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Matt Busby, along with Tom Bradshaw and Jimmy McDougall, helped form an all-Scottish half-back line that certainly ranks with the best the club has ever had in those three positions at any one time in its history.

He arrived at Manchester City as an inside-forward in February 1928, but they moulded him into a classy half-back. In seven years, Busby played 226 Football League games for City. His biggest disappointment was losing the FA Cup final to Everton in 1933, but they would win the cup a year later when Portsmouth were beaten 2-1.

At 26-years-old, Busby was an experienced professional when he was signed by Liverpool in the spring of 1936 for £8,000.

He almost immediately took over the No. 4 shirt from Robert Savage and Busby didn't miss many matches over the next three seasons.

However, like so many of his contemporaries, Busby's playing-career was cut short by the Second World War. 

Busby was later offered a job as an assistant manager to George Kay at Anfield for 10 pounds a week, but his views on how football should be played and governed were not shared by the Liverpool board.

He instead chose to take the manager's post at Manchester United in October 1945, even though his contract had been signed the previous February.

In the interim period, he had been working as a football coach with the Army Physical Training Corps and it was a bold step for him to take at Old Trafford with no previous managerial experience behind him.

His achievements at Old Trafford were nothing short of astonishing with the birth of the Busby Babes, 5 First Division Championships and 2 FA Cups.

He survived the tragic Munich air crash in 1958, and then a decade later masterminded a European Cup success.

Sir Matt Busby is rightly considered one of the best managers of all time. With hindsight, it is perhaps unfortunate that his disagreements with the Liverpool board in 1945 caused him to look elsewhere for his post-war employment.

However, Liverpool supporters can be grateful to Busby for being the man who contacted Liverpool manager George Kay suggesting he take a look at a lad called Billy Liddell...

Other clubs:
Alpine Villa, Denny Hibernian, Manchester City; Chelsea, Middlesbrough, Reading, Brentford, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic and Hibernian (wartime guest)