Source: Daily_Mail
Two giants united in their pursuit of glory
When the teams emerge from the tunnel on Wednesday evening a glorious bedlam will erupt. [LNB]The southern end of the ground will see a proud flaunting of flags,the bold stripes of Catalonia alongside the softer shades of FCBarcelona. [LNB]But at the other end of the Stadio Olimpico, around the Curva Nord,a different ritual will be enacted. At a given signal,16,000 fans willraise squares of paper. A mosaic will form, a portrait will be created,and the founding father of Manchester United will be respectfullyremembered. [LNB]For English football the past is another country. Obsessed withmodernity, it would have us believe that the game was invented with theadvent of the Premier League in 1992. [LNB]But some figures are so immense, so towering, that they demandpopular recall. And Matt Busby, Sir Matt of Manchester, is such afigure. [LNB] More from Patrick Collins... PATRICK COLLINS: Only fools will win if Wenger walks away from Arsenal16/05/09 PATRICK COLLINS: Chelsea should be kicked out of Europe for a year09/05/09 PATRICK COLLINS: Sir Henry's 75 and still a bloody treasure02/05/09 Crisis at the heart of our Ashes summer25/04/09 Patrick Collins: Hiddink shows he is right man for big stage 19/04/09 Surely football's had enough of this bigotry18/04/09 Patrick Collins: Tiger rates with the greatest of them all15/04/09 Shearer's hardly the man to work a Geordie miracle04/04/09 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE The eve of the Champions League final is the centenary of Busby's birth and that inspired piece of choreography will mark the occasion. It will also, inevitably, evoke memories of United's first European triumph in 1968. [LNB]The club which Busby so patiently and skilfully reassembled after the horrors of Munich somehow overcame the challenge of Benfica. [LNB]Busby won five championships and two FA Cups in the course of his long stewardship of United but that evening at Wembley represented the peak. [LNB]'At the reception after the match he stood up and sang What a Wonderful World,' said Bobby Charlton. 'I'd never seen the boss so carried away. It was as if everything he'd worked for, everything he'd ever wanted, had come true. I remember being so happy for him.' [LNB]Bill Shankly's statue at Anfield bears the motto: 'He Made the People Happy'. It is a rare talent but one which Busby, his compatriot, possessed in abundance. [LNB]He believed that the game was first and last about glory, that clubs were defined not by the trophies they won but by the manner in which they won them. Some scorned him as an idealist; Busby cherished the compliment. [LNB]Had Busby not set the standard and created the culture which prevails at Old Trafford, then Ferguson's own task would have been made immeasurably more difficult. [LNB]And yet, in retrospect, the destinies of the two men always seemed entwined. I remember meeting Busby at Old Trafford one May morning in 1983. [LNB]I was waiting to see the then manager, Ron Atkinson, when the old gentleman came strolling across the forecourt. On the previous evening, Aberdeen had won the European Cup winners' Cup, beating Real Madrid with something of a flourish.[LNB]Sir Matt was delighted. 'Did ye see it last night, son?' he asked. 'Weren't they something, attacking Real like that! And doing it with wingers! You can't win football matches with wingers, so everyone tells me. But they did. I'd say they've been well taught, eh? Well taught.' [LNB]LEGENDS: Sir Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson with the Cup winners' Cup in 1991[LNB] Their teacher, of course, was the young man from Govan who was born barely 17 miles from Busby's birthplace of Orbiston, north Lanarkshire. [LNB]Some three and a half years later Alex Ferguson would take over Busby's club and make his own history. [LNB]I last met Sir Matt late in 1992. We were preparing a television programme to mark the silver jubilee of the European Cup victory. His health was failing but he travelled down to Wembley on the team bus with his old boys - Stiles and Stepney, Charlton and Foulkes, Dunne, Brennan and the rest. [LNB]George Best met the bus at a Wembley hotel and, over dinner, Busby watched a replay of the '68 final with his team. It was a memorable evening. [LNB]Next morning there were interviews on the Wembley pitch. Sir Matt stood by a goalpost, surveying the empty stands. 'We've been here a time or two, eh?' he said. 