United, who had lost the previous final to Aston Villa, had been decimated three months earlier in the Munich air disaster, and fielded only four crash survivors, along with several newcomers.
Manchester United, still smarting from their previous final defeat at the hands of Aston Villa, had been left severely depleted just three months earlier in the disastrous Munich air tragedy. As a result, they were forced to put out a team consisting of only four survivors from that crash, along with some new players.