BUSBY, SIR MATTHEW

byname Matt Busby born May 26, 1909, Bellshill, Lanark, Scot. died Jan. 20, 1994, Manchester, Eng. British association football (soccer) player, manager, director (from 1971), and president (from 1980) of the Manchester United soccer team. Busby coached the Manchester United team to five championships in the first division of the English League (1952, 195657, 1965, 1967), two victories in the Football Association Challenge Cup finals (1948, 1963), and one triumph in the European Cup finals (1968). As manager of Manchester United (194569), he successfully introduced a style of attacking play that depended on a highly mobile centre forward. He was also noted for recruiting many talented young players. On Feb. 6, 1958, an airliner carrying the Manchester United team crashed near Munich, killing eight first-string players. Busby, who survived, then performed what was probably his greatest coaching feat by guiding a patchwork team to the Football Association Challenge Cup final match (losing to the Bolton Wanderers). He was knighted in 1968.