» Football History

50 years passed after Busby Babes disaster.

Ana — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:37:27 +0000

50 years ago was a sad day for football. A young and victorious Manchester United lost 8 of its players and 3 staff members on a plane crash. Today it is good to remember not the saddness of the story but what these palyers represented and what they did for football so long ago. Matt Busby and his Busby Babes were on a roll to success as the youngest (average age 22) and one of the top football squads at the time.

After tieing a 3-3 match for the European Cup, against the Yugoslavian team Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) the flight from Belgrade was delayed for an hour as player Johnny Berry had lost his passport (interesting enough, he was one of hte survivors). Then the plane made a scheduled stop in Munich to refuel.

In Munich, the pilot tried to take off twice, but both attempts were aborted due to engine surging. He then decided to shoot for a third one, but the plane failed to gain adequate height and crashed into the fence surrounding the airport, and then into an empty house.

Seven of Manchester United’s players died immediately, and Duncan Edwards died from his injuries on 21 February at the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich. Johnny Berry and Jackie Blanchflower were both injured to such an extent that they never played again.

Thousands went to Old Trafford today to pay tribute to Busby Babes an the ones who passed on that crash.

More very interesting facts at Man-U’s site.

See the Past: 1930 World Cup Uruguay

Ana — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:19:42 +0000

It’s been 77 years since this wonderful thing in our lives, World Cups, was born. Jules Rimet’s dream came true in 1930, when Uruguay hosted the first FIFA World Cup ever. It is so nice to look at a time when people would dress in a better fashion to stadiums, than people dress today for a wedding.

At the time, only a few European teams participated since the sea trip was quite exhausting. Uruguay was the winner and Argentina was second. Believe it or not, the US beat Yugoslavia and got the third spot.

There were no qualifying games and the 13 teams were invited by FIFA for the tournament, so it was not the fit event we have today.
Here is some standard info:

Teams: 13
When: 13 July 1930 to 30 July 1930 \
Final: 30 July 1930
Matches: 18
Goals: 70 (average 3.9 per match)
Attendance: 434500 (average 24138 for match)

Winner: Uruguay
Runners-Up: Argentina
Third: USA
Fourth: Yugoslavia
Golden Shoe: STABILE Guillermo (ARG)

1930 World Cup Final Video

The weird and the wonderful from FIFA qualifiers.

Ana — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:58:34 +0000

As a welcome to the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers, let’s take a pic at Fifa’s fascinating facts, star names and peculiar oddities of the history of World Cup Qualifier games. Here are my favorites:

The uncertainties of the pre-war period meant only 21 nations took part in qualifying for the 1938 finals in France. In the aftermath of the Second World War, rebuilding the world game was a slow and laborious business as only 19 associations opted to compete for a place at Brazil 1950, England ultimately claiming their first-ever berth at the finals.

Now this one is a winner:

India ordered to boot up
India provided the oddest tale of the year. Following a spate of withdrawals in Asia and Africa, the vast nation qualified for the finals in Brazil, but declined to compete after FIFA refused to allow the players to appear barefoot.

You can read a lot more interesting facts at fifa.com