On February 6, 1958 a tragic event led to the postponement of a highly anticipated game between Manchester United (aka Bubsy Babes) and the Wolves. The plane with which the Babes were supposed to fly back from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade in Yugoslavia never got back home. It had to stop in Munich for a refuel, and after its third attempt to take off, its journey ended abruptly and tragically before it even really began.
The accident remained in history as the 1958 Munich air disaster, because more than a half of all people onboard lost their lives in it, including 8 Manchester United players. Consequently, the game that was supposed to take place 2 days after the crash was cancelled. By that time, however, a huge number of ‘United Review’ programs had been printed for the match against the Wolves. Most of them were destroyed after the tragedy, but then a few examples were kept by some of the workers at the printing press that created them.
Among them were two mint copies that have been kept in an attic until very recently. Their owner, Keith Hames, knew about them being in his home, but he hadn’t realized how valuable they really were until he brought the subject up with his friends. His father worked at the printing press where items had been manufactured, and he took two examples home to proof-read them.
Mr. Hames was surprised to learn how much the two programs could fetch at auction, and soon several United collectors started making offers for them. Experts believe that £20,000 (approx. $30,000) is a reasonable price for this special lot, which is great news for its seller! Who wouldn’t want to find $30,000 in their attic?
