Tonight it is Matt Busby’s birthday

Time go back to my “Name on the Trophy” blog from last September where by I wrote about three e-mails I found from back the 26th May 2004.

The e-mails were entitled “Name on the Trophy!!! 26/05/1999 (1), (2) and (3)” and it was a load of quotes from the world of TV commentary from the day, as well as various newspaper reports from the days after the event. Below are another two of those reports and I have many more to come, enjoy reading them. I have.

Thanks to the kind of finale the Fiver hasn’t witnessed since Granny Fiver put a stop to its subscription of ‘Roy of the Rovers’, Manchester United have at last got their hands on the trophy they wanted the most, the European Broadcasting Union’s Big Cup. 

And who can deny them their success? They’ve romped through the competition, matching and bettering all that the combined might of Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Internazionale, Juventus, and LKS Lodz could throw at them. After thirteen years, Alex Ferguson had finally achieved his holy grail: you couldn’t stop him emoting, and let’s face it, who would want to? 

Fergie’s first nod was to United’s founding father. “Tonight it is Matt Busby’s birthday and I am thinking of him,” began Sir Alex. “He will be doing a lot of kicking up there.” 

Suspended captain Roy Keane then received a little love. “I felt for him,” Lord Ferguson said. “I watched him and it was tough for him.” 

“You can’t top this because this is the pinnacle,” continued an impassioned Fergster MBE. “You can equal it and we can try to maintain our high standards. A lot will be written saying that we’ll be taking it easy. That’s true and I will take it easy – until we lose the first game!” 

But Fergie couldn’t keep up the tough talk for long before his heart melted once again. “The players are made of something special,” announced King Lord Sir Alex Ferguson CBE MBE OBE, with a promise of more honours to come (but for who?). “They will go on because I want them to go on. I haven’t said anything to them yet and I was just hugging them and kissing them and slobbering all over them.” Let’s just hope nobody gave him a glass of champagne, or goodness knows what might have happened. 

“United can win this if they equalise” – Big Ron Atkinson, with 88 minutes gone in the Nou Camp.

#14 Champagne, Champagne and Shanks pain – The Guardian
“Football, bloody hell!” – Alex Ferguson, 26th May 1999.