By EmptyRed
February 6 2008

On that terrible day in February 1958, we lost eight of the brightest stars in the British footballing firmament. But also that fateful day not only ended the lives of some, but for 3 United players who survived it ended their careers - Jackie Blanchflower and Johnny Berry never played again and Kenny Morgan was not the same player after the crash. It was a night of tragedy but also heroism.

In this our age people talk about knighting overpaid footballers for services to the fashion industry. Players have now become so overpaid and out of touch with the common fan.

Yet on that day United's goalkeeper Harry Gregg went back into a burning plane in the half light, with aviation fuel all over the runway ready to catch light. He went back and pulled out two unconscious colleagues - Dennis Violet and young Bobby Charlton out of the burning wreckage. But not content Harry went back again and this time rescued a young pregnant Yugoslavian woman and her daughter. No offer of a New Year's honour for Harry. The world is different now from that fateful day.
 
The United team - The Busby Babes represented to post war Britain, an escape from the austerity of rationing, national services and a rapidly declining role in the world. In an age when you walked into town because you couldn't afford a taxi and only the rich had a car or TV, the team represented the glamour and escape from the humdrum existence.

Busby had defied the FA and had entered Manchester United into the European Cup. United had pushed their way into the semi-finals of the cup and were seen as realistic challengers to the domination of Europe by Real Madrid. Yet tragedy robbed us of seeing this team reach its full potential. Busby described the babes as ' potentially the best club side' he had ever seen. Sir Bobby Charlton went even further when he described Duncan Edwards as the greatest player he had ever played with: "I know all about great players - Pele, Maradona, Best, Law, Greaves- but he (Edwards) was better".
 
On February 6th, 2008 do not forget those bright young men who were robbed of their chance to reach the stars. Now we remember them - Billy Whelan aged 22, 'snake hips' Eddie Colman aged 21, Dave Pegg aged 22, Duncan Edwards aged 21, Geoff Bent aged 25, Mark Jones aged 24, Tommy Taylor aged 26 and the captain Roger Byrne aged 28. 

Remember that Sir Bobby Charlton, possibly the greatest English footballer of all time, was just a young man trying to establish himself in that United team. It is by this standard that we should judge what was truly lost at Munich.