. And so it's just necessary to tell about him.

Scottish legend

Sir Alexander Matthew Busby was born on May 26, 1909 in Scotland. He was a famous footballer and coach, commander of the Order of the British Empire. Huge fame received, as the head coach of the team, "Manchester United", which ran from 1945 to 1969, and after - another year, from 1970 to 1971. He is second in the list of coaches "MU" for the duration of the leadership team. Only in 2010, Busby's record was beaten by Sir Alex Ferguson. Under the leadership of this man, "MJ" existed for 27 years.

Alexander Matthew is considered one of the best coaches in the entire football history. He is on the second line of the best leaders of the postwar period according to the official version of The Times. He also takes 11th place in the list of the best coaches of all nations and times (version of Football Pantheon).

Beginning of a football career

Matt Busby was born in a mining village called Orbiston, a family of Catholics with Lithuanian roots. All his uncles and father were killed at the front during the First World War.

Career young football player began in the now known club "Manchester City". In 1933 he played in the FA Cup, in the finals, however, then his team lost. But the next year was won.

George Patterson, who was the head coach of "Liverpool", bought the player in 1936 for 8 thousand pounds. The debut match of the Scotsman was unsuccessful - a loss with a minimum score. But a month later the young football player scored his first goal for the new team. Then the game ended with a score of 2: 2.

Matt from the first matches showed himself well. Soon he drove out of the "base" Robert Savage and began to go on the field in almost every game - for three consecutive years! He showed a reliable and stable game. And it was these qualities that enabled him to become the captain of "Liverpool".

By the way, Busby started from the position of the drawn forward, but then he became the right midfielder. Together with Tom Bradshaw and Jimmy McDougall, they formed an excellent bunch. Many argued that this is the best line of midfield in the history of the club.

Military years

Matt was not just a good "Liverpool" football player. He was still a man with a capital letter. So, for example, in 1939, in May, the team came Bob Paisley - a player from FC Bishop Auckland. Matt helped the newcomer to settle in the new club, and then they became friends. And this friendship lasted until his death. And what is most interesting, no one else then could not think that these strong friendships are the friendship of two people who in the future will become the greatest coaches in the history of English football.

All was good. Until the Second World War came. Like many "Liverpool" players, Busby went to war. Matt settled in the Royal Infantry Regiment of Liverpool. But to continue on the field during the war continued. Three times he played in T-shirts Chelsea, also went out as a player of the following teams: Hibernian, Bournemouth, Brentford, Reading and Middlesbrough.

In 1933, on October 4, the Scottish footballer held his first (and I must say, only) official match for his native national team. Then his team lost to Wales. The score was 2: 3. During the war, Busby seven more times came on the field as a player of the national team (only in unofficial matches).

Activities of the trainer

When the war ended, the 36-year-old Scottish football player was offered a job as coach of FC Liverpool. Sir Matt Busby then said that he would like to get more powers in order to directly control the players' game. But this work was always entrusted to the secretary of the club. And at that time the leadership of the English team decided not to go for such a change.

In 1945, he was offered the post of head coach of FC Manchester United. And in October he began work. The result was shown immediately. In the season 1946/47 the team won the silver medals of the First Division. In the next three seasons, the results were the same. The long-awaited championship was won in 1951/52. By that time in FC "Manchester United" have played quite a few football players. Captain, by the way, was Johnny Carey. Because Matt began to look for new players, young.

And everyone expected that the coach will start buying expensive ambitious football stars. But no. The coach invited prospective boys 16-17 years old and taught them to play. This is how his football history was written. Matt Busby has created many famous players. Bill Foulkes, Mark Jones, Jackie Blanchflower, David Pegg, Albert Scanlon, Liam Whelan, Duncan Edwards are their names. And the latter and at all became what they called the best footballer of England of his generation. He was summoned to the national team at age 18 - which is a record. By the way, he survived for 40 years.

Munich tragedy

In the second half of the fifties, the team "MU" began to be called "Babby's Babes". And all because the players were really young, and Matt treated them not just as football players, but as their pupils. Which they, in fact, were.

In 1957, they reached the final of the English Cup. The next season was to be promising. But what happened was what no one expected. The team flew to Munich for a match with FC "Crvena Zvezda" (within the European Champions Cup). On February 6, 1958, they returned home. Two times the plane tried to get up in the air, but the attempts failed. The third time the plane took off, but a few minutes later the flight crashed. This was a real tragedy.

Survivors

Matt Busby survived. Like the legendary Bobby Charlton. Seven young players were killed - everyone was 22 years maximum. Duncan Edwards - a young but famous player at the time, survived. But from numerous injuries, he died on February 21.

Another 8 players and 7 other passengers survived. Most of the people on board died. This period is connected not only with the history of FC Manchester United, but also with Matt Busby himself. By the way, about the disaster in 2011 was filmed a great film called "United. Munich tragedy. " It is based on real events and most accurately reflects not only what happened, but also history, which was both before and after the disaster.

"Resurrection" of the team

"United" has become literally bled. But Busby did not give up. He firmly decided - "United" will not become the lowest team. In honor of the dead players and in honor of the future of this club, he began to resurrect the team. I recruited young guys on the principle: "If they know what the ball looks like, they will play." And I tried to bring up new players.

Three months later was the final match of the FA Cup. But "MJ" lost. However, Busby continued to believe in the future and build a new team. And by 1963 it turned out. Then the club won the FA Cup final, beating "Leicester" with a score of 3: 1. In 1964/65 there was a new wave of success - the team led by Matt won the First Division. And through the season (1966/67) I repeated this result.

But the biggest success was in 1968, May 29. Then, "MU" won the Cup of European champions. After this, Busby decided to end his coach career. But he remained the director of "MU". However, in 1970, once again began to lead the players, when Wilf McGuinness (a former player, "United"), resigned as coach, transferred to him Busby.

Other interesting facts

A man like Matt Busby, the biography is very interesting. This person is a great player and a person. He was awarded the knightly order of the British Empire and awarded the title "sir" in 1958. In 1991, at the stadium "Old Trafford", a game was held in honor of Matt Busby - in the framework of this match, a new generation of English club, as well as the national team of Ireland. Everything ended with a minimum score of 1: 1.

In 1994, on January 20, Sir Matt Busby died of cancer. He was 84 years old.

The name of Sir Matt Busby means a lot not only for football, but also for history.

In Greater Manchester there is a road named after Sir Matt Busby. It is located in Stretford - there is a home stadium "MU".

Words that will remain in history forever

The author of many expressions with a sense, dedicated to football and "MU", is Matt Busby. The quotes of this man are numerous, but some are known most. For example, he said about George Best: "He could use any leg. Sometimes it even seemed that they had six. " This phrase is remembered by many. In general, Busby never hesitated to praise someone, if he really deserved it. And he did it beautifully.

For example, about the deceased Duncan Edwards, he said something like this: "Years passed and people sometimes called young players the new Duncan Edwards. There were Dave Mackay, Brian Robson ... But none of them approached him. Duncan was the only player who made me feel like a subordinate. "

And finally one of the most powerful quotes that can be applied not only in relation to football. And it sounds like this: "Victory is not all. In the victory there should be no arrogance, and in defeat - hopelessness. "