www.red11.org DAILY NEWS
Date: Sat Jun 12 GMT+00:00 1999
Mail: barry@www.red11.org
This Issue:
1. Denis Law
2. FOOTBALL: SPANISH TARGET PETER
3. Some thoughts on last season by OUR SALFORD LASS
4. Delirious Sydney Reds by "Paul O'Farrell"
5. TOP OF THE BOX
6. The Death of Duncan Edwards by Arthur Hopcraft
7. Megastore in Hong Kong
8. That Fergie Knighthood in full
9. Book Reviews Some book reviews from http://www.footaball.com/
++++++=========+++++++========+++++++++========++++++++
*** CHAMPIONS *** CHAMPIONS *** CHAMPIONS ***
THE TRIPLE - www.red11.org CHAMPIONSHIP Sound Archive x 5
ENJOY THE GOALS * GMR * BBC RADIO 5 * SKY * DANISH TV !!!!
SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL Mp3 "REDS Going to Barcelona" 3megs hifi-sound
Download here: http://www.red11.org/mufc/sound/mp3/99/Barcelona.mp3
Daily RED Trivia Saturday 12th June 1999:
12/6/1885:
Dick Holden born in Middleton, Lancashire. A Full-back unlucky with injury,
Holden made his debut against Blackpool in April 1905, and won a League
Championship medal in 1908. He made 117 appearances between 1905-12.
12/6/1977:
Uniteds Stuart Pearson scores for England as they draw 1-1 with
Argentina in Buenos Aires.
12/6/1980:
Uniteds Ray Wilkins scores for England in their 1-1 draw with Belgium
in Turin in the European Championship Finals.
*********************
Barry Daily Comment:
Latest Cup Final Squad song is now available in stereo at www.red11.org
Graphic:
http://www.red11.org/mufc/images/99/
http://www.red11.org/mufc/images/99/lift_it_high.jpg
http://www.red11.org/mufc/images/99/lift_it_high_back.jpg
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Stereo Sound:
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MP3 4.6meg 4mins "stereo"
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RED sky at night BARCE' delight
More fun here: http://www.red11.org/mufc/barcedance.htm
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Latest sound interviews in Real Audio here:
http://www.red11.org/mufc/sound/99
If you want the Giggsy FA CUP goal in Real Time Video 300k now thanks to RED CAFE!
http://www.iol.ie/~redcafe/texts/report98/domestic/arse-fa2.htm
FA Cup Semi Final Replay
14 April 1999
Manchester United 2:1 Arsenal
Villa Park
Download Ryan Giggs Goal! (Real Video: 300K)
http://www.iol.ie/~redcafe/real/giggs-goal.ra
Thanks to the Theatre of Dreams
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
MANCHESTER UNITED STATS v ALL teams on the Web
http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats.htm
Previous News:
BSKYB Takeover news/pics at http://www.red11.org/mufc/bskyb.htm
Brian Kidd Press conference, pic, real audio
http://www.iol.ie/~redcafe/kidd.htm
Peter Schmeichel's last Season at United!
http://www.red11.org/mufc/news/schmeichel.htm
Next games: ****Pre season tour 1999 ***
Melbourne Sydney Gold Coast
Sat 17/7 Sydney NEW SOUTH WALES Olympic Stadium
Mon 19/7 Melbourne
+ Far East
Wed 21/7 Shangai first time ever!!!
Sat 24/7 Hong Kong Repeat of the 1997 game
"ALL matches will be shown "the same day" om MUTV.
UNITED Stats v All teams:
http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats/
*** FINAL PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AS AT 16/05/99 ***
Pos Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Manchester United 38 14 4 1 45 18 8 9 2 35 19 43 79
2 Arsenal 38 14 5 0 34 5 8 7 4 25 12 42 78
3 Chelsea 38 12 6 1 29 13 8 9 2 28 17 27 75
4 Leeds United 38 12 5 2 32 9 6 8 5 30 25 28 67
5 West Ham United 38 11 3 5 32 26 5 6 8 14 27 -7 57
6 Aston Villa 38 10 3 6 33 28 5 7 7 18 18 5 55
7 Liverpool 38 10 5 4 44 24 5 4 10 24 25 19 54
8 Derby County 38 8 7 4 22 19 5 6 8 18 26 -5 52
9 Middlesbrough 38 7 9 3 25 18 5 6 8 23 36 -6 51
10 Leicester City 38 7 6 6 25 25 5 7 7 15 21 -6 49
11 Tottenham Hotspur 38 7 7 5 28 26 4 7 8 19 24 -3 47
12 Sheffield Wednesday 38 7 5 7 20 15 6 2 11 21 27 -1 46
13 Newcastle United 38 7 6 6 26 25 4 7 8 22 29 -6 46
14 Everton 38 6 8 5 22 12 5 2 12 20 35 -5 43
15 Coventry City 38 8 6 5 26 21 3 3 13 13 30 -12 42
16 Wimbledon 38 7 7 5 22 21 3 5 11 18 42 -23 42
17 Southampton 38 9 4 6 29 26 2 4 13 8 38 -27 41
18 Charlton Athletic 38 4 7 8 20 20 4 5 10 21 36 -15 36
