Inside Track: Munich Air Disaster recalled in Man U programme

Memories of Manchester United’s darkest day were evoked in the Old Trafford programme for the league game with Spurs the weekend before last.

Last Saturday week’s game was played on February 7th, seven decades ago almost to the day since the Munich Air Disaster devastated not only the club and soccer but sport throughout the world.

READ NEXT: 2026 Louth GAA Club Championship groups confirmed

Players, staff, football journalists and passengers were among the 30 that died, the plane, returning from a European Cup game in Belgrade, crashing on take-off.

Manager, Matt Busby, whose name was given to the Man U team at the time, The Busby Babes, survived.

Bobby Charlton, Bill Foulkes and Harry Gregg were among the players who also emerged from the wreckage alive, Northern Ireland goalkeeper Gregg playing a hero’s part in the rescue of passengers.

Republic of Ireland forward, Liam Whelan, was among the eight players who perished.

The Dubliner had played for Ireland in an oft-recalled World Cup qualifier with England at Dalymount Park the previous year, facing four clubmates, Roger Byrne, Duncan Edwards, Tommy Taylor and David Pegg, all of whom also died in the Munich Disaster.

The game ended in a draw, Johnny Atyeo’s last-minute goal ending Ireland’s hopes of a place in the 1958 World Cup finals.

Last week’s programme recalls the Munich event with a number of articles, one of which details Duncan Edwards’ short but brilliant career.

The wing-half made his United debut as a 16-year-old, was the youngest to play for his country since 1863 and won a league medal at 19.

In his assessment of the player, Stanley Matthews had this to say: “This young half-back has everything....size, power, skill and courage. Matt Busby must be overjoyed to have discovered such a prodigy.”

Had he been spared, there’s little doubt Edwards would have figured on the 1966 England World Cup-winning team.

Last week’s programme came my way thanks to one of our clan. There were five of them on the trip, one of a number most of them make each season.

No need to spell it out here that all are Red Devil fanatics – regular readers have been bombarded with this sort of information over the years.

They got a good result, a 2-0 win, boosting interim manager, Michael Carrick’s chances of getting a permanent place along the sideline. He wouldn’t, however, want to be depending on Roy Keane for an endorsement.

Keane continues to be critical of Ruben Amorim’s successor, but on the other hand, seems to have gone quiet on Keith Andrews.

With very good reason. Andrews’ Brentford sit comfortably in the top half of the table, not without an outside chance of making Europe.

Keane was anything but a cheerleader for Andrews on the Dubliner’s appointment at the beginning of this season.

Andrews’ predecessor at Brentford, Thomas Frank, must now be questioning his decision to leave the Community Stadium.

Just eight months into his Tottenham tenure, the Dane has been given his papers, the latest in a long list of Premier League bosses to be given the sack.

How different it all is from the time the team that opened this piece was competing on the big stage.

A managerial job then might not have been devoid of jeopardy, but there were fewer change-overs than today, a poor run of form only every so often being the cause of dismissal.