'We've had some fun at this old place.' [LNB]But he soon grew tired and began to move slowly towards the players' tunnel. Best saw him leave and hurried over to catch him up. Together, they walked away, George guiding him across the turf with a light touch at his elbow. [LNB]A couple of Irish construction workers were toiling in the stands. They saw Best and called a roistering greeting. [LNB]Then they spotted his companion and they fell silent, straightened their backs and removed their hard hats. [LNB]Such was the respect he commanded. We shall think of him on Wednesday evening when the cards are produced and the portrait takes shape and the words 'For Sir Matt' are formed around the Curva Nord. [LNB]For it is indeed A Wonderful World. And Matt Busby did much to make it so.[LNB] [LNB] [LNB] [LNB] A crass threat to play-off refAt various stages of this turbulent season the football managers of England have made public statements which were variously mischievous, arrogant and idiotic. [LNB]But now, on the last leg, Kevin Blackwell of Sheffield United has produced an outburst which combines all of those unattractive qualities. [LNB]Tomorrow, United will play Burnley in the Championship play-off final. The referee will be Mike Dean, a competent official who should do the job well. Sadly, Blackwell has made that job disgracefully difficult. [LNB]CRASS & BLACKWELL: Sheffield United boss Kevin[LNB]Last October, Dean sent off United's Matthew Kilgallon for a reckless tackle in the Sheffield derby. The decision was mildly controversial, and some thought it harsh. [LNB]But Blackwell goes very much further. He 'cannot believe' the appointment of Dean. He is 'very, very angry'. He insists: 'It's not fair on Mike Dean, Kevin Blackwell or Sheffield United Football Club.' Note the revealing pomposity of the third-person singular. [LNB]He reveals that, after the derby match, 'I marked him exceptionally low'. And once again we are staggered by a system which allows self-serving blunderers like Blackwell to pass judgment on honest and able referees. Finally, he offers this sinister reflection: 'We're going to go to Wembley with 40,000 Sheffield United fans, knowing his last performance cost us a result at Hillsborough, screaming down his neck . . . now everyone will be watching to see if he makes any controversial decisions.' [LNB]It is a piece of crass incitement, a crude attempt to pressurise Dean. And it sounds as if a nervous manager of trifling reputation is getting his excuses in early. [LNB]I have no quarrel with Sheffield United. But, in the light of such idiocy, I wish Owen Coyle's Burnley the very best of fortune tomorrow.[LNB] London 2012 is no time for women to fight [LNB] [LNB]A few years ago, in a hotel ballroom in Las Vegas, I watched two young women exchange savage punches. [LNB]When the fight was over, one woman was bleeding from the nose while the other was weeping and holding a blood-stained glove to her cut eye. [LNB]The audience, mostly male, whooped with glee. It was a degrading experience. [LNB]Now, my liberal instincts tell me that women have the same sporting rights as men. And if they choose to inflict pain and spill blood, then so be it. [LNB]Yet there is another voice which insists women should have more sense, more dignity, more class. The dangers are obvious - brain damage brought on by blows to the head and the fact that trauma to the breast can cause a condition known as fat necrosis, in which part of the tissue dies and becomes a hard lump. [LNB]The effectiveness of breast protection is woefully limited. As an orthopedic surgeon, Jacques Rogge is well aware of these matters. But, as president of the International Olympic Committee, he feels regrettably compelled to make the Games more attractive to American television audiences. [LNB]Last week he announced that the time was right for women's boxing to be included in the London Olympics of 2012. But I remember that awful night in Las Vegas. And I am certain that he is making a catastrophic mistake.[LNB] PS [LNB] [LNB]With the nation transfixed by tales of moats, paddocks and desirable duck islands, our Parliamentarians are suffering the derision they deserve. Meanwhile, our footballers behave as if recession were simply an ugly rumour. Daniel Sturridge, 19, of whom you may not have heard, has apparently been offered £45,000 a week (£2.25m a year) to sign a new deal with Manchester City. Mr Sturridge is asking for £75,000 a week (£3.75m a year). If his demands are not satisfied, he will look elsewhere. Possibly for a safe seat. [LNB][LNB] [LNB]
