Busby was born to Alexander and Helen "Nellie" Busby (née Greer) in a two-roomed pitman's cottage in the mining village of Orbiston, Bellshill, Lanarkshire. When he was born, Busby's mother was told by the doctor, "A footballer has come into this house today". Busby's father was a miner, but was called up to serve in the First World War, being killed by a sniper's bullet on 23 April 1917 at the Battle of Arras. Three of his uncles were killed in France with the Cameron Highlanders. Busby's mother was left to raise Matt and his three sisters alone until her marriage to a man called Harry Matthie in 1919.