John Ludden

Jimmy Murphy John Ludden

Once Upon a Time in Munich is a short novel that pertains to tell how Manchester United assistant manager Jimmy Murphy kept the club afloat in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophic events of Thursday, February 6, 1958. When at the end of a Munich runway United lost seven players amidst the fire and flames and blood red snow on that wretched afternoon. Disaster struck when returning from Belgrade after a European cup quarter final match. Murphy never travelled because of his duties as Welsh manager and so armed with nothing but blind faith and a hope and a prayer from an ailing Matt Busby, in the Rechts Der Isar hospital in Munich, to 'keep the flag flying, 'he went to work. A man driven but inside broken, Murphy toiled night and day to ensure a club formed eighty years previous in Newton Heath, would not wither and die. He raged against not just the dying of an ominous light, but against those who claimed Salvation was impossible. For thirteen days before United could take the field once more, an FA cup fifth round match at Old Trafford against Sheffield Wednesday, Murphy plotted, charmed cajoled. He swore, drank and threatened red murder against all who stood in his path. He lost faith in a god for what had befallen his football club and the people he loved. Only to ultimately make peace as the band played 'Abide with Me.'Yet despite the sheer weight of odds stacked against him, Murphy came through. People like Jimmy Murphy don't need a statue for there are simply none tall or grand enough to do him justice for what he did for Manchester United football club. Once Upon a Time in Munich hopes to tell you why