Ferguson shares memories of Munich air disaster

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has told BBC Sport of his memories of the Munich air disaster, which happened 55 years ago on Wednesday, and how the crash still affects him.

In a video interview which will be broadcasted on Football Focus this Saturday, Ferguson shared his memories of the fateful day and how the Busby Babes will never be forgotten.

He said: “I’ve been affected since a young boy. It was a sad time. For many it’s probably long forgotten but for someone like me who remembers the day, you won’t forget it. 

"How we rose to get over that is remarkable in terms of Sir Matt (Busby) and Jimmy Murphy and all the staff at the time. 

“It was a fantastic group of young men who were destined to be great and that was the tragedy of it in how it was taken away from them.” 

22 people, including eight first team Manchester United players were killed in Munich when their aircraft failed to take-off on a snow-covered runway.

They had stopped to refuel at Munich airport after a successful trip to Belgrade had taken the club into the European Cup semi-finals.

Manager Busby managed to pull through despite suffering serious injuries himself, and rebuilt the team around new signings, junior players and survivors of the crash like Bill Foulkes and Harry Gregg.

At the time, the Busby Babes were aiming to become only the third club to win three successive league titles in history.

They would achieve Busby’s ambition to win the European Cup 10 years later.


By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

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