Sir Matt Busby's £750 Man Utd contract

Matt Busby (centre) with Duncan Edwards (right) and Johnny Berry [Getty Images] A fascinating interview with Sir Matt Busby from 1979 has been unearthed by Manchester United expert Wayne Barton. Barton has written over 20 books on United. He has been given access to archive material generated by Tom Tyrrell, who covered United for local radio for decades, and at one point was also the club's stadium announcer. Tyrrell, who was still working when I started covering the club in 2002, died in 2017. Barton has been given access to Tyrrell's interviews with Sir Alex Ferguson for a new book - Fergie : The Lost Tapes - which is due out in September. But the chat with Busby has never been heard before, but has been published as part of the United Unheard podcast series. The Scot reveals he turned down a number of alternative offers when he agreed to become United's manager, signing a three-year contract at £750 a year. He also recalls a friendly against Scottish club Kilmarnock in 1953 as the moment he knew the Busby Babes would be good enough to play senior football. "They did very well - I think we won 4-0 or something - so from the Wednesday night to the Saturday I remember walking around the golf course up there at Troon where we were staying by myself, saying will I play them on Saturday against Huddersfield, who were in the first division at the time, or will I not," says Busby. "I decided to play them and that was the start of the pre-Munich side." He also explains why he was so keen for United to play in European competition, despite opposition from the Football League. And, harrowingly, he talks about the aftermath of the Munich air crash and being told which players had died and which had survived. "My dear wife was with me," he said. "I said the names of the players and she said whether they'd been killed or were alive. "I said I'm not going back to Manchester United again. I'm not going to have anything to do with football. "It was my wife who said the players who had passed away would want you to carry on."