In the wake of tragedy
Harry
Gregg arose
And
with no thought
Of
himself
Pulled
survivors
From
the burning plane
Assisted
latterly
By
Bill Foulkes
Though
he thought
His
action unremarkable
George
Best, said of him
“Bravery
is one thing
But
what Harry did
Was
about more than bravery.
It
was about goodness”
Bright lights
Shining
like stars
In
the twinkling
Football
firmament
Sparkling
lights
From
gritty towns
In
the shadow of the
Dark
satanic mills
Shining
out from
Industrial
heartlands
Like
beacons
Bright
lights of youth
Illuminating
the lives
Of
the terraced fans
Young
men from the dark
Industrial
landscapes
Youth’s
bright flames
Snuffed
out
In
the snows of Munich
Manchester United’s
Callous
attitude
So
cold and harsh
Towards
the survivors
Beggared
belief
And
was never more
Keenly
felt than when,
They
could no longer play
Jackie
Blanchflower
And
fellow survivor Berry
Were
forced to vacate
The
homes they lived in
The young lads played the game
The
Busby Babes was their name
Though
they played like magic
They
embraced tragedy in Munich
Their
plane crashing in the snow
The
wreckage burning all aglow
Eighth
of their magnificent number
Would
not see another summer
The Busby Babes were sublime
The
best by far in their time
And
when eight of their number
Went
to their eternal slumber
They
went straight to heaven
To
join St Peters first XI
Morgans and Blanchflower
Never
played again
Some
played to soon
Some
could never play the same
Some
were cast aside
Some
fulfilled their destiny
But
none were unscathed
After
the tragedy
Those
who remained
Of
the team Busby built
All
survived the horror
But
lived with the guilt
WILLIAM ANTHONY "BILL" FOULKES - (5 JANUARY 1932 – 25 NOVEMBER 2013)
Go
now Bill
Lay
down the captain’s armband
You’ve
earned your rest
Our
tower of strength
Straight
backed
Rugged
and dependable
Take
your place
Among
your equals
And
be at peace
Your
strong facade
Oft
betrayed
By
sadness in your eyes
The
sadness of survival
So
go now Bill
And
join the babes
You’ve
missed so much
And
take your place
Among
immortals
Are you wearing plus twos?
Well
listen, here’s the bad news
It
looks as though the plus twos
Have
fallen out with your shoes
1976, in May
Doc's red army
Witnessed the young guns
Fail at Wembley
To that iffy goal
Scored by bobby stokes
When Coppell hill and co
Failed to beat McMenemy's men
A motley crew
Of has-beens and nobody's
The sick, the lame and the lazy
Won the day
2005, in May
The red army
Witnessed fergies men
At St Mary's
By two goal's to one
Relegate them
To the championship
The old division two
Almost thirty years
The saints were a thorn in United's flesh
Finally the ghost of 76
Has been well and truly laid
The
soundtrack of the sixties
Was by Lennon and McCartney
But it was little Georgie Best
Who did the choreography
George Gipp Grew up in Laurium, Michigan and was a natural athlete. He was an avid sportsman on the track, as well as hockey, sandlot football, and organized baseball however prior to his arrival at Notre Dame College he had never played high school football.
Notre
Dame Football was part of the most successful and widely followed college
athletic program in history and no other athlete epitomized more the sporting
ethos than George Gipp.
George
Gipp was never bested in the school's glorious history.
Gipp's
college football career lasted for four years in which the Gipper scored 21
touchdowns in Notre Dame's amazing run of 27 wins, 2 losses, and 3 ties while
defensively no one completed a single pass against his protective zone.
Then on November 20, 1920, during a game against Illinois, George Gipp contracted a
serious infection of the throat which in his final game at Northwestern took a turn for
the worst.
Knute
Rockne Notre Dame coach visited Gipp in the hospital and on his death bed
George told Rockne that whenever the boys were behind he said, "just tell
them to "win one for the Gipper."”
George
Gipp died on December 14, 1920 from pneumonia and streptococcal infection.
The
George Gipp Award was first given at his high school, Calumet High School, in
1934 and is awarded to the most outstanding senior athlete.
Notre
Dame Coach Knute Rockne said of his protégé
"I
felt the thrill that comes to every coach when he knows it is his fate and his
responsibility to handle unusual greatness...the perfect performer who comes
rarely more than once in a generation."
The captain of the 1920 Notre Dame football team Frank Coughlin said
"George Gipp was the greatest athlete I have ever known. He will be
forever remembered as a friend, a student, an athlete and a gentleman, for to
know him was to love him."
While
Grantland Rice eminent sports writer of the day said of him.
"His
kicking and ball carrying was about as fine as anything I have ever seen on a
football field."
Gipp
was inducted into the Michigan Football Hall of Fame, the National Football
Hall of Fame and the Upper Peninsula Hall of Fame.
George
Gipp was also Notre Dame's first member of the All-American team.
