How did the Munich Air Disaster contribute to our perception of celebrity footballers? How did the loss of leading journalists influence this perception?
Twenty three people died after being injured in the 1958 Munch Air Disaster. The plane crashed just beyond the end of the runway and split into pieces and caught fire. Many of the passengers on board were part of the Manchester United squad who were returning from a game in Belgrade. The stop in Munich was for re-fueling.
Eight journalists also lost their lives in the crash. They were
- Alfred Clarke (Manchester Evening Chronicle) - Harold Donald aka Don Davies, (Manchester Guardian) - George Follows (Daily Herald) - Thomas Jackson (Manchester Evening News) - Archibald Ledbrooke (Daily Mirror) - Henry Rose (Daily Express) - Frank Swift (News of the World) - Eric Thompson (Daily Mail)
Frank Swift was also a former Manchester City and England player.
These men were the leading football journalists of their time. When news of the crash began to reach sports newsrooms in the UK, those who would normally pick up the news were in fact part of the story themselves. They were not there, and journalism was changing.
The journalists killed in the Munich Air Disaster were replaced by a new cohort of less experienced reporters, with less football reporting experience. There was also a more assertive form of journalism developing in general. The way football was being reported on began to change in the UK. This may have been due to the lack of sports journalism experience to draw upon, or to the lack of personal connection that the new cohort had to the teams and players which informed a seemingly less friendly form of reporting. A growing interest in the off-the-field and behind-the-scenes activity of players was emerging. Players were transforming beyond their sporting hero mantles to become potential celebrities.
It seems significant that this shift in how players were framed as newsworthy started just after the time of the Disaster and the death of several prominent sports journalists. The Disaster may not have been the sole cause, but I believe it was a contributory factor to the shift towards the journalistic creation of celebrity footballers.
Read More: If you want to know more about the journalists, I recommend this book:
The Day Two Teams Died A Tribute to the journalists who died at Munich, using their reports and articles to chronicle the story of the Busby Babes
by Roy Cavanagh MBE and Carl Abbott
And you can download my full PhD via the link here PhD
Comments