Sir Alexander Matthew Busby , CBE , KCSG ( 26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994 ) was a Scottish football player and manager , who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970 – 71 season . He was the first manager of an English team to win the European Cup and is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time . Before going into management , Busby was a player for two of Manchester United 's greatest rivals , Manchester City and Liverpool . During his time at City , Busby played in two FA Cup Finals , winning one of them . After his playing career was interrupted by the Second World War , Busby was offered the job of assistant coach at Liverpool , but they were unwilling to give him the control over the first team that he wanted . As a result , he took the vacant manager 's job at Manchester United instead , where he built the famous Busby Babes team . Eight of these players died in the Munich air disaster , but Busby rebuilt the side and United won the European Cup a decade later . In a total of 25 years with the club , he won 13 trophies
Munich air disaster
Munich air disaster
Matt Busby