19 Blackburn Rovers 38 6 5 8 21 24 1 9 9 17 28 -14 35
20 Nottingham Forest 38 3 7 9 18 31 4 2 13 17 38 -34 30
*** TEAM RESULTS - MANCHESTER UNITED - AS AT 05/05/99 ***
Date Opposition Score Pos. Attend.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
15/08/98 Leicester City Home D 2-2 11 55,052
22/08/98 West Ham United Away D 0-0 11 26,039
09/09/98 Charlton Athletic Home W 4-1 9 55,147
12/09/98 Coventry City Home W 2-0 5 55,193
20/09/98 Arsenal Away L 0-3 10 38,142
24/09/98 Liverpool Home W 2-0 3 55,181
03/10/98 Southampton Away W 3-0 2 15,251
17/10/98 Wimbledon Home W 5-1 2 55,265
24/10/98 Derby County Away D 1-1 2 30,867
31/10/98 Everton Away W 4-1 2 40,079
08/11/98 Newcastle United Home D 0-0 3 55,174
14/11/98 Blackburn Rovers Home W 3-2 2 55,198
21/11/98 Sheffield Wednesday Away L 1-3 2 39,475
29/11/98 Leeds United Home W 3-2 2 55,172
05/12/98 Aston Villa Away D 1-1 2 39,241
12/12/98 Tottenham Hotspur Away D 2-2 1 36,079
16/12/98 Chelsea Home D 1-1 2 55,159
19/12/98 Middlesbrough Home L 2-3 3 55,152
26/12/98 Nottingham Forest Home W 3-0 3 55,216
29/12/98 Chelsea Away D 0-0 3 34,741
10/01/99 West Ham United Home W 4-1 3 55,180
16/01/99 Leicester City Away W 6-2 2 22,091
31/01/99 Charlton Athletic Away W 1-0 1 20,043
03/02/99 Derby County Home W 1-0 1 55,174
06/02/99 Nottingham Forest Away W 8-1 1 30,025
17/02/99 Arsenal Home D 1-1 1 55,171
20/02/99 Coventry City Away W 1-0 1 22,596
27/02/99 Southampton Home W 2-1 1 55,316
13/03/99 Newcastle United Away W 2-1 1 36,500
21/03/99 Everton Home W 3-1 1 55,182
03/04/99 Wimbledon Away D 1-1 1 26,121
17/04/99 Sheffield Wednesday Home W 3-0 1 55,270
25/04/99 Leeds United Away D 1-1 2 40,255
01/05/99 Aston Villa Home W 2-1 1 55,189
05/05/99 Liverpool Away D 2-2 2 44,702
09/05/99 Middlesbrough Away W 1-0 1 34,665
12/05/99 Blackburn Away D 0-0 1 30,436
16/05/99 Tottenham Hotspur Home W 2-1 1 55,189
*** TEAM STATISTICS - MANCHESTER UNITED - 1998/9
AVERAGE HOME ATTENDANCE: 55,188
HIGHEST HOME ATTENDANCE: 27/02/99 - Southampton (55,316)
LOWEST HOME ATTENDANCE: 15/08/98 - Leicester City (55,052)
BEST WIN: 06/02/99 - Nottingham Forest (8-1)
HEAVIEST DEFEAT: 20/09/98 - Arsenal (0-3)
BEST HOME WIN: 17/10/98 - Wimbledon (5-1)
HEAVIEST HOME DEFEAT: 19/12/98 - Middlesbrough (2-3)
BEST AWAY WIN: 06/02/99 - Nottingham Forest (8-1)
HEAVIEST AWAY DEFEAT: 20/09/98 - Arsenal (0-3)*****
Champions League:
Group D P W D L F A Pts
Bayern Munich 6 3 2 1 9 6 11
Man United 6 2 4 0 20 11 10
Barcelona 6 2 2 2 11 9 8
Brondby 6 1 0 5 4 18 3
Dec 9 Brøndby 0-2 Barcelona
Dec 9 Man Utd 1-1 Bayern Munich
******
CHAMPIONS' LEAGUE QUARTER-FINALS
Manchester Utd 2 v 0 Inter Milan
Real Madrid 1 v 1 Dynamo Kiev
Juventus 2 v 1 Olympiakos
Bayern Munich 2 v 0 Kaiserslautern
**DYNAMO KIEV 2 v 0 REAL MADRID (Agg:3-1)
FC KAISERSLAUTERN 0 v 4 **BAYERN MUNICH (Agg:0-6)
INTERNAZIONALE FC 1 v 1 **MANCHESTER UNITED (Agg:1-3)
OLYMPIAKOS 1 v 1 **JUVENTUS (Agg:2-3)
Semi Finals
Manchester United v Juventus 4-3agg 3-2 [1-1]
Bayern Munchen v Dynamo Kiev 4-3agg 1-0 [3-3]
UEFA Champions League Final MANCHESTER UNITED 2 v 1 BAYERN MUNICH
Venue Camp Nou (Estadi FC Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain
Date Wednesday 26 May 1999 Kick-Off 20.45 CET (19.45 GMT)
THE FANTASTIC TRIPLE WAS WON!!
__________________________________________________________
++++++=========+++++++========+++++++++========++++++++
To hear latest SQUAD Song click on pic!"
Subject: Denis Law
From: "Tony Smith"
Derek mentioned Denis Law's new book and the moving description of the night
after he scored 'that goal'. Derek added:
>>Denis "The King" Law............Top man.
This is spot on.
I recently had the honour of meeting Denis Law, and spent an hour with him
discussing the book and many aspects of his career and football in general.
The result will appear as an interview and book review in Red News at the
start of next season - Barney will tell you more in due course.
The point I want to make here is that Denis Law is my all-time number one
hero in life (edging out Beethoven, Eric Cantona and Graham Greene, as it
happens), and it was with some trepidation that I arrived to meet him -
there must be nothing worse than meeting an idol only to be disappointed.
