AN EYE FOR TALENT

Red Devil Terry Beckett gave Manchester United’s fans in Bahrain a surprise by joining them to watch the Premiership champions take on early table-toppers Arsenal on the small screen.

The former forward joined Manchester United Supporters Club Bahrain at Elite Seef Residence and Hotel and delighted a swarm of red-shirted fans by taking a trip down memory lane during half-time.

When striker Robin van Persie scored the winning goal, Beckett’s face lit up. He rates the dynamic Dutchman as a great striker … and he would know, as the 75-year-old has been scouting for United for 27 years.

After the game, Beckett posed for pictures with the fans and continued to delight them with stories from the ‘good old days’.

He said: “I was fairly surprised by the number of United supporters in Bahrain. They knew all the terrace songs and were very passionate.”

Beckett and his wife, Ann, were visiting his daughter Clare Beckett-McInroy, a former St Christopher’s School teacher, and his grandchildren, Trudy, nine, and Phoebe, seven, in Saar.

His daughter has been living in Bahrain for the past 15 years and has started her own training, coaching and consulting business. She also runs the BizLadies group. Her husband Simon McInroy is the owner of Learning Plus, a British curriculum tuition centre in Saar.

During his younger years, he played football for St Patrick’s RC Primary School in Collyhurst, Manchester, which was regarded as a breeding ground for future soccer stars. United striker and European Cup winner Brian Kidd and England World Cup ace Nobby Stiles were also former pupils. He was four years older than Stiles and 10 years older than Kidd.

England Youth international Beckett joined Manchester United Youths and played alongside the legendary Duncan Edwards, Eddie Colman, also known as ‘Snake Hips’ for his trademark body swerve, and Bobby Charlton, another cherished member on the future 1966 England World Cup-winning side, before they broke into the first team.

Together with Shay Brennan, Tony Hawksworth, Alan Rhodes, John Queenan, Peter Jones, Dennis Fidler and Wilf McGuinness, this talented band of young players developed and coached by Matt Busby … will be forever remembered as The Busby Babes.

In one first-team game in 1953, seven of the 11 players were under the age of 22. And Manchester United went on to take the League Championship in 1955-1956 and 1956-1957.

One match that epitomised the Busby Babes-era was when the team played against Arsenal in London on February 1,1958. In front of a crowd of 63,578 the Reds beat the Gunners in a thriller with goals from Edwards, Charlton, Tommy Taylor and Dennis Viollet.

Sadly, what was perhaps their greatest game on English soil, was certainly to be the last for that particular Manchester United team. From Highbury, the Babes headed off into Europe to play the second leg of a tie against Red Star Belgrade. Again they won 5-4, but on the way home their celebrations were cut short by tragedy.

After refuelling in Munich on February 6, 1958, United’s aeroplane crashed killing 22, including seven players – Roger Byrne, Geoff Bent, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Liam Whelan, Colman and Taylor – instantly. Club secretary Walter Crickmer had also died along with the first team trainer Tom Curry and coach Bert Whalley.

Edwards and Berry were critically injured and left fighting for their lives; Busby had suffered extensive injuries and was the only club official to survive the crash. Sir Alexander Matthew ‘Matt’ Busby, managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He passed away in 1994.

Edwards died, at the tender age of 22, of his injuries 15 days after the crash in a German hospital. In a professional career of less than five years he helped United win two league championships and reach the semi-finals of the European Cup.

Right-sided forward Beckett was a regular in United’s Youth, A and Reserves teams, making one senior appearance in a county cup tie. He left United in November 1957, signed up for a short stint at Manchester City before enlisting in the army. He was stationed in the nearby town of Bury, before being sent to Cyprus and it was during that spell that he heard the news of the tragedy.

Beckett said: “I was getting off the train when I spotted a newspaper headline: ‘Munich Air Crash’.

“It was terrible. We used to all go out together in town and now my pals were gone. I attended Eddie Colman’s funeral. It was a sad day.”

A niggling back injury put paid to his football career but on his return to the UK Beckett was invited to return to the United fold. “Brian Kidd, who was running the United Academy, asked me to come and scout for the club. I am still there today!”

Beckett has been involved in recruiting a string of future young stars and was instrumental in bringing in midfielders Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, who both went on to play for England.

Butt was only 12 when Beckett declared that he would play for his country one day.

It’s obvious that he has an eye for talent. But what makes a professional player?

Beckett said: “It’s a hard thing to answer. You look for someone who stands out. But then again, being good enough for United and standing out is somewhat different.

“Some lads are quite good, get to play with better players and end up learning things which brings them on. But it’s a bit too much for others and they fail to develop.

“A player such as David Beckham, for example, was devout about the game. That is what you have to be. It’s a thing you can’t teach a child. The game has got to be the number one thing in their life.

“When Beckham, Butt and Scholes were young lads, I would see them kicking the ball around a long time after all the professionals had gone home. They were driven and focused.”

But Beckett says that in all his years of scouting, he had never come across another Duncan Edwards.