JIMMY MURPHY 6TH FEBRUARY 1958

In those brief moments,

Jimmy was happy,

On top of the world.

He had reached the pinnacle

Wales in the World Cup Finals

United in the European semis

Life was good

Life was very good indeed

 

Then the news came

Of a crash in the snow

And suddenly

Life wasn’t so good.

Information,

Patchy at first

Trickled in,

Not all reliable

Miss information

Spread like the plague,

Then the facts emerged

From amongst the fictions

So many dead

So many lost

And for the living

Life would never be the same

 

Jimmy blamed himself

For being so smug

For being so happy

For being alive 

THE BUSBY BABES

 

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

Eight of their magnificent number

Would not see another summer

THE BUSBY BABES REPLAYED

 

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

THE SURVING BABES OF MUNICH

 

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

A TALE OF HEROES

 

Young heroes returning

From a far-off foreign field

With hard fought victory won

Where the valiant refused to yield

 

Like heroes from Homers Iliad

Exalted in the legends

But in the Germanic snows

The heroes journey ends

 

As the Gods of winter struck

Fire and ice took its toll

And the names were duly writ

Upon an eternal honour roll

 

Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne (Capt)

Duncan Edwards, Billy Whelan

David Pegg, Tommy Taylor

Mark Jones and Eddie Colman

HARRY GREGG, THE HERO OF MUNICH

 

In the wake of tragedy

Harry Gregg arose

From the snow

And twisted wreckage

With no thought of himself 

Pulled survivors

From the burning plane

Assisted latterly

By Bill Foulkes,

Another heroic figure.

Though Harry thought

His actions unremarkable

On that cold February day

George best, said of him

“Bravery is one thing,

But what Harry did

Was about more than bravery,

It was about goodness”

Now the Hero of Munich

Has left us to mourn his passing

As he has gone to join the Babes

But he lives on in the legend

GO NOW HARRY (Hero of Munich)

 

HARRY GREGG OBE - (27th October 1932 – 16th February 2020)

 

Go now Harry

Lay down your keepers’ gloves

You’ve earned your rest

Our tower of strength

Straight backed

Rugged and dependable

Hero of Munich

Take your place

Among your equals

And be at peace

 

Your strong façade

Oft betrayed

By sadness in your eyes

The sadness of survival

So, go now Harry

And join the Babes

The band of brothers

You’ve missed so much

And take your place

Among immortals

IN TRAGEDIES WAKE – MUNICH 1958

 

At Old Trafford

In tragedies wake

In the eerie quiet

The terraces echoed

The mournful silence

And even the empty

Seats shed tears

For The busby babes

A FRISBEE

 

I was wondering,

Why does a Frisbee

Appeared larger and larger

Then it hit me

TIME IS UP

 

To my chest my hands I clasp

I deeply breathe, I wheeze and gasp

My temples throb, my mouth is dry

My heart beats fast, I’m going to die

My voice has gone, my throat is sore

My hands both shake, I can take no more

I lay my head, upon my knee

Now blow the whistle Referee

WHEN I FIRST GOT INTO ATHLETICS

 

When I first got into athletics

A hurdle scared me a bit

But with dogged perseverance

I managed to get over it