But Denis Law was everything I'd hoped and expected he would be - I've
seldom met a more genuine, friendly and decent bloke. And there are others
on this list who know Denis Law well enough to back me up.
Although the new book contains little that isn't in his last autobiography,
it is worth reading if only for his account of that goal. And if you are a
bit too young to have seen Law play or if you don't know his story, then you
should get hold of the new book. Because the phenomenon that is Denis Law is
so central the the post-war story of United, and you should be aware of him.
If Denis Law were playing today you'd never have heard of Ronaldo.
Tony
(c) 1999
To hear latest SQUAD Song click on pic!"
Subject: FOOTBALL: SPANISH TARGET PETER
SPANISH giants Real Mallorca have joined the chase to
sign Peter Schmeichel after their wacky keeper Carlos
Roa last night confirmed he will retire this summer.
Argentina World Cup star Roa, 29, will quit because his
strange religious beliefs have convinced him that the
world will end next year.
Mallorca now want to replace him with another top-class
keeper and have joined the bidding with fellow Spanish
club Malaga. French clubs Paris Saint Germain,
Bordeaux and Monaco along with Roma and Sporting
Lisbon have also declared their interest in Manchester
United's Treble hero.
Schmeichel confessed last night the heartbreak he felt
on his final day with United.
The giant goalkeeper played what is likely to be his last
game on English soil when he helped Denmark to a 2-0
win over Wales at Anfield.
But even though Schmeichel returned to Manchester
straight after the game to begin the process of packing,
he insisted he has already said his tearful farewells.
"I have still got a month left on my contract with
Manchester United, but really, I left the club straight
after the European Cup final," he said.
"That was my farewell to English football, that was the
moment for me. And it was a sad, sad day and one I'll
never forget."
Schmeichel admitted that playing against Mark Hughes
and Ryan Giggs brought home just how much he will
miss his time in the Premiership.
"Of course I'm going to miss United and English football,
because for me the Premiership is the place to play
football in the world," he said.
"It has everything. It's got the pace, the physical side,
the skill and sheer excitement, and it's got the players
now.
"There is also not too much tactical thinking that makes
the game really boring.It is perfect, the perfect place to
play.
"For me, it was such a hard decision. But now I've got
new start."
Soccernet
Schmeichel chewing over a Sporting life
Sporting Lisbon last night emerged as favourites to land Peter Schmeichel.
The Portuguese club have made an offer, believed to be 30,000 a week over
two years, to the Manchester United goalkeeper, who has become a free
agent under the Bosman ruling.
Schmeichel left Old Trafford on a high last month after their Champions
League victory completed an unprecedented Treble. His agent Paul Stretford
was in Lisbon this week and is believed to have had talks with Sporting
president JoseRoquette.
To hear latest SQUAD Song click on pic!"
Subject: Some thoughts on last season by OUR SALFORD LASS
For the last two weeks I have been waiting to "come down", for real life to
kick back in again and bring me down to earth. But it just isn't
happening. Of course real life has kicked in to some extent - it has had
to. I can now go about my daily life with some decorum - without having a
daft grin on my face for 24 hours a day (not a good idea when discussing
important issues with my boss!). But the grin is still there, hiding
behind the calm exterior and constantly threatening to break through. You
see, the calm is only on the outside, on the inside I am still floating
high above Barcelona on a balmy May evening.
And I don't think I ever will come down. For the rest of my life, there
will be some part of me forever floating above the Nou Camp, with a big
daft grin on my face, my eyes shining and my heart full to bursting.
And the reason I am up there? Not simply because of the trophies we won
but because of the way we won them, the fact that I was part of a true
fairy tale. A fairy tale which had the happy ending to end all happy
endings. A fairy tale which took us all on an emotional rollercoaster ride
to a conclusion that was (I believe) our destiny.
The cynics amongst us will say that last season was simply the result of
good planning, good football and a bit of luck - that there is no such
thing as destiny. I would agree with the first part of that statement - I
would take nothing away from Alex Ferguson or from the players in achieving
what they did, but I believe there was also something else going on,
something far more profound, even spiritual. I believe that we were
destined to be in Barcelona on that night in May, with this particular
group of players, on the 90th birthday of Sir Matt Busby. And that once
there, there was only one ending to the story - the happy ending.
Perhaps I am just a silly old woman, with an over-active imagination, but I
don't care. Because I was part of something that touched me and changed me
and that will stay with me for the rest of my life. And for that I will be
ever grateful to those who made it possible for me to be there. Thank you.
OUR SALFORD LASS
To hear latest SQUAD Song click on pic!"
Subject: Delirious Sydney Reds by "Paul O'Farrell"
Greetings Fellow Reds,
Here's another angle on the European Cup from the perspective of a Sydney
(Oz) Red.
Dreaming about nodding in the winning goal from my pillow seemed all so
wonderful until my alarm clock screamed at 3am on May 27th (Sydney time
remember, we're 9hrs ahead of the UK). Realising why I was dreaming had me
out of bed in a flash. The match kick off wasn't for another two hours, but
having spent most of the evening prior getting everything sorted out so as
not to disturb my wife and daughter, it was a quick dash to get dressed and
be off to the club to watch the match. Being slightly superstitous had me
making sure the right undies were on. Luckily the red ones were there. It's
not easy getting dressed in the dark, but I really should have checked them
before getting onto the motorway....
