WHY WINNING THE EUROPEAN CUP IN 1968 MADE ME AND SIR BOBBY SICK!
PADDY CRERAND has revealed how Manchester United’s historic European Cup win 50 years ago made him and Sir Bobby Charlton physically sick.
United had just claimed their first European Cup on a balmy night with a stunning 4-1 win over Benfica – and the champagne was flowing in the victorious dressing room afterwards.
But for Crerand and Charlton, the celebrations were short-lived after both ended up being sick between the Wembley goalposts following a bad reaction to the bubbly.
Crerand (right), 79, recalled: “My abiding memory of that night is after the game, involving David Coleman, the late, great commentator.
“David was a massive United fan and came into the dressing room after the game. There was champagne flowing all over the place and he gave me a glass – even though I was in the team bath.
“I didn’t like champagne and it was freezing cold.
“Anyhow, I was ill all over the place and ended up missing the post-match banquet. I had to go to my bed.
“We had to walk across Wembley Stadium to get back to the team bus and I remember Bobby Charlton and I standing against the goalposts and throwing up, because Bobby had been given a glass of champagne as well.
“It was a really warm night, the champagne was frozen cold and we were both throwing up.
“That’s my memory of that Wembley night!
“That was only about an hour or so after the game and I didn’t go to the dinner.
“I went down the stairs to the banquet, but I wasn’t in very long.”
Crerand had enjoyed an earlier soaking with David Sadler (below, left) at Real Madrid after United clinched their place at Wembley, where he then celebrated with scorer Brian Kidd (below, right).
He said: “My other great memory was of a song out at the time, by Louis Armstrong, called Wonderful World. Sir Matt Busby never stopped singing it. He just kept singing it all the time.”
United’s European Cup win – 50 years ago today – was all the more poignant because it came 10 years after the Munich air disaster, which claimed the lives of 23 people – including eight players and three coaching staff.
Sir Matt suffered lifethreatening injuries in the crash but recovered to lead United to the trophy many were convinced the Busby Babes were destined to win before fate cut them down in their prime. “At the banquet afterwards, the club had invited all the families of those who had lost their lives at Munich,” recalled Crerand. “It was strange meeting some of the family members of players like Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards and all the others who died.
“I was sitting there thinking, ‘if those lads had still been alive, I wouldn’t be here, I’d still be playing in Scotland somewhere’, so it was a very humbling experience.
“I think we all got more pleasure out of seeing what winning the European Cup meant to them than anything else. “It was great for Matt and his assistant, Jimmy Murphy, with everything they went through after Munich.”