Jack and Bobby: A story of brothers in conflict. Leo McKinstry

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СКАЧАТЬ back, you little bugger,’ cried Jack as his younger brother raced towards the goal. But Jack has always maintained that he felt no jealousy towards Bobby, only delight in his achievements at United. What he did feel envy towards was the glamour of Bobby’s club compared to his own. ‘It didn’t worry me at all when our kid began to get write-ups as the greatest thing since the Archangel Gabriel. All I was jealous about was the club he had joined – Manchester United. I was jealous about their success, their traditions, the way people thought about them as a team. That’s the way I wanted people to think about Leeds,’ he said in 1970. John Giles recalls, ‘I met Jack at Old Trafford a few times because he would come over and see Bobby. I used to feel a bit for him then, because he was out of it, while Bobby was starting to do so well. I don’t think Jack liked the way that he was always referred to as Bobby’s elder brother. I don’t think it was jealousy – he was proud of Bobby and wished him all the best – but he found it awkward.’

      Though he was sympathetic to Jack, Bobby could not have been happier in his own position. He loved the whole unique atmosphere of the Babes, their special companionship on and off the field. Tragically, that idyllic life was about to be shattered.

CHAPTER FIVE The Victim

      The United players were in high spirits as they gathered at Manchester’s Ringway airport on Monday 3 February 1958, ready for the long flight to Yugoslavia for a vital European Cup tie.

      The Busby Babes were in the form of their lives, having just achieved a sensational victory over Arsenal at Highbury two days earlier. It had been the most exhilarating game of the season, with United 3–0 up at half-time before winning 5–4. And victory had been won in the daring style that epitomized the Babes. Never once, even after Arsenal had equalized, did United seek to consolidate in defence. Instead, they stepped up their attacks, with Duncan Edwards and Eddie Colman continually driving through the midfield, while Kenny Morgans and Albert Scanlon mesmerized the Arsenal full-backs as they tore down the flanks. ‘They just kept coming at us, and the score could have easily been 10–7. It was the finest match I ever played in,’ said Arsenal keeper Jack Kelsey. Bobby Charlton, fast becoming a regular member of the side, played his part in this dramatic win, scoring United’s second after a brilliant run by Scanlon. Charlton later gave this description of the goal, recalling how exhausted he was by the hectic pace of the game: ‘After reaching the corner flag, Albert crossed a perfect pass for me. My breath was coming in great gasps and my stockings were sagging around my ankles, but somehow I managed to muster some reserve strength to hit the ball into the back of the net.’

      United might have been enthralling crowds at home and across the continent, but, with typical narrow-mindedness, the English football establishment had not approved of the foray into European competition. When the European Cup was established in the 1955/56 season, the Football League refused permission for the reigning champions, Chelsea, to take part. It was the same insular attitude that had prevented England participating in the World Cup before 1950 and its spirit was encapsulated by the words of Alan Hardaker, League Secretary, about continental football: ‘too many wogs and dagoes’. But Matt Busby, a far more cosmopolitan, expansive figure than most League mandarins, had no time for such an isolationist mentality. So when United were crowned champions in 1956, Busby defied the League and took up the challenge of Europe. The first season proved memorable. Through a string of brilliant performances, most notably a 10–0 demolition of Belgian champions Anderlecht at home, United reached the semi-finals, where they were narrowly beaten by the mighty Real Madrid.

      Now there was a chance of reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup again. Making the second visit of that season behind the Iron Curtain, having earlier beaten Dukla Prague, United took a 2–1 lead into their away fixture with Red Star Belgrade. Though Bobby had played the previous year against Real Madrid at home, this was to be his first trip to Europe. His naivety about travel led to some ribbing from his team-mates, as Jackie Blanchflower recalled: ‘He had been kidded about the shortage of food in Eastern Europe and packed his suitcase with biscuits and sweets.’

      But, in taking such precautions, Bobby had not been as foolish as his colleagues imagined. For when the team arrived from Manchester after an uneventful flight, they found Belgrade to be a city of depressing bleakness and poverty. The icy grip of totalitarian communist rule could be felt everywhere, as Albert Scanlon recalls: ‘We arrived in Belgrade at Monday teatime and went to this hotel. For some reason there were armed guards on every floor. By the time we got our meals they were stone cold. After we unpacked, a few of us went out for a walk and we saw people wearing shoes from old car tyres. It was incredible, and in all the shops people had to queue for everything. On the whole, Belgrade was a dismal place with not much to do and nowhere to go.’

      The arrival of the United team was the most exciting event to happen in the city for years. As the team coach made its way to the stadium for the match against Red Star, thousands lined the streets to try and catch a glimpse of the players, all the while shouting out, ‘Busby Babes’ and ‘Red Devils’. Immediately after the kick-off United showed why they had built such a reputation. As against Arsenal, they were 3–0 up before half-time, and, again, Bobby Charlton played a vital role, scoring two goals. Frank Taylor, the journalist with the News Chronicle, wrote of his second effort, ‘Out of his goal came the acrobatic Mr Beara in his black jersey, to be shattered by a pile-driving shot which hurtled from Charlton’s boot well outside the penalty by some 25 yards – to thud into the back of the net. Belgrade couldn’t believe it. No-one ever shot from so far out and beat Beara. But Charlton did.’ Albert Scanlon says of Bobby in that game: ‘It was probably the best I had ever seen him play. He was just outstanding. His shooting was so ferocious, his balance so perfect.’ Though Belgrade stormed back in the second half, supported by some rather dubious refereeing, United managed to draw 3–3, maintaining their aggregate lead.

      There were a few sore heads the next morning when the United party made its way to Zemun Airport. The night before, the celebrations, which had started with an official banquet at the British Embassy, had gone on into the early hours of the morning. It was 3am when captain Roger Byrne and centre-half Mark Jones finally arrived back at the team hotel, two hours later than Matt Busby’s imposed curfew. More sedately, Bobby, David Pegg and Dennis Viollet had been drinking at the hotel bar, while goalkeeper Harry Gregg – the big Ulsterman recently bought by Matt Busby from Doncaster Rovers – organized a serious card school in his room.

      As they prepared to embark on the journey home, there was a delay over Johnny Berry’s papers, as Harry Gregg remembers: ‘Digger Berry had lost his passport and you didn’t get out of there without it. So everybody’s pockets were turned out – no luck. It was a huge, overbearing lady who handled the immigration and eventually it was decided to unload the hold, where they found Johnny’s passport in his suitcase. So we set off late.’ Already tired and hungover, the team had seen quite enough of Belgrade by the time they were finally allowed to get on board the plane, a BEA twin engine Elizabethan specially chartered by United for the Yugoslavian trip. Those in the know were pleased to be flying in an Elizabethan, for not only was this the aircraft used by the Queen, but it also had an excellent safety record. Not one of this type had ever crashed.

      After the exertions of the last few days, the passengers were only too anxious to get home, especially because United had an important League game against Wolves, their biggest rivals, on Saturday. But the journey back to Manchester was not a direct one, for the plane had to stop for refuelling at Munich. It was a bright, crisp morning when the airliner left Yugoslavia. As the Elizabethan made its way across the German border, however, the sky began to darken, turning from blue to dull grey, while the temperature fell dramatically. By the time the pilots began their descent, a thick layer of snow and slush was forming on the tarmac of Munich airport. Once the plane had landed, the passengers were told to disembark, for the refuelling was due to take at least 40 minutes. The Chronicle journalist Frank Taylor described the experience of leaving the cabin: ‘As soon as the door was opened the wind СКАЧАТЬ