RedsUnite: a man utd blog

I have had some misgivings about writing the past couple days. I am admittedly late in becoming a Manchester United supporter. Football isn’t readily available in America, so my exposure early on was minimal. There are somethings about Manchester United that I will never fully understand. There are some times in our history that can not be fully captured in print. February 6, 1958 is one of those times.

There was little printed this week that was not touched by the remembrance of the Munich Air Disaster. Discussing the Disaster seemed inappropriate and mentioning anything else seemed insignificant. 23 people died that day, eight of them Manchester United players. A team destined for greatness had its promise taken from it in an instant. I didn’t even know about it until a couple of years ago. How could I, of all people, eulogize those men?

So I had decided to take a couple of days off. I wanted to leave the remembrance of those who perished in on that February day to those whose lives had been touched by it. Folks like Sir Bobby Charlton and Harry Gregg have spoken so touchingly about that tragic day that I didn’t know what I could add, but I knew I should learn more.

I began with only vague knowledge of that day and those men. The names of some who passed, like Duncan Edwards, and the names of some survivors, like Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Matt Busby, were familiar to me as they should be familiar to anyone who loves this club, but I had yet to familiarize myself with them and the tragedy that surrounds them beyond a cursory level of understanding. I was unprepared for what I discovered: a tragedy indeed.

While I was not alive in 1958 to remember where I was on that day and I my residence in America has isolated me from the culture that surrounds this horrific day, anyone who has been witness to tragedy can relate. For my parents it was the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Rev. Martin Luther King and Senator Robert F. Kennedy. For me it was the appalling attack of September 11, 2001. There is a common thread that runs through all such tragedies.

Tragedies are always about more than the lives lost, they are about the loss of hope. When people who have come to represent something much larger than themselves die, the sadness that surrounds their deaths is about more than the loss of life. People like to hitch their wagons to the great among us. From politicians to soccer clubs, people identify with these people and institutions because they want to belong to something bigger than themselves. By supporting their club, campaigning for a politician or marching for a cause, people dedicate their energies to the realization of an idea. When those who represent that idea perish, the candle they carry representing that idea flickers. Sometimes the flame is extinguished, not strong enough to sustain such a loss. But sometimes the flame reemerges brighter.

The club that stands before us today is a testament to those who survived, the clubs supporters and the abiding nature of the human spirit. Manchester United could have felt sorry for itself in the wake of that sad day. They could have felt that the greatness the club has achieved since 1958 was not destined for United. They could have resigned themselves to the idea that the heights they sought were unattainable in the face of such a catastrophe, but they did not. Sir Matt Busby and his men did not hang their heads long. They grieved the deaths of those who died, to be sure, but instead of allowing their deaths to become the reason Manchester United was unable to reach great heights, they became the reason United has reached great heights.

George Fabricius once said, “Death comes to all. But great achievements build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold.” Those young men who perished on February 6, 1958 have built a monument that certainly has endured. They may not have reached the heights they sought to reach. There are trophies they may have won that were stolen from them on that day. There would have been days in the sun where their beautiful play would have left an indelible imprint on the minds of those who watched. Those days were lost as well. But while they may have never reached their potential, the idea that they represented still embodies Manchester United today. A beautiful brand of football that is a pleasure to the eye. An unrelenting pursuit of greatness. And while they may have perished prematurely, in these survival of these ideals they are immortal.