Matt Busby
Birthdate: 26 May 1909
Birthplace: Orbiston, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Other clubs: Denny Hibernian (1927-28), Manchester City (1928-1936); Chelsea, Middlesbrough, Reading, Brentford, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, Hibernian (wartime guest)
Bought from: Manchester City
Signed for LFC: £8,000, 11.03.1936
International debut: 04.10.1933 vs. Wales
International caps: 1/0 + 7/0 wartime caps/goals
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Liverpool debut: 14.03.1936
Last appearance: 06.05.1939
Debut goal: 10.04.1936
Last goal: 10.09.1938
Contract expiry: 1939
Win ratio: 35.25% W: 43 D: 35 L: 44
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 10 / 1
Wartime games/goals: 26 / 1
LFC league games/goals: 115 / 3
Total LFC games/goals: 122 / 3
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Player profile
Matt Busby, along with Tiny Bradshaw and Jimmy McDougall - formed an all-Scottish half-back line that certainly ranks with the best the club has ever had in those three positions at any one time in its history. Busby started out as a youth team player at Alpine Villa where he won the u-18 Scottish Cup before moving to Denny Hibernian. He had been watched by scouts from Rangers and Celtic, but when Busby went on a trial to Rangers they found out he was a Catholic and Celtic weren’t impressed that he had been at Rangers. He moved south to Manchester City as an inside-forward in February 1928 but they moulded him into a classy half-back. Busby was relieved to make the grade: “There were only two ways for boys to go in those days: down, working in the pits, or up, if you happened to be good at football.” In seven years Busby played 226 Football League games for City. His biggest disappointment was losing the FA Cup final 3-0 to Everton in 1933 but the highlight was winning the Cup a year later, when Portsmouth were beaten 2-1. At 26 Matt Busby was an experienced professional when he was signed by Liverpool in March 1936 for £8,000. He almost immediately took over the right-half position from Robert Savage. Busby didn’t miss many matches over the next three seasons when Liverpool were a mediocre first division team. But like so many of his contemporaries, Busby’s playing-career was cut short by World War II.
Busby’s greatest strength on the field was his passing. The Liverpool Echo waxed lyrical about him in September 1936. “Busby goes far up, if so inclined and when he starts his upward trend one knows his command of the ball will be such he will not be dispossessed. He is the richest and most practised passer the game has ever known. Hence he appears in a blinding light when compared with some other half-backs.” Tommy Lawton, the English striker extraordinaire, praised Busby’s strengths as a player. “Probably the classiest wing half-back I have ever met was Matt Busby, and I am not surprised he has made such a success of his job as manager of Manchester United, for Matt was not only a great player, he was also a great teacher,” Lawton said in his book “My Twenty Years of Soccer”. “Surely football has never seen such an immaculate passer of the ball than the cheerful, likeable Scot. It was uncanny to see him change the direction of a game with one shrewd pass, which always went speedily and accurately to the right man. There was never anything slipshod about Matt. Only the best would do and no matter where the ball was he was always working, always taking up position, always thinking a couple of moves ahead of anyone else. So no wonder Matt Busby covered more ground in each match than any other player on the field, and to what wonderful purpose!”
Matt Busby was appointed as coach and assistant manager to George Kay at Anfield for £10-a-week in May 1944. However, his views on how football should be played and governed were not shared by Liverpool’s Board. In February 1945, Busby, who was at this time an instructor at the Royal Military College, was released from his coaching position at Liverpool. A few days later he accepted the manager’s position at Manchester United. It was a bold step for him to take but his achievements at Old Trafford were nothing short of astonishing with the birth of the “Busby Babes”, five First Division Championships and two FA Cups. He survived the Munich air crash and then a decade later masterminded the European Cup-winning team of 1968. Sir Matt Busby is rightly considered one of the best managers of all time. Liverpool supporters may be unhappy that he made United the force it is but can be grateful to Busby for being the man who contacted Liverpool manager, George Kay, suggesting he take a look at a lad called Billy Liddell. Busby later said that the day Liddell arrived on Merseyside was “a very fortunate day for Liverpool.” Indeed it was!
When Bob Paisley joined Liverpool Busby was club captain and they remained the best of friends ever since. Paisley said: “Matt Busby was a man you could look up to and respect. He’d played the game and people like him weren’t solely tied down with tactics, which was a valuable lesson for me.”