This Week That Year - The Munich Tragedy that shocked Manchester United and the world of football

This edition of 'This Week That Year' is laden with footballing history with many significant episodes. As the world tries to get over the terrible Egyptian riots, history shows that this is not the first time that tragedy has struck in the most unexpected of manners. The Munich tragedy which saw the destruction of a highly promising Manchester United team was one of the worst ever sporting disasters. But the human spirit reigns supreme even in the direst of circumstances as Matt Busby resurrected his team to make it one of the most formidable football powers in the world.

This edition is dedicated to the football managers who are often the figures who come under scrutiny and are usually underappreciated for their contribution to the club and its supporters.

Tiote Broke The Hearts Of Arsenal Supporters Worldwide....

5^th February 2011

What do you predict when a team is 4-0 up at half time after a dominant display and you happen to miss the second half?

Your immediate assumption would be that the team would have scored three or more goals in the second half and mark a great victory. But 5^th February 2011 saw one of the greatest comebacks witnessed in Premier League history at St. James Park. The match between Arsenal and Newcastle saw Arsenal going 4-0 up at half time. They completely dominated possession and played the Magpies out of the park. But a brace from Joey Barton coupled with a Leon Best and C. Tioté equalizer brought Arsenal’s promising season crashing down. It has gone down in history as one of the best games and one that Arsenal fans would like to forget.

Honourable mentions:

While Newcastle were busy catching up, Alessandro Del Piero became the most capped player for Juventus on the same day. And in the process he surpassed fellow Juventus legend Giampiero Boniperti. Del Piero is currently third in the Serie A appearances chart behind Inter Milan captain Javier Zanetti and Roma Skipper Francesco Totti respectively.

Lot of history in a single day!

Duncan Edwards Was One Of The Starlets Who Did Not Survive The Crash....

6^th February 1958

The plane on which the Manchester United team that was fondly called the 'Busby Babes' were flying in crashed, killing 44 people on 6^th February 1958. The squad was returning from a European Cup fixture against Red Star Belgrade. The players who died in the crash included Duncan Edwards, David Pegg, Mark Jones and several others. But the hero of the day was Harry Gregg who risked his own life to rescue the survivors at the crash site including Matt Busby, Bobby Charlton, Jackie Blanchflower and others. It saw the end of a highly promising squad, but also saw the emergence of a new era under Busby.

Honourable mention:

6^th February 2010 saw two managers reaching their own personal landmarks of similar nature for their respective clubs. David Moyes saw Everton playing their 600^th match under his management while Tony Pulis managed Stoke City for the 300^thtime on the same day. Everton were facing Liverpool in a Merseyside derby on this historic occasion. While Stoke City faced Blackburn Rovers, which the former won 4-0 and in the process registering their biggest victory in top flight football. The two managers have contributed greatly to the success of their respective clubs and are fittingly legends of the English game. 

7^th February 1990

Martin O’Neill is working miracles at Sunderland and the black cats look recharged under him with a superb run of form. They currently sit eighth in the table which is a far cry from their form at the start of the season under Steve Bruce.

Martin O’Neill began his full-fledged managerial career on 7^th February 1990 when he was appointed the manager of Wycombe Wanderers after brief spells in local leagues. Since then he has had a successful managerial career with many teams like Celtic, Aston Villa and currently at Sunderland.

Honourable mention:

Another manager from the English Premier League Mick McCarthy celebrates his birthday today. McCarthy is currently the manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Bulgaria's Greatest Player Was Born On 8th February 1966....

8^th February 1966

The greatest Buglarian football player was born on 8^th February 1966. No its not Dimitar Berbatov but Hristo Stoichkov. The now retired striker had a great playing career both at the club and international level. He was part of the Bulgarian team which finished in fourth place at the 1994 World Cup. At club level, his most notable stint was with FC Barcelona where he won a host of trophies and also collected a European Footballer of the Year award in the process.

9^th February 1979

Football players these days costs millions of dollars (Fernando Torres £50 million and Andy Carroll £35 million). But the first man who cost £1 million mark was Trevor Francis when he was bought from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest by Brian Clough on 9^th February 1979. This was the first time that a player cost £1 million in Britain and the course of the transfer market changed forever. Trevor Francis enjoyed great success at Nottingham and lived up to his price tag winning the European Cup and English First Division in the process. The transfer is considered to be the most historic to date in English football as it changed the market trends and made clubs more open to spending their cash on talent.

On 10th February 1980, Kevin Keegan Completed A Shock Transfer To Southampton...

10^th February 1980

While Trevor Francis was making news with his big money transfer, Kevin Keegan made shock waves throughout the footballing world. King Kevin moved from Hamburg SV to Southampton who were considered a small club back then. At the time of his joining Kevin Keegan was already a legend and one of the biggest names in football winning the prestigious European Footballer of the Year and all major trophies with Liverpool and Hamburg. It was also interesting to note that Kevin Keegan was captain of the England national team at the time of the transfer. It just goes onto show that anything can happen in football. 

11^th February 2009

Ever heard of a multi-tasking football manager?

Guus Hiddink became the manager of two teams at the same time when he took temporary charge at Chelsea on 11^th February 2009. He was already managing Russia at the time and managed to guide Chelsea to the FA Cup title. This was not the first time Hiddink has managed two teams simultaneously. Previously he managed Australia while being in charge of PSV Eindhoven. The Dutchman is considered of the best managers in world football and anyone who can guide two football entities successfully at the same time can be rightly called so.