Sir Matt Busby

Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish footballer and manager. He was in charge of Manchester United from 1945 to 1969, and returned for the second half of the 1970–71 season. Busby became the first manager of an English club to lift the European Cup, and he is considered one of the finest managers the game has seen.

Before moving into management, Busby played for two of Manchester United’s biggest rivals: Manchester City and Liverpool. At City, he appeared in two FA Cup Finals, winning one. When the Second World War cut short his playing days, Liverpool offered him an assistant coach role, but they would not give him the control he wanted over the first team. Instead, he took the vacant manager’s job at Manchester United. There, he built the famous “Busby Babes,” who won back-to-back First Division titles and challenged for the European Cup. Eight of those players died in the Munich air disaster. Busby rebuilt the side, winning two more league titles and other domestic cups, before leading United to European Cup glory a decade after the crash.

Over 25 years at Manchester United, Busby won five league championships, two FA Cups, and the European Cup. He was among the first inductees into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2004.

Busby was born in a two-roomed miner’s cottage in Orbiston, Bellshill, Lanarkshire, to Alexander and Helen “Nellie” (née Greer) Busby. At his birth, the doctor told his mother, “A footballer has come into this house today.” His father, a miner, was called up for the First World War and killed by a sniper on 23 April 1917 at the Battle of Arras. Busby’s great-great-grandfather, George Busby, had emigrated from Ireland to Scotland during the Great Famine; his mother’s family also came from Ireland later in the 19th century. Three of his uncles died in France with the Cameron Highlanders. His mother raised Matt and his three sisters alone until she married Harry Matthie in 1919.

Raised Catholic, Busby remained devout. In 1972, Pope Paul VI made him a Knight of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great; he had been appointed Knight Bachelor four years earlier.

As a boy, Busby often went with his father into the coal pits, but his real ambition was to become a professional footballer. In his 1973 autobiography, he described himself as “football mad,” like most boys in Bellshill, and noted the strong impression made on him by Alex James and Hughie Gallacher. His mother nearly ended those dreams by applying to emigrate with Matt to the United States in the late 1920s, but the nine-month processing time gave him a reprieve. In the meantime, he took a full-time job as a collier and played part-time for Stirlingshire Junior side Denny Hibs. After only a few matches there, Manchester City signed him—just ten minutes later, a representative from his boyhood club, Glasgow Celtic, called to offer him a deal. Busby’s half-brother later said Matt cried at missing the chance to play for the team he supported.

At 18, Busby signed for Manchester City on 11 February 1928, on a one-year contract worth £5 per week, with the option to leave if he still wanted to emigrate with his mother. He chose to stay and made his debut on 2 November 1929, playing inside left in a 3–1 home win over Middlesbrough. He made 11 more appearances that season, scoring five goals. In the 1930–31 season, manager Peter Hodge moved Busby to right-half, where he built a reputation as an intelligent player and fine passer.

In 1930, Manchester United tried to sign him but could not afford the £150 fee. By 1931–32, Busby was a first-team regular, missing only one match. He and Jackie Bray became such fixtures at wing-half that club captain Jimmy McMullan had to move forward to keep his place. City reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1932, the final in 1933, and won the tournament in 1934.

From the second half of the 1934–35 season, Jack Percival increasingly took Busby’s number 4 shirt, and Busby was sold to Liverpool for £8,000 on 12 March 1936, having made over 200 appearances for City.

He debuted for Liverpool two days later in a 1–0 loss at Huddersfield Town. His first goal came a month later, a 47th-minute strike in a 2–2 draw with Blackburn Rovers. Busby soon made the number 4 shirt his own, ousting Ted Savage, and rarely missed a game over the next three seasons. He was made captain and led the club with distinction. Along with Jimmy McDougall and Tom Bradshaw, he formed what many consider Liverpool’s finest half-back line. When Bob Paisley joined Liverpool in 1939, Busby took him under his wing and showed him the ropes.