Manchester United - 'The Busby Babes' #2 Quiz

Answer: Colman, Jones, and Viollet

By 1958, Byrne, Edwards and Taylor were established England regulars, with Byrne on a run of 33 consecutive caps, and with England one of the favourites to do well in the World Cup Finals in Sweden that summer, it was virtually certain that Colman, Jones, and Viollet, all three of whom were on the threshold of full international recognition, would have featured in the national squad.
While Jones had long since established himself as a fearless centre-half, particularly commanding in the air, Colman's boundless energy, ball-winning tackles and creative passing had already attracted the attention of the selectors. And, with Viollet's strike partnership with Tommy Taylor yielding so many goals, it was only a matter of time before these two would play together at international level.

With Johnny Berry, the only member of the side who was not strictly a 'Babe', as at the age of 25, he was already an established professional when signed by Busby, already capped four times, and Wood, Foulkes and Pegg once each, the Munich crash not only robbed England of stars like Byrne, Edwards and Taylor, but also of the services of a probable four or five others.

Answer: Manchester United 4 Aston Villa 0

The team for the Charity Shield was more or less the same as that which had played in the Cup Final, except that on this occasion United would play with a regular goalkeeper ... and all eleven players!
With Freddie Goodwin coming in for the injured Eddie Colman, and Dennis Viollet, who had missed the final through injury, returning in place of Bobby Charlton, United ran out easy winners to take the consolation prize by four goals to nil, with three from Tommy Taylor and one from Johnny Berry.

Answer: Blanchflower, Berry, Whelan, and Pegg

These players, none of whom was selected to play Red Star in Belgrade on 5th February, 1958, were all in the squad for the game as reserve cover. Whelan and Pegg died at Munich the following day, while Berry and Blanchflower never played again. Wood was to make just one more appearance for United.

Blanchflower had played his last game for United in the 4-3 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, on 30th November, after which he once again lost his place to Mark Jones.

With 17-year old goalkeeper David Gaskell making his debut in this game and letting in four goals, Ray Wood returned, letting in three more away to Birmingham City a week later on 7th December.

Sadly, the 1-0 home defeat to Chelsea a week later on 14th December was not only the last time Berry, Whelan, and Pegg would turn out for United, it was also the last time the famous 'Busby Babes' eleven ever lined up together.

Realising he had a goalkeeper crisis, Busby again splashed out on a goalkeeper.

With Morgans, Charlton, and Scanlon coming in for Berry, Whelan, and Pegg, for the home game against Leicester City on 21st December, United embarked upon a 15-game unbeaten run in the League, FA Cup and European Cup that, but for Munich, would probably have taken them to the double, if not the treble.

Incredibly this run, during which they scored 41 goals, did not end until 8th March, a full four weeks and four games after the crash at Munich had destroyed the team.

Answer: Tommy Taylor

1 - Tommy Taylor on 67.7% (2 goals in every three games)

Signed from Barnsley, Taylor made his debut for United in 1953 and went on to score a staggering 128 goals in 189 appearances, the best goals-per-game ratio of any player who played over 50 games for United, before tragically losing his life at Munich at the age of 26.
His speed, positional sense, powerful shot and extraordinary heading ability combined with his great stamina made him one of the greatest centre-forwards the game has ever seen.

2 - Dennis Viollet on 59.6% - with 102 goals in 171 appearances - up to 6th February, 1958.

Viollet, who made his United debut in 1953, was a prolific goalscorer with great pace and vision. As slight and subtle as Taylor was burly and powerful, their partnership was almost telepathic.

With 178 goals in his total of 291 appearances in all competitions for United, he also scored 32 in 36 games during the 1959-60 season.
Signing for Stoke City in 1962 he played over 200 games for United. He died in March 1999 aged 65.

3 - Bobby Charlton on 59.5% - with 25 goals in a mere 42 appearances - up to 6th February, 1958.

Bobby Charlton made his United debut in October 1956, scoring twice, and went on to become a living legend for both club and country, making 754 appearances for United, scoring 247 goals, and made 106 appearances for England, scoring 49 goals.
An exemplary sportsman, possessing great speed and a thunderous shot, he was a key member of England's World Cup winning team, and was voted Footballer-of-the-Year in England, and European Footballer of the Year in 1966. He and Bill Foulkes were the only two surviving members of the Busby Babes still in the United team when they won the European Cup in 1968, ten years after Munich. He was knighted in 1994.

4 - Liam Whelan on 54% - with a remarkable 52 goals in just 96 appearances.

'Billy' Whelan who made his United debut in March 1955, was shy modest man, but a skillful and lethal goal poacher.
He was United's leading goalscorer in the 1956-57 championship-winning season with 26 goals in 39 games, but lost his place to Bobby Charlton in December, 1957, and never played for them again.

As a travelling reserve, he died at Munich, aged just 22.

Answer: 7-2

With three goals from Bobby Charlton, two from Dennis Viollet and one each from Duncan Edwards and Albert Scanlon, the game was nothing short of a massacre.

