New book gives incredible insight into Manchester United's tragic Munich air disaster, 60 years on
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Jimmy Murphy was the man who held Manchester United together in their darkest hour.
After the Munich Air Disaster, assistant boss Murphy faced the task of planning a future for a club that had endured the deaths of EIGHT stars and three key members of their backroom staff.
Eight other players were injured — some of them never played again.
Murphy missed the trip to Belgrade that included the fateful refuelling stop in Munich as he was away in charge of the Welsh national team.
But with Tuesday's 60th anniversary of the crash, new book JIMMY MURPHY: THE MAN WHO KEPT THE RED FLAG FLYING, by Wayne Barton, provides an incredible insight into the aftermath of the disaster.
THE names of those players who were already confirmed as dead were relayed to him. Matt Busby was gravely ill, and fighting for his life. So too was Duncan Edwards.
Others were in a critical condition. “I was like a man living through a nightmare waiting to wake up,” Jimmy said. “I locked the door, put my head on the desk and wept like a child.”
Jimmy didn’t sleep; he remained in his office throughout the night, ­waiting for news, and sitting, ­catatonic, with a bottle of whiskey and his bag of oranges. The bottle was full when he arrived back at Old Trafford. It was empty, 12 hours later at 4am, when Jimmy left to go home.
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“He talks about losing those hours where he went into the office and drunk a bottle of whiskey and had a cry,” says his son, Jimmy Murphy Jr.
“He went in and came out of the ­office as a different man. He had ­remarkable inner strength.” He was just about able to make the plane later that day to Munich, with ­families of the victims, including Busby’s wife Jean and his daughter and son. As they landed at the ­airport, Jimmy shuddered as he ­observed the remnants of the ­wreckage which were still present.
Jimmy was initially hesitant but was approached by one of the ­nursing sisters. In her limited ­English, she was able to tell Jimmy that ­Duncan Edwards, between gasps of breath, had been asking for his watch. He was insistent it had been stolen; the sister had tried to reassure him that he was wearing no watch when he was brought in. One of the rescue team had found the watch and given it her; she passed it to Jimmy. It was beyond repair.
In a heartbreaking scene, Jimmy went to Duncan’s bedside, and put the watch back on to his wrist. ­Feeling the touch, Duncan’s eyes flickered, and showed recognition of who was with him. Duncan struggled to speak, so Jimmy moved closely towards his mouth so he could hear.
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“I sat with him a while, and then he turned his head, it was the ­saddest thing I’ve ever seen or been a part of,” Jimmy said. “He turned and said, ‘Oh it’s you Jimmy.’ I said ‘yes’. I had to put my head to his mouth. He said, ‘What time’s kick-off tomorrow?’”
Jimmy told him, with a desperately sad smile and tears falling down his cheeks. “Get stuck in,” Duncan ­whispered. The boy slipped back out of consciousness while Jimmy held his hand.
“You’ve got your watch back, ­Duncan,” he said.
Jimmy moved from Duncan’s ­bedside and went into the corridor, where he found a stairwell; he sat on the stairs and cried.
“Clearly he was horrendously shaken, utterly demoralised, but he put on a brave show and tried to joke for our benefit,” said crash survivor Bill Foulkes. “I remember going out to the toilet and seeing poor Jimmy sitting up all hunched up on the stairs, his head in his hands as if his world had crumbled about him.
“The shock to him must have been monumental. These boys were like sons to him and now so many of them were snatched away.”
(Image: AFP/Getty)
(Image: Daily Mirror)
Later, Jimmy went to spend time with Matt; Busby was ­unable to speak, but recognised his old friend, and the pair held hands. Matt had been moved into a ­private ward but remained in an oxygen tent. He was considered too ill to be told about the tragic news; he was only able to ­understand he’d been in an accident.
It was thought that any further shock may prove fatal. Jimmy visited his friend and held his hand tightly.
Matt ­signalled that he wanted to speak, so Jimmy bent low to hear. “Keep the flag flying Jimmy. Keep things going until I get back.”
In hotel room 610, long after most of the other guests had gone to bed, Murphy, now the only senior official left active, stayed on, wrestling with his problem. The rebirth of a great club was being planned.
But even Jimmy, who never gives up easily, finally had to say: “What a mess we’re in…” and go to bed, to think all over again.
“Unquestionably these were the darkest days of my footballing life, and they passed in a blur,” said Foulkes.
“But something which ­remains crystal clear from that ­period is the almost superhuman strength and resilience of Jimmy Murphy, as he took on the ­gargantuan task of ­keeping Manchester United afloat.”
(Image: PA)
A patched-up United team played Sheffield Wednesday and won 3-0.
Two days after the win, United were rocked by the news that ­Duncan Edwards had lost his battle for life. Murphy was working late at Old Trafford. Shortly after 1.26am on the morning of February 21, 1958, he received the telephone call that left him inconsolable in the early hours.
Murphy had hoped against hope; prayed against all reason that ­Edwards would not only recover, but be the figurehead around which United would rebuild their side.
He was the symbol of hope; and now, not even the fact that Jimmy believed lesser men may not have fought for as long as Duncan did was enough to give him respite.
United had lost a great footballer. Murphy had lost one of his dearest friends, and, just as tragic, a young man he had helped develop into a fine human being.
(Image: Getty)
Murphy was not a man for ­predictions and did not like to ­speculate, particularly about the dead. But, even at the age of 21, he had seen enough to declare Duncan Edwards the greatest. “This news is the final blow,” Jimmy said.
Duncan’s would be yet another ­funeral he had to attend.
* Jimmy Murphy: The Man Who Kept The Red Flag Flying, by Wayne Barton, on sale February 15th. Available to pre-order now from sportmediashop.com.
* JIMMY MURPHY knew his declaration that United would be able to face Sheffield Wednesday in an FA Cup tie was his heart speaking – not his head.
The Daily Mirror reported that United had requested a postponement for the Cup game: “Stricken Manchester United’s four directors are asking for rules to be waived to help them sign players to get a team together.”
Then it was reported “PUSKAS WANTS TO HELP UNITED” .
After the Hungarian football revolution of 1956 prompted talk that all the great home-based players would find clubs abroad, Jimmy had suggested that United should sign the best of them, Ferenc Puskas.
(Image: Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty)
But the only non-British passport holders in those days were players from the Republic of Ireland. Whether Busby or the board found it a bit too daring for their liking, the recommendations appeared to fall on deaf ears.
Then there was the obstacle that United’s maximum wage was £17 a week.
It later transpired that the contract Puskas eventually signed with Real Madrid was worth £800 a week.
The final major setback was Jimmy’s reluctance to go against everything he and Matt had worked so hard to build.
They had built a team of British players and even if a solution was found to bring in Puskas, Murphy felt it would be a “negation” of all of the work the club had done.
* IN THE immediate aftermath of the crash, Manchester United realised they had to sign new players to keep the club afloat.
But not every club wanted to help the stricken Red Devils.
Assistant manager Jimmy Murphy met with the directors to talk about transfer plans, before going to watch Burnley play against Luton – and, specifically, England winger Brian Pilkington.
(Image: MEN)
Burnley were angry at the idea and their chairman Bob Lord made an astonishing outburst.
“Some people have got hold of the wrong idea,” said Lord.
“Of course, clubs will help United. But not to the extent of parting with star players.
“I don’t want to be unfair or unkind in any way, but clubs still have a duty to themselves.
“We just mustn’t let this thing get out of focus.
“Help? Certainly. But star players? It cannot be done.”’