Arriving at the club at 4:15am had me on edge. Not being one to regularly
have beer for breakfast, I settled on a coke (the liquid kind) and my feet
directed me to the same pre-match seat in the bar that I'd been at for so
many early morning (Oz time) games this season past. Would it be lucky to
sit in the same seat again after that epic FA Cup SF replay? Could that seat
be an omen? Can United still play well enough after having endured such a
long season? Oh God I wish Keano and Scholesie could be there. And it's
being played on Sit Matt's birthday. Argh !! Too many nerves. Get another
drink.
40 mins to go. Wide awake. Deep breathing will help calm the nerves. Another
coke. Get upstairs to the auditorium now. Not a soul around. "Yeah, I'm
early " I thought. Sit down and wait. And wait. 30 mins to go. Where the
hell is everyone? My worries stopped when I got up and opened the auditorium
door. Hundreds of Reds sitting in the sound-proof cinema sized room we'd sat
in to watch the Cup Final on the previous Saturday night. Met up with Mark
and his Dad who had "my" seat reserved. Good one guys.
Time for a nervous smoke. The screen flickered into life and there they
were. The team we adore. The Nou Camp Reds singing away louder than I'd ever
heard. 500 Reds all wishing we were there. Kick-off. "This is it matey" I
thought to myself. "This is the ultimate early morning. This is what it's
all about."
The game itself was a blur of nerves as far I can remember. "Why didn't
Schmikes react quicker when the Germans had their free kick? 1-0 down after
5 mins. Oh God, no" I said to myself while my head was in my hands. Plenty
of time yet. We started asking why Becks and Giggs were playing on the
opposite wings. I could only wonder. Half time after what seemed like 10
mins. Another drink or three, more fags, a quick leak and back to the room.
Should I change seats? Second half underway.
The air of desperation was getting thicker by the minute as time wore on
towards the end of the match. We were out of our seats whenever Dwight got
the ball. "There's no way he can move, he's been marked out of the game" we
all agreed in unison. 3 mins to go. Sweaty palms. Quick look at the clock.
Knuckles white. "Come on!!" we screamed. Then it happened. Teddy turned and
banged it in. The whole room went completely bananas. We jumped around and
shouted like never before. The noise was deafening and people I'd never met
were hugging and kissing me like a long-lost brother. Fists were flying
upwards towards the screen in an act of worship. "They've got to hold on for
extra time" I shouted to Mark's Dad, but he was too busy bouncing me in a
bear-hug to hear me. "Where's my seat gone? I need to sit down" I thought to
myself.
Then all hell broke lose.
All I can remember is seeing the ball fly into the top of the net. I didn't
see how it happened, it just did. My world seemed to freeze for a
milli-second, my ears went numb, then complete and utter bedlam. I remember
falling to my knees and the first vision in my mind was Sir Bobby. Why I
don't know. I can't explain why. But after getting to my feet, it was such
an absolutely brilliant sight. I couldn't beleive my eyes. There were
hundreds of ecstatic Reds jumping and screaming all around me. The hugs and
everything else from the first goal seemed light-years ago. This was
something else so brilliant it was almost frightening. "What am I doing just
standing here?" I grabbed the first Red within reach and held the poor
bugger in a hug so tight and jumped up and down for what seemed like an
eternity. The knocks and bruises didn't matter, nothing else mattered. The
world could have ended there and then and I couldn't have cared less. United
had done it. They HAD done it.
After a jubilant phone-call to my wife at 7.30am we sung ourselves hoarse in
the sportsman's bar for the next three hours. Every song I know and some I
don't were belted out at full voice. The club staff were amused to see what
all the fuss was about, but they let us carry on. The bar was awash with
hundreds of jumping, dancing, unspeakably ecstatic Reds that had witnessed
the holy-grail being snatched from the jaws of defeat.
On the way home, what I had seen from this season hit me. How United managed
to keep up the momentum of playing two games for nearly every week since
January was beyond me. To know that United might walk away with one trophy
from this season would have been good enough, but to witness the treble
(including the European Cup) being won by such a magnificent team is almost
beyond words.
July 18th feels like another holy grail (for me at least) as United will be
here in Sydney. That might not sound like much to most of you who are
reading this, but for me it's been 15 years since I last saw United. I have
my ticket, and I'm savouring the thought of seeing the CHAMPIONS of Europe
play before my eyes. I feel like a little boy who's christmasses have all
come at once. It's the most unreal feeling to know I WILL BE THERE.
They ARE the greatest football team, and I love them to death. I can't put
it any other way.
Cheers All.
Paul (N.R.T.F)
Sydney Oz.
To hear latest SQUAD Song click on pic!"
Subject: TOP OF THE BOX
The greatest night in Manchester United's history
swept ITV to the top of the viewing charts. The channel's
coverage of the Champions League Final was watched in
the UK by 15.6 million people, making it the most
popular programme of the week ending 2 June. Even
the traditional soap opera giants, Eastenders and
Coronation Street, trailed in its wake as the nation tuned in
to witness Alex Ferguson's finest hour.
A spokesman for Manchester City said "Nobody in
Manchester must have been watching it, we are all
City supporters here. We are a much bigger club
potentially, a very big club. We are showing our
ambition by bidding for Lee Sharpe."
The Blues are currently cock-a-hoop after gaining
promotion back to Division One, where Stockport
County, Crewe Alexandra and mighty Fulham
await them. A spokesman for BSkyB estimated
that almost 200 viewers tuned into their Play-Off
success against Atletico Gillingham at Wembley.
Another big European event - the Eurovision Song
Contest - attracted only 8.91 million viewers for BBC1.
