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“I’m privileged to have followed Sir Matt because all you have to do is to try and maintain the standards that he set so many years ago.” (On Sir Matt Busby)
– Sir Alex Ferguson said about Sir Matt Busby
“He was a great man, a great friend from the Fifties and it is only right and proper that the world of football pays its respects now we are all together here. I was shocked by the news [of his death] when I arrived last night. I had hoped to meet him again at Old Trafford tomorrow. Now that will be a sad pilgrimage for me.’
– Ferenc Puskas’ quotes on Sir Matt Busby
“He always told us that football is more than a game. It has the power to bring happiness to ordinary people. In the sadness and the rain, that belief was the glory of the life that had just ended — and the unbreakable pride I felt at being part of it. He was Manchester United and I will always like to think, so am I
Not a day goes by when I don’t think about him and what he did for the game. For all the excitement brought about by the Champions League in its modern format, things might have taken a lot longer to get where they are – and this applies to United as a club as well – had it not been for Sir Matt.
He was the one who saw the way that football was going and he insisted that United and English football had to be involved in it. He had to go against the Football League, who said we couldn’t play in it, but he said we could, and just look where it has got us. The best players in the world want to play in the Champions League, and Sir Matt played a huge role in getting it off the ground in the first place.
That’s just one part of Sir Matt’s great legacy, and he continues to be an enormous figure in the history of this club and this sport. His family still come to the games and he was a truly, truly great man.”
– Sir Bobby Charlton’s (from his autobiography My Manchester United years) Sir Matt Busby quotes
“I knew Sir Matt really well because he and (daughter) Sheena would be there whenever I went to a mutual friend’s house for Sunday lunch and dinner parties. I got to know Sir Matt really well, so the relationship was beyond just meeting at matches. He was a great man who loved his football. A really nice bloke, but my lasting memory on the football side of things was that he witnessed us winning the title in 1992/93 after so many years.
– Bryan Robson quotes on Sir Matt Busby
“When I first came down to Manchester from Glasgow, I brought the girl down with me that I eventually married because Matt Busby wanted to meet her. Make sure we were both happy. He cared about those things. When I first signed for Manchester United I wasn’t even shown a contract. I just signed. That’s the kind of charm that Busby had. He had a great sense of humor. He was a funny man. He was a great man. A gentlemen of the highest quality.
– Paddy Crerand quotes on Sir Matt Busby
“I played with some marvellous players at Manchester United and a great manager in Sir Matt Busby. When you think after the crash, Sir Matt lifting the European Cup at Wembley was just wonderful for everybody. It was lovely for Sir Matt Busby to win that trophy.”
– Denis Law’s Sir Matt Busby quotes
Founder and editor of Footiecentral. A voracious reader who loves reading anything and everything related to the history of football. He’s an ardent supporter of Manchester United and rarely misses a match.