Whenever They’re Playing in Your Town…

Tuesday 04 February 2025 17:01

The true mark of the Busby Babes’ greatness was not the adoration they received from Reds, but the dazzling impression they left on almost every opposition supporter…

For decades, it’s been conventional to say that the tragedy of Munich immortalised the Busby Babes. That it turned Manchester United into a national and international concern, elevating us above almost every other football club. And, as with many cliches, there’s probably some truth in there.

But another argument can also be made: that United and the Babes had already achieved legendary status, long before that harrowing day in Bavaria.

Think about the words that headline this article, which still ring around whichever stadium happens to be hosting the Reds, almost every week of the season: ‘Whenever they’re playing in your town, get yourself to that football ground…’

That chant was, of course, birthed by Edric Connor’s recording of Manchester United Calypso – the ultimate paean to the football magic generated by the Babes. But it was released in 1957, the year before the disaster, and had its verses printed in the pages of United Review before Munich. It focuses not on a then-unforeseen tragedy, but on the Babes’ national fame, their greatness, and the excitement and hysteria they were stoking at football grounds up and down the country each week.

Think about the song’s creation, too. The tune was composed by a Mancunian, Ken Jones, but its genesis was lyrics penned by a teenager from Bangor, County Down, across the Irish Sea. The vocal was then delivered by a Trinidadian actor-cum-singer. In other words, the Babes were already a sensation, even then. One that was transcending club affiliations, and even football itself.

Testimonies as to their powers of captivation didn’t just flow in from the United fans who watched and loved them, or the journalists who were thrilled and inspired by their performances, but also from opposition supporters.

In the years leading up to Munich, the Babes took not just the First Division by storm, but also the FA Cup and the European Cup too. And it was in these cup competitions, away from Old Trafford, where the mania they gave rise to really revealed itself…

Still sung by United fans everywhere we go, the Calypso was birthed in 1957 by Edric O'Connor's recording. The lyrics appeared in United Review on 22 April 1957.

IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE ME, GO AND SEE THEM PLAY

Between January 1954 and January 1958, the Babes played eight away FA Cup ties (excluding matches on neutral soil).  Two took place at huge, established First Division grounds – Turf Moor (Burnley) and Maine Road (Manchester City) – where the Reds were watched by crowds of 54,000 and 74,723, respectively. But you’d expect that, right? Both fixtures pitted United against fellow top-tier big-hitters and delivered local intrigue: a Manchester derby and a Lancastrian one.

But the other six took the Babes out into provincial England and Wales. From Workington on the Cumbrian west coast to Hartlepool on the east, in County Durham. They went down south to Bournemouth in Dorset, to Reading in Berkshire, and then further east to Bristol Rovers. We also journeyed to Wrexham in Wales. Some of the clubs from these towns are now well established but, back then, none were on the proverbial football map.

It's no exaggeration to state that the games that took place at these grounds are still talked about with reverence and awe among the fans of the opposition clubs in question. Even by those that weren’t alive to witness them, who only inherited the tales from older friends and family members.

“The fourth of January 1958 remains the most significant date in the 104-year history of Workington Football Club,” remarks Steve Durham, straightforwardly. A longtime follower of the club, he also acts as Workington AFC’s programme editor and club historian.

“We've always been in the lower divisions and never really achieved anything in the Football League – one promotion in 26 seasons, titles few and far between, FA Cup runs too. We went to Liverpool in 1952 and then Man United was the only other massive tie that we’ve played. We played in the Third Division North then, so our average gate would have been 6,500 – on a good day. But that day there was 21,000… It’s never been bettered.”

Durham estimates that the entire town’s population would have only come to around 25,000 at the time, so the United match was a pretty colossal event in Workington’s civic history. BBC Radio Cumbria’s John Walsh, who attended the game as a young fan and still reports on his team now, remembers fevered anticipation among his schoolmates that lasted weeks. “I was at grammar school and although it was rugby-playing, we had a crew of us who were football fanatics and there was plenty of conversation about the match. It was tremendous.”

