The Busby Babes

When I was eight years old, I remember walking home from school and
noticing all the curtains in all the houses were closed. Women were
hurrying by with tears in their eyes. When I asked Mam what was
happening, she told me about the plane crash that had killed some of
the young players of Manchester United.

Recently the Manchester Evening News ran a tribute to the 50 year
memorial of the Busby Babes, part of which was a letter from my cousin
Freddie Doherty.

Here is his letter and his poem as printed:-

Docker's Poem

I was a 22 year old Salford docker at the time and knew some of the players personally.
I'd supported Manchester United since I was 13 and in those days, when they were playing away, I used to go to Maine Road and cheer on Manchester City.

I wrote this poem almost 50 years ago.

They threw snowballs in Munich
And behaved like boys of 10.
Returning from the battle
Red Star knew that they were men.

Then... In slush and snow,
A broken plane lay still
And atheletes were dead
No more to grace the pitch of green
Nor wear the shirt of red.

Our city was in mourning
World over that applied
People sat quiet on buses
And a Salford docker cried.

Belgrade had been their venue
Football was their game
The Busby Babes we were proud of
Man United was their name.

Fred Doherty, Macclesfield

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Nice one Fred.