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David Hall is writing a new book about Manchester in 1958 at the time of the Munich air disaster and would like to hear from people with their memories of Manchester at that time; and of what Manchester was like in the days and weeks after the disaster. Details of the book are as follows:
THE FLOWERS OF MANCHESTER
A new book
by David Hall
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David Hall is the author of the best selling biography of Fred Dibnah. His new book is to be set in Manchester in 1958. It's about the Munich air disaster and the effect it had on the city of Manchester and its people; about what it was like in Manchester at that time from the first news of the disaster on the afternoon of February 6th to the end of the season in May when a patched up United, carried along on a great wave of emotion, reached the FA Cup Final.
David was an eleven year old schoolboy from Wythenshawe at the time, who'd started watching United with his dad in the 1955 - 56 season, the year of the 'Babes' first league title. Like every Red, and just about every football fan in Britain, he remembers as if it were yesterday the precise moment when he first heard the news of the tragedy. It was one of those moments like Kennedy's assassination or 9/11 when everybody remembers exactly where they were and how they heard that terrible news.
The Flowers of Manchester looks at a time in the middle of the 1950s when Manchester was still a great manufacturing city and one of its football teams won the affection of the entire British nation with their displays of football magic and skill. It recalls the days when the usually lively and exuberant city of Manchester was silenced; a time when in the city's pubs and workplaces there was only one topic of conversation. 'How would United carry on?'
The book will be based on extensive interviews with people who were in Manchester in 1958 and on newspaper reports from the time. It will give the fan's eye view of the disaster and the effect that it had on their lives and of the return of football to Old Trafford.
Were you there or do you know somebody who was there at the Sheffield Wednesday and West Brom cup ties or at the memorial service before the first league match against Nottingham Forest. If you were in Manchester at the time whether Red, Blue or non-committed, David would like to hear from you with some of your memories. Where did you live and where did you work or go to school? Where were you when you heard the news? What was Manchester like on those first days and nights after the crash? When did life start to get back to normal? What are your memories of Manchester at that time and of the area you lived in? When did you start watching the Reds and what are your memories of the Busby Babes and the matches you went to before the crash? Whatever your memories, we'd really like to hear from you.
If you would like to
become part of this exciting project, please email David or Kathryn at:
messages@theviewfromthenorth.co.uk
or
phone: 07758
587041
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