Scots get 'eminent Britons' stamp

Two prominent Scots are among 10 people honoured in a new collection of stamps from Royal Mail.

Sherlock Holmes creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and legendary Manchester United Manager, Sir Matt Busby, feature in the "Eminent Britons" series.

Royal Mail said the stamps "celebrate individuals who have made a remarkable contribution to British life".

Others featured include Samuel Johnson, Mary Wollstonecraft, Fred Perry, and speed record breaker Donald Campbell.

Sir Matt Busby was born in the Lanarkshire mining village of Orbiston 100 years ago and went on to play professionally for Manchester City and Liverpool.

Everyone at Manchester United will take great pride from this honour which has been bestowed on the late, great, Sir Matt Busby Sir Alex Ferguson

It was with City's rivals, United, that he made his name, managing them between 1945 and 1969.

He was the longest serving manager in the history of the club and won the FA Cup twice and the league championship five times.

He also guided the team to victory in the European cup in 1968, 10 years after 23 people, including eight Manchester United players, were killed in the Munich air crash of February 1958.

Sir Matt's stamp will be unveiled at Old Trafford on Thursday by current manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

He described his fellow Scot as "one of the truly great football managers".

'Eminent company'

Sir Alex said: "They are all illustrious names in this latest issue of commemorative stamps.

"Great Britons indeed and there can be no doubting that Sir Matt Busby deserves his place amongst such eminent company.

"Everyone at Manchester United will take great pride from this honour which has been bestowed on the late, great, Sir Matt Busby."

A framed print of the Sir Matt Busby's stamp has also been given to the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden Park, Glasgow.

Royal Mail Group's head of external relations, Julie Morrison, said Sir Matt belonged among the list of "truly eminent Britons".

"We are delighted to be able to celebrate the life of Sir Matt Busby. His journey from a small Scottish mining village to European Cup-winning glory has been a massive inspiration to generations of football fans," she said.