WHEN the British European Airways Flight 609 carrying the Manchester United football team back from a European Cup game in Belgrade crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany, on February 6, 1958 it was the darkest day in the history of Manchester United Football Club.
Nine players survived: Johnny Berry, Jackie Blanchflower, Bobby Charlton, Bill Foulkes, Harry Gregg, Kenny Morgans, Albert Scanlon, Dennis Violett and Ray Wood, but two of them – Berry and Blanchflower – never played again and only Charlton is still alive.
The club could easily have folded, but a rescue plan, which partly involved Bishop Auckland Football Club, was put into operation.
Derek Lewin (above), a Bishop Auckland player who had trained at Old Trafford in preparation for the 1956 Olympics, was still training in Manchester. He had a conversation with United's assistant manager Jimmy Murphy, who had not travelled to Belgrade. From that chat Derek, Bob Hardisty and Warren Bradley were transferred from Bishop Auckland to Manchester United on short-term contracts.
Bob Hardisty, the Two Blues legend, with the FA Amateur Cup
All three made their debuts for Manchester United Reserves on March 1, 1958, at Old Trafford against Burnley Reserves.
When Matt Busby returned from Munich, he and Hardisty cemented their friendship as they had known each other during the war years, and when Matt was appointed manager of the Great Britain Olympic team in 1948, he made Hardisty his captain.
Hardisty won three FA Amateur Cup winners medals, 17 England Amateur caps and featured in the Great Britain Olympic football squad at three Olympics in 1948, 1952, and 1956. For all that, plus having a road in Bishop Auckland named after him, Hardisty Drive, he never achieved what Warren Bradley achieved.
Warren Bradley (above) is the only footballer to have appeared for the England Amateur team and the full England team in the same season. In the 1958-59 season, Bradley won four England Amateur caps and, on October 11, 1958, he scored in a 3-2 win over Finland at the Champion Hill stadium in Dulwich.
He then made his debut for the full England team on May 6, 1959, in a 2-2 draw against Italy at Wembley. Bobby Charlton scored the other England goal.
The England team that day was: Eddie Hopkinson, Don Howe, Graham Shaw, Ronnie Clayton, Billy Wright (captain), Ron Flowers, Warren Bradley, Peter Broadbent, Bobby Charlton, Johnny Haynes, Doug Holden.
Bradley further increased his standing by, in the space of 25 months, scoring three times at Wembley for three different teams.
On April 13, 1957, he scored Bishop Auckland's third goal as they beat Wycombe Wanderers 3-1 in the 1957 Amateur Cup Final.
The Bishop Auckland team: Sharratt, Marshall, Childs, Thursby, Cresswell, Nimmins, Bradley, Lewin, Russell, Hardisty, Edwards.
On March 29, 1958, he scored at Wembley for the England Amateur team against Scotland in the British Championship. Geoff Hamm scored the other England goal but England lost 3-2, Doug Orr hitting a hat-trick for Scotland. The England team: M Pinner, D Clarke, J Valentine, R Thursby, S Prince, H Dodkins, W Bradley, W Robinson, C Mortimore, G Hamm, R Littlejohn.
He completed his hat-trick on May 6, 1959, scoring for the full England team in that 2-2 draw with Italy.
Warren Bradley (left), training with goalkeeper Eddie Hopkinson (centre) and skipper Billy Wright (right), before England's game with Brazil at the Maracana, Rio De Janeiro in May 1959. An estimated 150,000 crowd watched Brazil win 2-0 with Julinho (2 mins) and Henrique (28 mins) scoring. Bradley was only a reserve for this game
Records are patchy, but they state that Bradley won 14 England Amateur caps, three full England caps as well as making 63 appearances for the Manchester United first team, scoring 20 goals, before he was transferred to Bury in March 1962.
The former headteacher died on June 6, 2007, aged 73.
Warren Bradley in 1996 with the amateur cap he won for playing for England against West Germany
A book called Bishop United, written by Roy Cavanagh from Manchester United FC and Steve Newcombe of Bishop Auckland, which tells the above story, is available from The Bishops Shop in Newgate Street Bishop Auckland for £5 while the play Bishop United, which also tells the story, will be performed at Etherley Cricket Club on Thursday April 20 at 7.30pm. Entry is free with a buffet provided. The book should be on sale there.
The Durham Amateur Football Trust is also putting on an exhibition about Bob Hardisty in The Bishops Shop, in the Market Place, running from April 5 until the end of July.
- Great help from Michael Burke this week, plus Steve Newcombe and John Rowell.
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