“Duncan Edwards' name always cropped up, Viollet too,” Durham says, when remembering conversations with fellow fans who were there at Borough Park to watch United come from behind to win 3-1, thanks to an eight-minute hat-trick from the latter player. The game took place just weeks before Munich.

“Duncan Edwards was the man; he was coming through and was the name on everyone's lips. I suppose it was like when Rooney came through: they've got a reputation coming through, and they don't let you down from day one. But it was more the club's name than individuals, at that time.

“In those days, everybody's second-favourite club was Man United,” he continues. “They had a sort of aura about them. Probably thousands hadn't seen them in the flesh.

The television coverage was nothing, but everyone was aware of what was happening at Man United. They made it their business to find out.”

A TYPE OF FOOTBALL SECOND TO NONE

United’s aura was such that four of these FA Cup ties delivered record attendances for the football grounds that staged them. Records that still hold to this day.

As Steve Durham notes, the 21,000 at Borough Park for the Workington tie remains the Cumbrian club’s highest-ever crowd. Bournemouth’s Dean Court (28,799), Hartlepool’s Victoria Park (17,426) and Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground (34,445) have never hosted larger audiences in all the decades since. At the latter ground, tickets were reportedly being hawked outside for £5 – the equivalent of £154 in today’s money! All three stadiums are still in use now, but the days that the Babes bowled in still stand apart.

United fan Derek ‘Digger’ Gardner was present at every one of these cup ties and remembers atmospheres of unfailing warmth – along with a feverish sense of excitement and anticipation.

“You'd go and stand with them [the opposition fans] and they'd come up and say to you: 'What's Tommy Taylor like? What's Roger Byrne like?' We had three players playing for England at that time, and Duncan was a superstar. He was the talk of everywhere, with him being such a young lad, and the physique of him.

"Duncan was a superstar."

“They loved it. They were all saying: 'What's it like watching a good side every week?' Because there were no games on telly. The only way you'd see things were on Pathé News. There weren't many league games until Match of the Day much later. It was like seeing superstars for them.”

Not that every match was easy for United. Second-tier Bristol Rovers stunned the Babes (who would finish the season as English champions) in January 1956, with a 4-0 victory that led to the headline ‘Busby Babes Bubble Bursts’ in one of the local papers. The late, great United fan Tom Clare told UR about bumping into a Rovers fan years after and reminiscing about the game. “I suppose that’s one of your greatest memories, then?” Clare offered. “Aye, yeah, but let me tell you: Edwards didn’t play in that game,” responded the modest Bristolian.

At Hartlepool, in the third-round tie of January 1957, United raced into a 3-0 lead within half an hour, only to get a nasty fright in the second period. “We'd just beat Anderlecht 10-0 a few months earlier and within no time we were 3-0 up,” remembers Derek Gardner. “I thought: 'We're going to get 10 again here!' Then they got it to three each. We were struggling a bit, but thankfully Billy Whelan popped up and we won it 4-3.”

But whatever the outcomes, those attending knew that excitement was almost guaranteed, for it was laid out in bold on page one of the Busby manifesto. After beating Hartlepool in round three, United were drawn away to Bournemouth, and another diehard United fan of that era, Beryl Townsend, remembers the Reds receiving a reception that would have satisfied a royal delegation.

“I don’t know if it was because they were young, or because of the way they played,” she muses. “I used to absolutely adore that Spurs side that won the Double later on, because they were just sheer class to watch, and the Busby Babes were like that. You couldn’t feel anything but affection for them.

“When we went down to Bournemouth, they’d decked the whole town out because the Babes were coming! Every store – Woolworths, everything – was all decked out, because the Busby Babes were actually coming that day. That was the sort of impact that they had on the game. People knew they were going to be entertained when they turned up. They knew they were going to see some good football.”

TAKE A LESSON, COME TO SEE…

One of the principal reasons for United’s popularity spreading so virally throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland was the club’s decision to venture into Europe. It instantly placed the Babes on a pedestal above the rest of England’s clubs, who only competed domestically and also added some welcome exoticism and colour to the English scene.

Players like Liam 'Billy' Whelan "made your blood hot" with their unprecedented talent and skill.

