Editing Matt Busby (section)

==Early life==
Busby was born to Alexander and Helen "Nellie" (née Greer) Busby 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".<ref>{{harvnb|Barclay|2017|p=17}}</ref> Busby's father, Alexander, was a miner called up to serve in the [[World War I|First World War]] and was killed by a sniper's bullet on 23 April 1917 at the [[Battle of Arras (1917)|Battle of Arras]].<ref name=stuffof>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2290680/Matt-Busbys-philosophy-the-stuff-of-legend.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2290680/Matt-Busbys-philosophy-the-stuff-of-legend.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Matt Busby's philosophy the stuff of legend |first1=Robert |last1=Philips |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=2 February 2008 |access-date=18 December 2012 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> His great-great-grandfather, George Busby, emigrated to Scotland from Ireland during the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]], while his mother's side of the family emigrated to Scotland from Ireland later on in the 19th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Barclay|2017|p=19}}</ref> Three of his uncles were killed in France with the [[Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders|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.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Busby was raised Catholic. Always a devout Catholic, in 1972, [[Pope Paul VI]] made him a Knight of Order of Saint Gregory the Great. He had been appointed [[Knight Bachelor]] four years earlier.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jan/14/manchester-united-manager-matt-busby Profile], theguardian.com. Accessed 28 January 2023.</ref><ref>[https://www.catholicarena.com/latest/knightbusby20210526 Profile], catholicarena.com. Accessed 28 January 2023.</ref>

Busby would often accompany his father down into the coal pits, but his true aspiration was to become a professional footballer. In his 1973 autobiography, Busby described himself as being as football mad as any other boy in Bellshill citing in particular the impression made on him by [[Alex James (footballer)|Alex James]] and [[Hughie Gallacher]].{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

His mother might have quashed those dreams when she applied to emigrate with Matt to the United States in the late 1920s, but he was granted a reprieve by the nine-month processing time.<ref name=stuffof/>

In the meantime, Busby got a full-time job as a collier and played football part-time for [[Stirlingshire]] [[Scottish Junior Football Association|Junior]] side Denny Hibs. He had played only a few matches for Denny Hibs, but it was not long before he was signed up by a [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] side that was a couple of games away from regaining promotion to the [[Football League First Division|First Division]].{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}