United's entry, 'Lift It High' failed to complete the
'Quadruple,' a feat still not achieved by an British club.
In the 1970's Dutch Masters Ajax Amsterdam won the
European Cup, domestic League and Cup with their
sexy football, and finally Eurovision with their
catchy tune 'Ding-Ding-A-Dong.
Paul Hinson (email p.l.hinson@ais.salford.ac.uk)
MUTV Masterfan Quiz Champion 1999
Ask the STATMAN at:
http://www.red11.org/mufc/statman.htm
The best STATS on the 1999 English and European
Champions on the Web
http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats.htm
STATISTICS
http://www.red11.org/mufc/pontin.htm
RESERVES And JUNIORS
Try the MUFC Quiz
http://www.red11.org/miva/quiz/quiz.mv
To hear latest SQUAD Song click on pic!"
Subject: The Death of Duncan Edwards by Arthur Hopcraft
Anyone who was in Manchester in February 1958, particularly if
he lived there, as I did, will remember for ever the stunning
impact on the city of the air crash at Munich airport which
killed eight of Manchester United's players. The shock was followed,
just as it is in particularly closely tied families after a
death, by a lingering communal desolation. No other tragedy in sport has
been as brutal or as affecting as this one.
It was not simply that very popular athletes had been killed
and a brilliantly promising team destroyed. There was a general
youthfulness about this particular Manchester United team which
was new to the game. Manchester relished this fact. The old,
often gloomy city had a shining exuberance to acclaim. These
young players were going to take the country, and probably
Europe too, by storm. To identify with this precociousness, to
watch people in other towns marvelling and conceding defeat,
gave a surge to the spirit. Suddeniy most of the team was dead.
The players killed were Roger Byrne, Geoff Bent, Eddie
Colman, Duncan Edwards, David Pegg, Mark Jones, Tommy Taylor,
Bill Whelan. Four of them were England international
players, Byrne and Edwards and Taylor all firmly established
with appearances in the England side well into double figures.
Pegg had been capped once. It was the death of Duncan Edwards
which gave the deepest, most lasting pain to the community. This
was not because he was liked personally any more than the
others,but because there was a special appeal to people's ideals about him.
Walter Winterbottom, the England team manager at the
time, called him 'the spirit of British football'. He meant the
football that exists in children's day-dreams and good men's
hopes:honest, brilliant irresistibly strong.
There was an extra poignancy in Edwards's death in that he
lived for fifteen days after the crash. How bitterly that hurt.
One of the key components in Duncan Edwards's appeal was his size.
Big men in sport are always specially compelling, whether they
lumber comically or endear by their dogged willingness. Edwards
at twenty-one was a six-footer, weighing I3~2 stone, but with
the immense presence he brought to his game he had nimbleness as
well as strength, flair as well as calm.
A youth so equipped was bound to prompt affectionate epithets
from sportswriters and fans, and people cudgelled their brains
to find new ones. He was Kid Dynamite, the Baby Giant, the Gentle
Giant, Big Dunk, the Boy with the Heart of a Man. As the daily
reports came in from the hospital in Munich, Manchester raised
hope for his survival. In the second week after the crash people
began to talk in their ready sentimental cliche's about the
Lion-heart fighting his way through again. There was much banality
in the words, but the longing was sincere. Then he died.
Edwards was born in October 1936, in Dudley, Worcestershire.
As a schoolboy of the forties and a teenager of the fifties he
was part of the generation which linked the hard, sombre days of the
war and rationing with the more dashing, mobile times which
followed in such animated reaction. He would be in his early
thirties now and, if still playing football, which is likely,
assuredly an old-fashioned-looking figure among the imitating contem-
poraries of George Best. He had dignity on the field always,
even in his teens: that senior officer kind of authority which comes
to few players and then late in career, as with Danny Blanchfiower,
Jimmy Armfield, George Cohen.
I looked through an album of photographs in Edwards's parents'
home, which showed him right through his life. The face was
grave, the gaze he gave at the world open and tranquil. Winter-
bottom's description was not fanciful, in spite of being one
which any thoughtful man would hesitate to use in connection with any
player. Edwards represented the kind of self-respecting modesty
which is not nurtured in the ferocity of the modern game. It has
not been deliberately forced out of football; it is just not
natural to the age.
The album had pictures of Edwards in his street clothes, as
well as in football strips, and in them the period was caught,
fixed by his personality. He was bulky in those ill-fluing
jackets and wide trousers with broad turn-ups. Clothes did not interest
young footballers then; there was neither enough money nor a
teenage~identity industry to exploit such an interest. He could
have been a young miner freshly scrubbed for a night at a Labour
Club dance. He did not look important, in the celebrated sense;
he looked as if he mattered, and belonged, to his family and his
friends. The anonymity of style was true to his generation and
his kind.
The situation was very different when he put his football boots
on. I went to see Mr Geoff Groves, the headmaster of a secondary
school in Dudley, who was one of Edwards's teachers when the
boy was at primary school. Mr Groves remembered this eleven-
year-old playing for the school against a neighbouring school
the day after Edwards had got home from a spell of hop-picking. He
said 'He dominated the whole match. He told all the other
twenty-one players what to do, and the referee and both the
linesmen. When I got home that evening I wrote to a friend and
said I'd just seen a boy of eleven who would play for England
one day.'
