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Sir Matt Busby

Sir Matt Busby

  • The Definitive Biography

The Man Who Made A Football Club

Sir Matt Busby, who took Manchester United to unprecedented glory before seeing the club through profound tragedy, created the global entity that spreads from Old Trafford today.

A player with Manchester City and Liverpool before the Second World War, Busby remained at the forefront of football through four decades and made an extraordinary contribution to the game in terms of both style and substance. In this definitive biography, Patrick Barclay looks back at Busby’s phenomenal life and career, including the rise of the Busby Babes in the 1950s, the Munich disaster that claimed 23 lives and the Wembley victory ten years on that made United the first English team to win the European Cup. Denis Law, Pat Crerand and such other members of that great side as Alex Stepney, David Sadler and John Aston are among the host of voices testifying to the qualities that set Sir Matt apart.

This is the story of one of the greatest figures in football history, and of the making of a legacy that will last for ever.

Reviews

  • Many new books with a sporting theme are tumbling onto the shelves but I doubt any will be superior to the illuminating and comprehensive biography of Sir Matt Busby by the irrepressible football sage Patrick Barclay The events and emotions are recounted with haunting eloquence by Barclay: a master of his craft.

    Jim Holden, Sunday Express

  • Patrick Barclay’s magnificent biography of Sir Matt Busby

    Alan Pattullo, Scotland on Sunday

  • ‘Sir Matt Busby’s story has been told many times but, rarely with such perception and scholarly attention to detail’ ‘ a stunning biography ... destined to become a classic of its genre’

    Patrick Collins

  • ‘An outstanding book’

    Phil Shaw, Backpass

  • ‘Superbly written … a book all football fans should read.’

    Michael Crick

More from this Author

About the Author

Patrick Barclay

Patrick Barclay began his career in football writing with the Guardian in Manchester in the mid-1970s, a few years after Sir Matt Busby had relinquished management and joined the Manchester United board. Barclay became one of Sir Matt's many acquaintances in the newspaper world and in 1994, having moved to the Observer by way of the Independent, attended the unforgettable match against Everton at Old Trafford that swiftly followed the great man's death. In that year Barclay was voted Britain's leading sports writer. He later worked for the Sunday Telegraph, The Times and the Evening Standard in London before retiring from regular journalism at the end of his tenth European Championship in 2016. He covered nine World Cups. Barclay has written acclaimed biographies of Sir Matt's successors Sir Alex Ferguson (Football - Bloody Hell!) and Jose Mourinho (Further Anatomy of a Winner) and is also the author of The Life and Times of Herbert Chapman.

Patrick Barclay

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Features

Patrick Barclay and George Pieri: They just stood cheering

Author Patrick Barclay meets George Pieri, who 60 years ago watched a wonderful football match played by Busby’s Babes in London - Arsenal 4, Manchester United 5 - that epitomised the sporting spirit of a bygone age

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