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 that he wanted over the first team.

As a result, he took the vacant manager's job at Manchester United instead, where he built the famous Busby Babes team that won successive Football League First Division titles and challenged for the European Cup.

[5] Busby's father, Alexander, was a miner called up to serve in the First World War and was killed by a sniper's bullet on 23 April 1917 at the Battle of Arras.

[citation needed] His mother might have quashed those dreams when she applied to emigrate with Matt to the United States in the late 1920s, but he was granted a reprieve by the nine-month processing time.

He had played only a few matches for Denny Hibs, but it was not long before he was signed up by a Manchester City side that was a couple of games away from regaining promotion to the First Division.

[citation needed] Aged 18, Busby signed for Manchester City on a one-year contract worth £5 per week on 11 February 1928,[10] with the provision for him to leave at the end of the deal if he still wished to emigrate to the United States with his mother.

He decided to stay and made his debut for City on 2 November 1929, more than 18 months after first signing for the Blues, when he played at inside left in a 3–1 win at home to Middlesbrough in the First Division.

Busby opened his goalscoring account a month later – his 47th-minute strike helped his team to a 2–2 draw with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

[23] Busby made only one official international appearance for Scotland; he played in a 3–2 British Home Championship defeat to Wales at Ninian Park, Cardiff, on 4 October 1933.

[25][26] During the Second World War, Busby served as a football coach in the Army Physical Training Corps, and the experience resulted in Liverpool offering him the job of assistant to their then-manager George Kay.

Busby requested that he be directly involved in training, pick the team on matchdays and even choose the players to be bought and sold without interference from the club directors, who, he believed, did not know the game as well as he did.

Busby was originally offered a three-year contract but managed to secure himself a five-year deal after explaining that it would take at least that long for his revolution to have a tangible effect.

There, he took in a training session for a football team made up of non-commissioned officers led by West Bromwich Albion's former half-back Jimmy Murphy.

Impressed by the Welshman's oratory skills, Busby engaged him in conversation and offered him the job of chief coach at Manchester United, which Murphy accepted verbally there and then, before joining the club officially in early 1946.

The two men immediately put their mark on the side, leading them to the runners-up spot in the league, behind Busby's former employers Liverpool, by the end of the 1946–47 season.

Busby, who had achieved a great deal of success in spite of his lack of previous managerial experience, was expected to spend large sums of money on high-profile players.

These included right-back Bill Foulkes, centre-halves Mark Jones and Jackie Blanchflower, wingers Albert Scanlon and David Pegg and forward Billy Whelan.

He made relatively few signings from other clubs between 1951 and 1957, rare examples being winger Johnny Berry, forward Tommy Taylor and goalkeeper Harry Gregg.

The young side was so successful that centre-forward Tommy Taylor and goalkeeper Harry Gregg were United's only major signings over a spell of almost five years.

On the way home from a European Cup tie against Red Star Belgrade on 6 February 1958, their plane crashed on the runway at Munich-Riem Airport.

Busby's old friend from Manchester City, the goalkeeper Frank Swift, who had travelled to Munich in his post-playing career as a journalist, also died.

Busby had gone against the wishes of Football League officials by pressing for Manchester United's participation in the European Cup and had not felt able to challenge the aircraft's pilot about taking off in heavy snow.

Busby attended a new-look United side's FA Cup final defeat against Bolton Wanderers at Wembley three months later, and resumed full managerial duties for the following season.

A number of surviving players including Albert Scanlon, Kenny Morgans and Dennis Viollet resumed their careers but moved on to other clubs in the four years following the disaster.

He retired as manager at the end of the following season, having announced his intention to do so on 14 January 1969,[32][33] but remained at the club as a director, handing over managerial duties to trainer and former player Wilf McGuinness.

[32] When McGuinness was sacked in December 1970, Busby returned to the manager's seat on an interim basis until a new permanent appointment was made after the end of the season.

A Manchester United side featuring a new generation of star players including Mark Hughes and Steve Bruce took on a Republic of Ireland XI.

He had been admitted to the hospital earlier that month to have a blood clot removed from his leg, and had appeared to be making a good recovery until his condition deteriorated after several days.

The day after the centenary of Busby's birth, Manchester United played Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League final and lost to the Spanish side 2–0.

[36] His son Sandy died on 15 September 2014,[37] followed nearly nine months later by his daughter Sheena, who had been married to former Manchester United player Don Gibson for 59 years.