A year later, Mr Groves said, the boy was playing 'in the style
of a man, with wonderful balance and colossal power in his
shot'. Already he was showing the intelligence in his game which be-
came central to all he did. 'He already understood all about
distribution of the ball,' said Mr Groves. 'And he was such a
dominating player that the ball seemed to come to him wherever
he was.' It is one of the distinguishing marks of the most
talented players that they always seem to have the ball exactly when they
want it. Edwards was a heroic figure in Dudley long before he
became a professional player. He became captain of the England
schoolboys' side, having joined it when he was thirteen, and
many of the leading clubs were clamouring for his signature. Matt
Busby called at his home at 2 a.m. on the morning after his
sixteenth birthday and acquired him for United. He was sixteen-
and-a-half when he played his first match for Urnted, 6 feet
tall and weighing I 2 stone 6 lb. At eighteen-and~a~half he became
the youngest player ever to be picked for the full England inter-
national team. It was the one which beat Scotland 7-2 at Wembley
in April i955, and this was the company he was in:
Williams (Wolves); Meadows (Manchester City); Byrne (Man-
chester United); Phillips (Portsmouth); Wright (Wolves,
captain); Edwards; Matthews (Blackpool), Revie (Manchester City), Lofthouse
(Bolton Wanderers), Wilshaw (Wolves), Blunstone
(Chelsea).
Sir Stanley Matthews who was forty when he played in that
match, told me that he thought Edwards could truly be called
unique. To Matthews, who learned his football in the days when,
as he put it, 'they all said you had to be strong, with big,
thick thighs,' Edwards's build was no surprise. 'But,' he said, 'he
was so quick, and that was what made the difference. I can't
remember any other player that size who was quick like that.'
The point was emphasised eighteen months later, when Edwards,
normally a left-half, was placed at inside-left in the England
team against Denmark, when the forward line was Matthews, Brooks
(Tottenham Hotspur), Taylor, Edwards, Finney (Preston North
End), Edwards scored twice and Taylor three times in England's
win, which gives an indication of the scoring power Manchester
United had at their command.
The fondness Manchester United's supporters felt for this player was
expressed in the coinmon adulation by boys but also in the
quiet admiration of the kind which fathers show for successful
sons when they speak about them to neighbours, and out of the
boys' hearing. In this regard for Edwards there was often a sad
sympathy for opposing players who were being crushed coldly out
of the game by him. I remember watching one of United's home
matches when beside me was a spectator in his fifties, who
shouted little but nodded his head nearly all the time in deep
satisfaction,letting out occasionally an equally deep sigh which was
eloquent in its pleasure. By the middle of the first half one of the
opposition's inside-forwards - I forget, I am ashamed to say, the team
involved, but perhaps this is also kindness - was reacting
furiously to the frustration of being treated like a small child by
Edwards, firmly but without viciousness or even very much concern. The
player threw himself several times at Edwards, either missing
the moving body entirely or bouncing off it, and on each occasion
the man beside me sucked in his breath, shook his head and said
softly: 'Nay, lad, not with 'im, not with 'im.' It was the
decent, absorbed football fan like this one for whom Winterbottom was
speaking when he called Edwards the spirit of British football.
Edwards's funeral took place at St Francis's Church, Dudley,
not far from his home. There were at least S,ooo people outside
the church. The vicar made it a footballer's service. He said:
'He goes to join the memorable company of Steve Bloomer and
Alex James.' Had he lived long enough Edwards would surely
have joined the company of England team captains. Instead he
left a memory of brilliance and courage and a sense of vast promise
he was not allowed to fulfil.
His grave in Dudley cemetery is elaborate. The headstone has
an ingrained picture of him in football kit holding a ball above
his head for a throw-in. An inscription reads: 'A Day of Memory,
sad to recall. Without Farewell, He Left Us All.' There are
three flower stands, and one of them is in the shape of a football. It suits
the nature of his class and his neighbourhood, and it is
attended with great care by his father, a gardener at the
cemetery.
His father, Mr Gladstone Edwards, felt he had to explain why
he was working at the cemetery. He said: 'People think I came to
this job because he's there. But that wasn't the reason. I had
to change my work, and I've always liked flowers and gardening. I
felt I wanted to be out of doors.' Duncan was his only child.
Neither he nor his wife could hide the depth of their loss. Nor
was there any reason why they should try. When I went to see
them Duncan Edwards had been dead for nine years, and Mr
Edwards, at least, could talk about his son straightforwardly,
although all the time with a quiet deliberation. He said that
even then there was still a steady trickle of visitors to Duncan's
grave. There were days when twenty people would arrive to look at it,
like pilgrims. They seldom knew that the gardener they stopped
to talk to was the player's father. They nearly always said the
same thing: that there would never be another Duncan. Mr
Edwards added that Friday often brought the most visitors, and
they were often lorry-drivers with Manchester accents. They had
stopped on their long run home from somewhere south. The next
day, of course, they would be at Old Trafford to watch the
match.
In Mr and Mrs Edwards's small semi-detached house the
front room is kept shaded and spotless. It was in here that Mr
Edwards showed me Duncan's photograph album, and also let
me open a glass-fronted display cabinet and examine the
mementoes of Duncan's life. It contained eighteen of his caps at
full international, youth and schoolboy level, to represent the
eighteen times that he played in his country's senior team. Each
was kept brushed and was ifiled with tissue paper. On top of the
cabinet were three framed photographs of Duncan: one taken
in uniform when he was in the Army, doing his National Service,
another with his fiancee and a third in which he wears a Man-
chester United shirt. Beside them was a framed five pound note,
which was the last present he gave his mother. The tiny room was
dominated by a portrait of Edwards in his England shirt, the
frame two feet wide by two-and-a-half feet long. The room was a
shrine.
