A City United | #KaranganBolaSepak
Manchester, A City United: The Story of How Munich Unites England and Home | #KaranganBolaSepak By Azraei Muhamad
“Huish, goalkeeper dia score goal!”
“Bukan goalkeeper, striker dia. Ole Gunner Soldier nama dia.”
The conversation we had back when we were in Standard Three was one of the earliest football discussions I had in life. It sparked the curiosity in me as a nine-year-old boy. That goal, when Peter Schmeichel ran all the way to Bayern’s penalty box for the last-minute corner kick to keep United’s European dream alive, stays vividly in my memory since then.
Manchester United 2-1 win over Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final was a love for me. A love, where we all are not sure what it is actually, but we do feel it in our heart. The love for Manchester United for me happens on that particular night.
As for football, it happened a year or two before. As a kid, running on the field with a ball at your feet is a pure joy. It’s like ice-cream, but not exactly. We may eat ice-cream everyday, but we can’t have it all-day-long. Therefore, football is better than ice-cream. Because you can play football everyday, and you can play it all-day-long. Especially for kids who do have the energy to run all-day-long.
So yes, the joy of playing football just happened for a kid. It is a different story though when it comes to watching football. The excitement of watching and playing is a different story. If I can recall, perhaps a trip to Stadium Darul Makmur somewhere in 1996 watching Pahang vs Terengganu is most probably the first time I watched a football live at a stadium. But the real factor of how I started to follow football matches, is actually due some myths.
1997 was the year David Beckham’s name started to become the talk of the town. Bear in mind, this was the era where there was no Astro yet so there were no weekly matches that we can follow. And as a kid, we often followed it through friends or older people around us. And among the first myth that makes me hooked with football is this – both Manchester United and Arsenal had Beckhams. United had David Beckam, while Arsenal had Dennis Beckam. I know it was actually Bergkamp, but again, we had no internet whatsoever back then. So we followed the news and updates from words of mouth among us.
These two were the giants during that time. They both won the league titles during the 1996-2000s, the years when I was growing up in primary school. So I learnt about footballers’ names entirely from these two – David Beckham and Dennis Bergkamp. Then, there was Ole Gunner Soldier. It was like an Arnold Schwarzenegger. We don’t know how to spell their names, and we don’t know how to pronounce their names. But we do know they are awesome. And another name was Arsene Wenger. Despite being a United boy, I actually learnt the Arsenal manager’s name first before I even know who Sir Alex Ferguson was. Why? Because I thought Arsenal is a football club that was named after the manager, Arsene. I know, kids are stupid.
Anyway, growing up from primary to secondary school, it learnt more and more about football and Manchester United. It was not until the season 2006-2007 that I truly followed them with passion. The Rooney-Ronaldo season. The attacking and attracting way of playing football. The Manchester United way. I started to learnt about transfer window (via Van Der Sar, Vidic, and Carrick deals) and what a season football is.
And the following season, the 2007-2008 season, the year United won the third European title, was the year that I learnt, that football is now my life. Why? Because on 6th February 2008, football taught me that it is more beyond life and death. On the 50th anniversary of the Munich tragedy, Manchester United played against Manchester City, two great rivals in a derby match, and put aside their differences to commemorate the big lost in football that happened on 6th February 1958. They played in a special-edition jersey, with no sponsors on the shirt, that resembled the kind of jersey in the 1950s.
The Munich air disaster, a plane that carries the Manchester United football team that was returning from a European Cup match in Belgrade. The Busby Babes had eliminated Red Star Belgrade and advanced to the semi-final. It was unfortunately, the last football for almost all of them, notably England’s brightest young talent in the team Duncan Edwards.
Sir Matt Busby the manager, along with Bill Foulkes, Bobby Charlton, and Harry Gregg were among the few who survived. Harry Gregg, the goalkeeper of the team on the pitch, turned out to be the hero off the field too. His act of saving several teammates, pulling them from the burning plane after the crash made him the “The Hero of Munich” soon after.
When I first read about this tragedy, I was shocked. I was like, is this for real? They went through this in the past? So I dig, and keep on digging. The more I read, the more I got shocked. I have known Sir Bobby Charlton as one of the greatest heroes in United history, but never knew he escaped a near-death incident in the past. And Harry Gregg, and Sir Matt Busby… I was mesmerized. Didn’t they win the first European title for United in 1968?
And that is the bigger story. In the late 1950s, the Busby Babes were destined to make it in Europe. Real Madrid won five European titles during that period, and there is a big ‘What if”. What if, the Busby Babes were around, and challenging them in the Europe? Will the European history be written differently? Real Madrid’s 10 European Cups, Liverpool’s five (back in 2008), will United had more than three if it were not for the incident?
The reality is, United’s story was well written in the history of European football. But instead of titles and cups, the history is about how the tragedy had managed to inspire the football world as a whole. The story of how Sir Matt Busby, along with Harry Gregg, Bill Foulkes, and Sir Bobby Charlton, forced to quit football at first but pulled a greater fight to go back on the field and put on their boots. Having witnessed the death of their mates and friends in front of their own eyes earlier, they managed to build a new team and eventually, won United’s first European title in 1968 against Benfica. The ‘Holy Trinity’ of Best-Law-Charlton defeated Eusebio & Co in that final. That comeback from escaping their own death to winning everything just within a decade is probably the greatest comeback in football history.
Coincidently, Manchester United’s next European title, that win against Bayern Munich in the 1999 final is also famously known for being one of the greatest comebacks in European football history. And the United’s 2008 win, is just the perfect way to marks the 50th anniversary of the Munich tragedy.
On and off the pitch, it is certain that as long as we do not give it up, winning can still be our destiny. A man united, is a man fated. And he can write his own fate. It ain’t over till the fat lady sing, ay?
Note from padangbolasepak.com: During the Restriction Movement Order 2020 Malaysia to combat Covid19 - Padangbolasepak.com encourages you from home to write essays about our beloved game of football. Can be anything. Why you fell in love with it? Your first game watching or playing? Friendships forged? Etc. Stars the limit.
500-1,000 / more words.
The objective is simple. Sharing the joy of football. Challenge you to write about the joy you may want to share. As well as keep you occupied and encourage to write. Provided that you have nothing else to do. Email us your essay with a photo attached at contact@padangbolasepak.com & we’ll post on the website as well on social media.
Thank you and take care brothers and sisters.