The Busby Babes

Last year, the 50th since the Munich air disaster that took the lives of eight Manchester United players (and 15 others), there was at least some karmic justice as Manchester lifted the Champions League cup. The eight are still missed, however, even by those who never saw them play. To know the story is to understand Manchester United.

Manchester's Busby Babes were the first English club to play in the tournament, and the first English club to win the cup. It is impossible to say what could have happened had Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Coleman and Duncan Edwards; Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Billy Whelan not been taken at such a young age. 

Considering their collective talent and youth, however, it is highly unlikely that Real Madrid would have won five Champions Cups in a row. The history of European club football was irrevocably altered on February 6, 1958.

Rest in peace lads, you'll never be forgotten. The flowers of English football you were, the flowers of Manchester you still are.