That showcase also had a copy of the order of service which
was used on the day that two stained-glass windows were
dedicated to Edwards at St Francis's Church. They are close to the font,
beside a picture of a gentle Jesus which was given to the church by a
mother, in memory of a baby girl. One of the windows has
Edwards down on one knee and there is a scroll running across
his chest which says: 'God is with us for our Captain.' All the
survivors of the Munich crash were in the church when the
windows were dedicated by the Bishop of Worcester in August
1961. Busby said at the service: 'These windows should keep the
name of Duncan Edwards alive for ever, and shine as a monument
and example to the youth of Dudley and England.'
Edwards name is also kept in front of the people of Dudley in
the title of the Duncan Edwards Social Club, which is attached
to the town football club, and in two trophies for local schools
football.
These memorials commemorate not only Duncan Edwards's
football but also the simple decency of the man. He represented
thousands in their wish for courage, acclaim and rare talent,
and he had all three without swagger. The hero is the creature other
people would like to be. Edwards was such a man, and he enabled
people to respect themselves more.
From 'The Football Man' 1968
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Subject: Megastore in Hong Kong
It's reported in Hong Kong that two Megastores together with the Reds Cafe
will open here by the end of December this year.
All United games will be shown live in the Cafe.
Utd also plans to open a school of excellence here and send those outstanding
trainees to England for further training.
The Megastores are regarded as a stepping stone to the Asian market.
Cherith Lai
E-Mail Address : a042700@mailserv.csc.cuhk.edu.hk
To hear latest SQUAD Song click on pic!"
Subject: That Fergie Knighthood in full
The truth is that Alex Ferguson was secretly knighted before he jetted off
on his summer holidays. We have managed to obtain a transcript of the
great occasion at Buckingham Palace.....
Fergie approaches the Main Entrance.......
Doorman: Hello my good man. Her Majesty is awaiting you. I suggest that
you leave your Whisky bottle here until you are leaving.
AF: Aye, it's ma 'Manager Of The Millenium' bottle. Thought a'd offer the
Duchess a wee dram afore the presentation.
Fergie is ushered into the State Room to receive his gong.....
Queen: Goodbye Mr Owen. You are such a sweet boy. Have a safe journey
back to Liverpool. Who is next?
Footman: Mr Alexander Ahmfromgovan Ferguson.
Queen: Hello Mr Ferguson. You've done an awfully good job at Arsenal,
winning all those trophies.
AF: Ahm nae Arsene Wenger! (His mobile phone rings.) Hello Martin,
nae, she disnae want to buy the club. Have ye got Bosnich to sign? A canny deal
for nae quid. What about Zidane? Och, we canna move the coast any nearer,
even wi the Stadium expanding! Heard fra Alan Shearer? Only kidding ya big
Jessie! Bye!
Queen: Can we get on with the ceremony now you Celtic nonentity? I have
Corgis to exercise.
AF: Aye, see that servant? He's nae marking tight on that door - shift yerself ya lazy
buggar or I'll replace ye with someone who will!
Queen: I now pronounce you Knight Of The Realm, Defender of the Faith,
Keeper of all things honourable, and god bless those who swill from your
whisky bottle.
AF: Defender o' what? Ah bought Jaap to do that. And that daft Dane said
goodbye to the physio wi a Glasgow Kiss. Nae wonder he went tae Blackburn.
Queen: Ah, you are the Manchester United manager. One remembers now. How is
young Georgie Best? My daughter loved him. We had Bobby Charlton here
for tea one afternoon for his knighthood. Why don't you pick him in your team
anymore? Anyway, have you enjoyed your visit?
AF: Aye, ah normally do well at the Palace, apart from the Eric business.
This is a nice wee baubie. Hey, you in the wig! You don't have the drive and hunger tae
pour tea - can ye slip a drop of Glenfiddich in that?
Queen: Mr Blair comes here a lot in his Barcode shirt, he was most sad after the
Cup Final. And the German Ambassador called recently in a very stroppy mood. You must
stop upsetting these important people Mr Ferguson. You aren't related to Sarah
Ferguson by any chance?
AF: Nae way! Dae yez watch the fitba on the telly?
Queen: One has a servant who watches for me. I do attend the odd Cup Final, when
Charlie or Philip cannot be bothered. Frightfully tedious when those 'Gonners' or
whatever they are called are involved.
AF: Ah've got tae go now Lizzy - according tae ma stopwatch we should have finished
three minutes ago. Thanks for the baubie, ahm off fra 'Ruby Murray' and a few bevvies...
Queen: One has been most honoured to meet you. Doorman, don't let any more
ruffians in wearing a String-Vest, it lowers the tone..........
Paul Hinson (email p.l.hinson@ais.salford.ac.uk)
MUTV Masterfan Quiz Champion 1999
To hear latest SQUAD Song click on pic!"
Subject: Book Reviews Some book reviews from http://www.footaball.com/
Teddy Sherringham, My Autobiography
Amazon.co.uk Review
In an adulatory introduction to this book Terry
Venables says that, "I thought about the nice things I
could say about my friend Teddy Sheringham, and the
more I thought about it the more I realised that nice
things were the only thing I had to say about him".
Glowing indeed, but in fact not that surprising. Teddy
Sheringham
has long been regarded as an "intelligent footballer", which usually
means you don't run about very much, but in his case it indicates a
rare willingness to work for the team even when that entails less
glory for Teddy Sheringham. This is a priceless asset in football
and this book reinforces his grown up reputation as Sheringham
displays a shrewd awareness of life at the top of the football tree
both on and of the field.
