It is based on the true story of Manchester United's "Busby Babes" and the aftermath of the 1958 Munich air disaster, with the film's events taking place between August 1956 and May 1958.

The other players to come through the ranks and who feature greatly in the film include centre-half Mark Jones, left-half Duncan Edwards, right-half Eddie Colman and outside left David Pegg.

Meanwhile, Busby has persuaded Football League administrator Alan Hardaker to allow his team to play in the European Cup with the proviso that they are back in time for each scheduled fixture.

However, on the return flight from a European Cup match in Belgrade, their aeroplane crashes attempting to take off after refuelling in Munich and seven of the club's players (including Jones, Colman and Pegg) are killed.

Within a week, Charlton is allowed to leave the hospital and return to England but Edwards and Busby remain in a critical condition at this stage.

Murphy was not on the plane when it crashed due to his duties with the Welsh national side but flies out as soon as he can in order to visit his injured colleagues in hospital and travel home with Charlton.

Two weeks after the crash, Edwards dies in hospital, heaping fresh devastation on Charlton, who is ready to give up football until he has a visit from Murphy and is soon playing for United again.

It was shot in November and December 2010 in the north of England including the Tyneside Cinema, Tynemouth Metro Station, Newcastle Civic Centre and the Assembly Rooms.

The shoot took four six-day weeks of filming and was hindered by heavy snowfall in December; one extra day cost the production £30,000 because the project was not insured against inclement weather conditions.

"[11] Television reviews such as Gerard Gilbert in The Independent also noted a gangster-like appearance in Busby's costume, and suggested that painting Alan Hardaker as the villain seemed tame; "compared to Jimmy McGovern's Hillsborough, with its burning righteous anger aimed at the police and The Sun, Hardaker seemed like a flimsy scapegoat for what, au fond, was an appalling accident.

"[12] Jim White, writing for The Telegraph was more positive stating "United...is brilliant in its evocation of the pipe-puffing Fifties football orbit...the CGI evocation of immediate post-war Old Trafford, with the smokestacks brooding above the open terraces, looks more authentic than the real thing...David Tennant's performance as the central character should alert every award-giving body.