A lifelong Manchester United supporter and author has released his latest book discussing the identity of the club – one of the first of its kind.
‘Football, Taught By Matt Busby’, by Wayne Barton explores Manchester United’s ever-changing identity and how it has evolved.
After a decade of research, the book draws on never-before-heard interviews from Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson, as well as insight from former players, coaches and officials.
The idea sparked from Louis van Gaal’s tenure as United manager in 2014 and his use of the word ‘philosophy’.
Barton explained during this time there was an abandoning of United’s attacking philosophy so long as they won trophies, which led to the author asking many individuals linked to the club about their views on United’s identity.
He said: “They were great conversations to have and I knew I was doing something with it but I didn’t know what it was because I had so many different ideas on where to place a book about United’s identity but I couldn’t just put it into a lane.
“At first I was unsure about putting it into a book, because a book like this has never existed on any football club.
“But I thought if I was going to talk about Sir Matt Busby, I might as well do the entire history of the club and see if there was rebirth and if there was anything common in the threads Busby inherited.
“Once I got the book into a structure, I thought you could not write a book by just saying this is an idea of what it is.
“Because I’ve researched it so heavily it has to make a fairly authoritative statement.”
While researching, he released several books about the history of United, as well as some of the club’s most iconic figures such as Jimmy Murphy, Duncan Edwards and Eric Cantona.
Spotlighting his inspirations behind the book, Barton stated he wanted to bring some ‘sophistication’ to describing the successful teams managed by Busby and Ferguson, but also believes a book of this type can be made about many other clubs.
He said: “If you grew up watching a Ferguson team or a Busby team, you would be able to give them their characteristics but you wouldn’t be able to give it a style, so I wanted to show there was some kind of sophistication in there.
“I’ve had conversations with fans of other clubs and other historians, and the idea works for clubs no matters their size, and that type of book should be one of the best on the club because it speaks about so much about its history, and should be there as a love letter from that fan to their club to say, this is who we are and this is what you inherit when you become part of it.”
With the book now available to purchase, Barton said working on it had been an ‘immense privilege’ and hopes it can help United fans to understand their club better.
He explained: “Sometimes we don’t want to know why, and we like the ‘magic’, but this book is something to help people understand the mechanics of it and how to keep it going.
“If I can help people have more of a concrete understanding of their connection with United, that’s the thing I hope comes from it, especially now when the club itself is at this state of ownership where ticket prices are going up, there are generations of supporters who feel they are being priced out, and people are questioning their connection to the club.”
Feature image credit: Wayne Barton
Join the discussion