In September 1957, Busby’s team began their second – and final – European campaign, which started with a two-legged preliminary tie against Dublin’s Shamrock Rovers. United’s first-ever competitive game in Ireland – a country that already had strong links with the club – almost brought Eire to a standstill.

“The country nearly went into hysterics!” remembers Joe Barnes, a then 22-year-old Rovers fan. “Matt Busby was a saint to Irish people. He was the man. And if you mentioned the Busby Babies [sic] to someone over here, you could be talking to them for about two days.”

Barnes, who worked in the lighthouse business, remembers having to knock off work early to make the kick-off, which was brought forward to 5.45pm due to Dalymount Park’s lack of floodlights and the short September evenings. More than 45,000 were in attendance, which is still the stadium’s record for a club game.

“The first half we did quite well,” recalls Barnes, now 90. “But United's experience and quality just pushed us aside, especially Liam Whelan, Lord have mercy on him. When he scored two goals, that was the end of it.”

The game was 1-0 until Whelan’s second, in the 51st minute, but three in the final 10 minutes took the score to 6-0, which effectively ensured United’s progression. But the one-sided second half took nothing away from the occasion, even for hardcore Rovers fans like Joe.

“Did they live up to reputation? Bloody sure they did!” he chortles. “They annihilated us in the second half! The crowd were cheering all United's goals – there was only five of us shouting for Rovers! But there was something about them… they were electric. Your blood got hot.

“I think Taylor had springs on his feet, he could go so high and head the ball. He would nearly jack-knife when he went up. He was supreme in the air. You can talk about individual players, but the whole team were so good: Jackie Blanchflower, Foulkes... I remember Freddie Goodwin, too – he was really good. Berry and Pegg…”

Like many Irish football fans, Barnes also follows a ‘second’ team in England: West Bromwich Albion. But United are third in his heart due to that day at Dalymount Park, and powerful memories of watching the Babes’ buccaneering football.

“I'll never forget 1957,” he says. “It's stuck in my mind; I can tell you nearly everything that happened that day. I was right behind one of the goals and I could see, in the second half, all the goals going in. They were fantastic. You should be very proud of your club. Manchester United were the flag-bearers for everybody in England.

“There were great United teams after that – Robson, Keane, all those teams. But, in my opinion, the Busby Babies were the team. To me, that day was special, even though we were hammered, because Rovers were playing against the team in the world. Any time I went to see United after that, there was always a little tinkle in the heart.”

WIZARDRY BY MATT BUSBY

To modern readers, much of this might whiff of hyperbole, filling a vacuum left by an absence of high-quality video footage. But for Matt Busby – who watched United from 1945 until 1994, of course – there was little doubt that all the words of praise were more than justified.

Busby guided United to the Holy Grail of the European Cup in 1968, a decade on from Munich, without the players he loved. "Believe me, it is almost impossible to exaggerate about those players," he insisted.

Years after he had won the European Cup that the Babes died trying to capture – and with a team stuffed with three Ballon d’Or winners – he firmly said: “Believe me, it is almost impossible to exaggerate about those players.”

Track down the opinions of anyone who watched them – United fan or non-United fan – and you are likely to receive a similar verdict to the one that emerges from many of the quotes in this piece.

What this great side might have gone on to achieve if not for Munich remains the most mysterious question in Manchester United’s history. But don’t let that tantalising mystery, and the tragic nature of what befell them, overshadow what they did achieve in the short time they graced the football pitches of England and Europe.

The Busby Babes’ story came to a shuddering, awful halt at Munich. But the excitement, entertainment and colour they brought to the grey grind of 1950s life uplifted a nation that had only just seen the back of food rationing. Their youth, their vigour and their style pointed towards a new, more expressive age for football – one that would achieve full florescence in the 1960s, with the advent of Match of the Day and cross-cultural superstars like George Best.

The Busby Babes didn’t make it that far. But the first team from football’s future left a lifetime of memories for those fans lucky enough to revel in their splendour.

This featured originally appeared in United Review, our beloved matchday programme, for Manchester United v Crystal Palace on 2 February 2025.