We get the memories of working under Brian Clough, tactical
disagreements with Alex Ferguson and Glenn Hoddle and his
contractual disagreements with Alan Sugar. The incident in a
Portuguese bar when he was photographed drinking and smoking in a
night-club at 6.30am when supposedly in pre-world cup purdah is
explained away--he was "in a different time frame" apparently--and
the disappointment of being replaced by Michael Owen half way
through the World Cup is honestly presented.
But most of all we get an unpretentious, professional job. Typical
Sheringham really.
--------------------------------
Bestie: Portrait of a Ledgend
Amazon.co.uk Review
George Best remains the greatest icon in British
footballing history. Yet the truth of his story of
success twinned with excess has always seemed as elusive
as the man himself once proved to defenders the world
over.
From humble origins in Belfast, Best rose to become the
pre-eminent talent in European football in the late
1960s, helping
Manchester United to European Cup success in 1968 at the age of 22.
Yet like so many touched by genius, Best was made with a
self-destruct button. The outline of the story is well-known, but
Lovejoy helps fill in the blanks, from the drinking and womanising
back in Best's halcyon days, into the abyss of alcoholism and
bankruptcy, through the three-month prison sentence to a current
life of personal appearances interspersed by drunken binges.
Never seeking to glorify the horrors of true alcoholism, this
biography manages to perfectly capture Best's unique talent and
maverick spirit and leaves one with a feeling of sadness that his
unique talent went partially unfulfilled. Even then, it is clear
that Best may have been the greatest footballer ever seen. So where
did it all go wrong (as Best was once ironically asked by a porter
who famously came across George in a hotel room with a beautiful
blonde, bottles of champagne and a bed strewn with banknotes won at
the local casino)? Best himself has offered no end of clues,
including his frustration as an Irishman set never to play on
football's world stage and the death of his mother through
alcoholism. One suspects, however, he well knows that the answer
lies within.
-- Trevor Crowe
-------------------------------------------
The Official Manchester United Illustrated Encyclopaedia
Fitting the complete history of one of the world's
greatest football clubs, plus profiles of every
player to appear in its famous shirt, along with all
the results from every match in which it has been
involved would seem impossible in just 160 pages. The
feat, though, has been done and this encyclopaedia
attempts to encompass everything a fan or researcher
would ever need to know about Manchester United.
Facts are presented in a way which makes it easy to use the book as
a quick reference at the same time as allowing the reader to go into
more detail if required. Each page is packed with information, so
much so they can occasionally become hard on the eye. Memorable
games from United's past are singled out and relived, organised
competition by competition, and the reviews will invoke feelings
ranging from joy to despair for the avid supporter.
The history of the world-famous stadium of Old Trafford is deemed
important enough to be allotted its own section and it makes very
interesting reading. Of course, the exploits of various United
managers down the years are treated with the respect they deserve
and there are special places reserved for late legendary boss and
Munich survivor Sir Matt Busby, along with the most famous Old
Trafford chief of modern times, Alex Ferguson.
----------------------------------
Speak of the Devils : The Book of Manchester United Quotations
Eugene Weber - a fanatical Man United fan from Dublin -
has drawn together a list of quotes which evoke memories
of a club so rich in history it's a wonder any player
has the nerve to think he is good enough to play for
them. Much of the material is pulled from the Matt Busby
era of Best, Law and Charlton, which is nowadays
recalled with as much ease by a 15-year-old fan as the
pensioners who watched the great ones play. Love him,
hate him or pity him, it doesn't matter--George Best
encapsulates United
and its attraction with his entry:
"I can't walk along the street without somebody wanting to know what
it's all about at Old Trafford. Still, it's nice to meet mates, even
if most of them are being met for the very first time."
The book also leaves time for reflection on the Munich air disaster
of 1958 and shows how it affected not just a club but also a nation.
Ferguson's reign as United manager is also given space, illustrating
how the club's greatness is continuing. At first glance, this is one
for the fanatical United supporter, but such is the depth of history
covered, any football follower could find a fascination in reading
what has been said about the club.
-- Amazon.co.uk
---------------------------------------------------
Team That Wouldn't Die: Story of the Busby Babes
First published in 1975, John Roberts' book has been
reissued to mark the 40th anniversary of the Munich Air
disaster. Its not the only book to have been published
on the subject, but it is perhaps the best at bringing
to life the stars and underlining the potential that
was lost in the tragedy. It is an important work for
anyone who wants to remember or learn about the
original Busby Babes.
A highly recommended book.
--------------------------------
Manchester United Book of Lists
Published this year, the "Book of lists" is the
Manchester United book to end all Manchester United
books. Test your knowledge of the reds with every
aspect of the club from club history to players,
managers and more. If you run a pub quiz, there is
material here for questions well into the next
century: how many Irishmen have won a FA Cup Winners
medal during their time at Old Trafford? What was
Tommy Docherty's first team? How many goals did
George Best score for United?
160 pages of facts and figures, fully illustrated with colour
photographs, this is an great book for any Manchester United fan.
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To debate ALL subjects about Manchester United Football
Club we at Simplenet recommend:
The "RED-DEVILS MAIL LIST" all subscription
requests to: <RedDevils-subscribe@onelist.com
>
If ever they are playing in your town
You must get to that football ground
Take a lesson come to see
Football taught by Matt Busby
Manchester, Manchester United
A bunch of bouncing Busby Babes
They deserve to be knighted
Barry
J. Leeming Digest Prgram
by 
William
McArthur Canada
