Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.
Returning from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade the plane carrying Manchester United’s Busby Babes stopped at Munich airport to refuel. On its third attempt to take-off in atrocious weather conditions the plane veered off the runway, crashed and burst into flames. 21 people died, 8 members of the legendary team among them (including Duncan Edwards), and Sir Matt Busby was rushed to hospital in critical condition. The greatest British football team of their generation was destroyed.
Munich was a defining moment not only for Manchester United but was one of those historic days, such as the death of JFK, when everyone alive at the time can remember where they were when they heard the terrible news.
Frank Taylor was the only journalist on the plane that night to survive and during his hospitalization wrote this book, revising it extensively 25 years later to include all the subsequent knowledge about the crash. The Day A Team Died is the product of his work.
“My greatest treasure now is a copy of The Day A Team Died, by Frank Taylor. I cried floods of tears when I first read it, and every time on re-reading. It should be compulsory reading for modern-day footballers.”
‘Daily Telegraph’
“(This) minute-by-minute eye-witness account of that fateful take-off and dreadful aftermath remains the definitive record, written when it was still painfully fresh… his epitaph to those who perished on that freezing afternoon lives on.”
‘Independent on Sunday’
“Serves simply to remind us what a fine writer the late Taylor was… Taylor’s sparse, pity-free eyewitness account is a captivating read.”
‘Observer’
Find the 60th anniversary edition of The Day A Team Died here: http://souvenirpress.co.uk/product/the-day-a-team-died-2/
Take Home a Souvenir! 