Famous Scots Sir Matt Busby.

Sir Alexander Matthew Busby, CBE KCSG (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of an English team to win the European Cup and is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time.

Before going into management, Busby was a player for two of Manchester United’s greatest rivals, Manchester City and Liverpool. During his time at City, Busby played in two FA Cup Finals, winning one of them. After his playing career was interrupted by the Second World War, Busby was offered the job of assistant coach at Liverpool, but they were unwilling to give him the control over the first team that he wanted. As a result, he took the vacant manager’s job at Manchester United instead, where he built the famous Busby Babes team. Eight of these players died in the Munich air disaster, but Busby rebuilt the side and United won the European Cup a decade later. In a total of 25 years with the club, he won 13 trophies.

Early Life

Busby was born to Alexander and Helen “Nellie” Busby (née Greer) in a two-roomed pitman’s cottage in the mining village of Orbiston, Bellshill, Lanarkshire. When he was born, Busby’s mother was told by the doctor, “A footballer has come into this house today”. Busby’s father was a miner, but was called up to serve in the First World War, being killed by a sniper’s bullet on 23 April 1917 at the Battle of Arras. Three of his uncles were killed in France with the Cameron Highlanders. Busby’s mother was left to raise Matt and his three sisters alone until her marriage to a man called Harry Matthie in 1919.

Grave of Sir Matt Busby.

He died, aged 84, on 20 January 1994 at The Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, Greater Manchester. He had been admitted to the hospital earlier that month to have a blood clot removed from his leg, and had appeared to be making a good recovery until his condition deteriorated after several days. He was buried in Southern Cemetery, Manchester, alongside his wife Jean. His racecourse owner friend Willie Satinoff, who died in the Munich air crash, is buried in the same cemetery. Two days after Busby’s death, a minute’s silence was held at the start of United’s home game against Everton in the Premier League. United finished that season as double winners, lifting the league title and FA Cup.

In 1999, in securing the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and European Cup, Manchester United won the European Cup on what would have been Sir Matt’s 90th birthday – the first time they had won the trophy since Sir Matt’s 1968 triumph. Then, in 2008, Manchester United won the Champions League again, 50 years after the Munich tragedy, and 40 years since his own triumph in Europe in 1968 where Busby’s United defeated Benfica. The day after the 100th anniversary of Busby’s birth, Manchester United played Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League final and lost to the Spanish side 2–0. Busby was made an inaugural inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game.

The sports centre in Bellshill, his place of birth, was named after him shortly after his death. This opened to the public in 1995.

On 6 September 2009, the Sir Matt Busby shield was contested between Manchester United Reserves and Motherwell. This was held at Fir Park, two miles from Busby’s place of birth, to mark 100 years since his birth. Motherwell won the match 1–0.

His son Sandy died on 15 September 2014, followed nearly nine months later by his daughter Sheena, who had been married to former Manchester United player Don Gibson for 59 years. He had a total of seven grandchildren, all female.