This was the identical Bolton team that United's patched-up post-Munich side, containing just four survivors from this Old Trafford mauling, which somehow managed to get to the FA Cup Final, would meet four months later at Wembley, controversially losing 2-0.

Answer: Ipswich Town

They beat Ipswich Town 2-0 - with both goals scored by Bobby Charlton.

In the fifth round, against Sheffield Wednesday at Old Trafford on 19th February, the first game Manchester United played after Munich, there would be only goalkeeper Harry Gregg and right full-back Bill Foulkes left of the team that had faced Ipswich.
So uncertain was he as to what players he could put out on the pitch, Assistant-Manager Jimmy Murphy, who had not travelled to Belgrade due to international committments with Wales, instructed the printers to leave the match programme team sheet blank.

Answer: Arsenal

They beat Arsenal 5-4 at Highbury with two goals from Tommy Taylor and one each from Dennis Viollet, Bobby Charlton and Duncan Edwards.

Scottish centre-forward David Herd who would sign for United in 1961, scored twice for the Gunners, who were 3-0 down before half-time.

* Herd played 262 games for United, scoring 144 goals, in a dynamic partnership with Denis Law.

Answer: 17

Four games, seventeen goals, and eight of them scored by 20-year old Bobby Charlton!

On 5th February, 1958, the eve of the crash, United drew 3-3 with Red Star Belgrade with two goals from Charlton and one from Viollet. In the previous three matches they had beaten Bolton Wanderers 7-2 (Charlton 3 Viollet 2 Edwards and Scanlon); Ipswich Town 2-1 (Charlton 2) and Arsenal 5-4 (Taylor 2 Charlton Viollet and Edwards)

They scored 17 ... and conceded 10.

27 goals in 4 games - the spectators were certainly not complaining!

Answer: Bill Foulkes

Like newly-signed goalkeeper Harry Gregg, Foulkes survived the crash unscathed, and lined up against Sheffield Wednesday at Old Trafford in the FA Cup fifth round on 19th February, 1958, just thirteen days after Munich.

He was ever-present again in 1959/60 and in the Championship-winning 1964/65, and missed only one game in each of the 1954/55, 1958/59, 1962/63 and 1963/64 seasons, and just two in each of the 1960/61 and 1961/62 seasons.
Born in 1932, and having made his first team debut in 1952, Bill Foulkes made 682 appearances over 18 seasons for United, including the victorious European Cup final in 1968, having scored the vital goal at Real Madrid that got them there.

He is the only member of the 'original' Busby Babes alive today.

Answer: George Best

While many might regard Sammy McIlroy, as the last player signed by Busby, to be 'The Last Busby Babe', there can only be one rightful claimant to that title.

After Munich, necessity dictated that Matt Busby plunge into the transfer market to find players who would, in the short term at least, somehow replace the players who had lost their lives and those who could never play again.

With survivors Gregg, Foulkes, Charlton, Viollet and Scanlon, reserves Gaskell, Greaves, Goodwin, Cope, McGuinness, Webster and Dawson, and emerging juniors Stiles, Brennan, Pearson and Giles as a foundation for re-construction, Busby, having purchased just three players when assembling his 'Busby Babes' side - in the years between 1958 and 1963, when United won the FA Cup, their first trophy since the crash - signed Albert Quixall, Noel Cantwell, Maurice Setters, Tony Dunne, David Herd, Pat Crerand and Denis Law.

Finishing runners-up in the 1963-64 season, the stage was set for Manchester United to once again have a tilt at the League title which they duly won in 1964-65.

Irish goalkeeper Pat Dunne was successful as cover for the injury-plagued Gregg, and England international winger John Connelly joined from neighbouring Burnley.

Foulkes had successfully taken over at centre-half, with Brennan taking his place at right-back, Tony Dunne was at left-back, Crerand at right-half and Stiles had made the left-half slot his own.
Connelly played outside-right, Charlton moved back to inside-right, Herd led the line, 'The King' Denis Law was at inside-left and at outside-left - the player Busby once said 'could do things naturally that the other players couldn't even dream about' - 'The Last Busby Babe' - George Best.

This team - Gregg, Brennan, Dunne, Crerand, Foulkes, Stiles, Connelly, Charlton, Herd, Law and Best, was Matt Busby's third 'great' team, which, with the indomitable Gregg back in goal, hammered Benfica 5-1 in Lisbon, and 8-3 on aggregate, in the European Cup quarter-finals in March 1966, and should certainly have gone on to win it - but somehow managed not to.

Having won the League again in 1967, United were finally crowned Champions of Europe in May 1968 at Wembley - sadly without the departed Gregg, Herd and Connelly, whose places had been taken by Alex Stepney, Brian Kidd, John Aston Jr. respectively, and the injured Law, replaced by reserve centre-half David Sadler - but with Munich survivors Foulkes and Charlton in the side, and European Footballer of the Year Best in dazzling form.

Having achieved his life's ambition, Matt Busby retired a year later.

He died in January 1994.