This Day in History: 2023-05-02

Nr. 448

TEARS AS UNITED ARE CROWNED (1968)

Two men who had been through so much together wept as, on 29 May 1968, Manchester United became champions of Europe. This tearful moment for United manager Matt Busby and player Bobby Charlton was all the more poignant for them because they had survived the Munich air crash that, ten years before, had wiped out the famous Busby Babes.
The English champions had swept aside Benfica 4-1 in a match watched by 100,000 at Wembley and approximately 250 million on TV worldwide. Fittingly, Charlton set United on the road to victory with a first-half goal, but a Eusebio equalizer saved Benfica and took the game forward into extra-time. The mercurial George Best was literally at his ‘best’ on this occasion and tormented Benfica’s defenders with his runs. He put United in front by cheekily rounding the goalkeeper and tapping the ball over the line. Then 19-year-old Brian Kidd and, appropriately, Charlton, scored to clinch an English side’s first European Cup success.

Matt Busby celebrates with Brian Kidd and Bill Foulkes on a night of high emotion at Wembley.