The cost of playing in Europe
Twin disasters in European soccer Munich There is no denying the tragedy of the Munich air disaster . So many young lives were lost that night in 1958, many saw the greatest English soccer team - if not the greatest team in Europe - died that night. For many years, the pilot got blamed for not cancelling the take-off - he has since been cleared of blame. What commentators forget is they are viewing matters from now, not back in the late 1950's. In those days, teams couldn't afford to stay the next night in case the weather improved. Even for a team of this magnitude, an extra night in a hotel in the 50's could have caused bankruptcy. Transfers for players in those days didn't exceed £25,000 until Luis Suarez was transferred from Barcelona to Inter Milan for the equivalent of £125,000. Who is to say that the day following the crash would bring better weather? And if the weather didn't improve, at some point a dec...