Disaster leaves bitter legacy

For those who survived that terrible night, the treatment they received from the club left a bad taste. Mary Hanniganreports.

Their deaths in Munich immortalised the names of Liam "Billy" Whelan, Duncan Edwards, Roger Byrne, Tommy Taylor, Eddie Colman, Geoff Bent, Mark Jones and David Pegg, the eight Manchester United players who died in February 1958, seven of them instantly, the eighth, Edwards, 15 days later from his injuries.

Many of those who survived, though, were so scarred by the disaster, physically, emotionally or both, the memories of what happened that day haunted them. And for some their bitterness towards the club for the lack of support or recognition they received merely added to their pain.

Harry Gregg, the Northern Ireland goalkeeper, was heroic in the aftermath of the crash, climbing back in to the burning wreckage of the plane to drag team-mates Bobby Charlton and Dennis Viollet clear of danger, as he did, too, for the wife and baby daughter of the Yugoslav air attache in London, Vera and Venona Lukic.

To this day, though, Gregg remains deeply ill at ease with his portrayal as a hero, admitting that he has suffered from "survivor's guilt" ever since. "I've never been comfortable about being portrayed as some kind of John Wayne or the hero of Munich," he said in his book Harry's Game.

"I couldn't face meeting Joy Byrne, Roger's widow, Geoffrey Bent's wife, Marion, David Pegg's family and many others. I couldn't look those people in the eye knowing I'd lived when their loved ones had perished."

Little wonder Gregg was so haunted by the experience, bearing in mind what he saw when he clambered back in to the plane. "Roger Byrne didn't have a mark on him and his eyes were open, but he was clearly dead. I've always regretted that I didn't close his eyes. When I found Jackie Blanchflower, the lower part of his right arm had been almost completely severed. It was horrendous, a scene of utter devastation."

Blanchflower, a close friend of Gregg since the days they played for Northern Ireland schoolboys, survived, but never played football again.

"I've never got over it," he said in an interview with the Irish News before his death in 1998. "It was around eight or nine months after the crash when they told me I couldn't play again. I went to see a specialist in London who told me to pack it in. It was shattering - I can't really describe it any better."

At the time Blanchflower lived in a house owned by the club. Once it was determined that he would not play again he was asked to vacate it. "It was made pretty clear we had to leave," his wife Jean told the London Independent eight years ago, "they were very cold, very harsh, after the crash."

"I didn't get any counselling," said Blanchflower, "and ironically, when I was 54 and looking for a job, I applied for a job as a counsellor but they told me I had no experience or university training. That just made me more sceptical than ever.

"I'd not made any plans and then there I was left on my own in the big, ugly world," he said. "I'd been cocooned playing football and then all of a sudden it was gone."

United director Louis Edwards offered Blanchflower a labouring job in his meat packaging factory. Blanchflower declined the offer and attempted to earn a living from a number of jobs over the years, briefly owning a newspaper shop, working for a bookie, then getting a job in a pub, before "going to school and becoming a finance officer". He ended his days as an after-dinner speaker.

Like Blanchflower, Johnny Berry never played again, having suffered a fractured skull, broken pelvis and broken jaw, that necessitated the removal of all his teeth, so seriously injured he received the last rites in the Munich hospital. He received his end-of-employment notice from the club by post. He, his wife and eight-month-old son were asked to vacate their United-owned home. He died in 1994.

United goalkeeper Ray Wood, who died in 2002, was another survivor of the crash. In 1998 he and the eight other players who survived Munich were invited by Uefa to that year's European Cup final in the German city.

"I had tears in my eyes," he said, "this was recognition, after 40 years, which we never had in all that time from United."

Albert Scanlon, who fractured his skull in the crash, resulting in the scrapping of his previously agreed transfer to Arsenal, was equally bitter. "The only compensation we received was a few hundred pounds from BEA (the airline). The club did pay our wages while we were injured, but apart from that they gave us nothing. Nowadays, I even have to pay, just like anybody else, to watch United play."

When he was discharged, on crutches, from the hospital in Munich, Scanlon returned to Britain, understanding that the taxi he used in the following weeks was being paid for by the club. Club secretary Les Olive, however, advised him to stop using the taxi, informing him that the club wasn't, in fact, footing the bill.

It wasn't until 1998 that the club staged a benefit match for the survivors of Munich. After expenses each of the living survivors, or their immediate families, received £47,000. Eric Cantona, the star attraction that night, and his European X1 received £90,555 for travel and miscellaneous expenses.

"We feel that we helped to build Manchester United," said Wood. "They received massive international support following the disaster but they didn't treat people properly then, did nothing for us all those years, and they're still making money out of it directly now."

Wood wasn't wrong. When the club raised a banner at Old Trafford last week to commemorate the Munich Air Disaster the supporter's association asked them to remove their sponsor's logo. They turned down the request.

A magnificent football club, no doubt, just one that forgot what it owed to those who helped make it what it is today.

Those who died

Duncan Edwards (21)

Edwards's name appears at, or near the top, of any list of United's all time greats. At 21 he had already won two league titles and 18 England caps, his record of being the youngest player to be capped by England in the 20th century (at 18 years and 183 days) not broken until 1998 by Michael Owen. He was the last of the eight players to die, 15 days after the crash.

Roger Byrne (28)

A native of Manchester, Byrne's reputation was that of a strong-willed character who was, at times, brave enough to stand up to Matt Busby. But such was Busby's respect for the England defender he chose him as Jackie Carey's successor as captain. Byrne, a left-back, played 33 times for England. His wife June gave birth to their first child, named after his father, eight months after the crash.

Eddie Colman (21)

At 21 years and three months Colman was the youngest person to die in the crash, another of the Busby Babes who had come through the youth ranks, a member of the team that won the FA Youth Cup in 1953, 1954 and 1955. Colman was one of the crowd favourites, his jinking trickery and body swerve earning him the nickname "Snakehips".

Liam "Billy" Whelan (22)

When Liam Whelan made his debut as a 21-year-old for the Republic of Ireland in a 4-1 win over The Netherlands in Rotterdam in May 1956, it seemed safe to assume that the occasion marked the beginning of one of the great Irish international careers. As it proved it was the first of just four caps the Dubliner would win for his country. Nine months later he died in Munich.

Spotted by Billy Behan playing for Home Farm, Whelan signed for United in 1953 (where he became known as Billy), was a member of the FA Youth Cup winning team in his first season and made his first team debut an inside forward, at 19. In 96 first team appearances he scored 52 goals, helping United win consecutive league titles in 1956 and 1957. Having lost his place in the side to Bobby Charlton Whelan wasn't due to play against Red Star Belgrade, but still made the trip. He died instantly in the crash.

Geoff Bent (25)

Like Colman, Bent was a native of Salford and joined United when he left school, turning professional in 1951. The full-back was not a regular in the first team and wasn't initially due to fly to Belgrade but was added to the squad as cover for Roger Byrne who had been a doubt for the match. Byrne, in the end, was fit to play.

Mark Jones (24)

The centre-half joined United as an amateur almost 10 years before and was another graduate of the club's youth system. It wasn't until 1955 that he established himself in the first team, going on to form, with Colman and Edwards, the most formidable half-back line in England. His daughter Lynne was born four months after he died.

David Pegg (22)

Another product of United's successful youth team, Pegg, a left-winger who joined the club from Doncaster, made his England debut the year before against the Republic of Ireland at Dalymoumt Park. Four more of the players who died in Munich played that day, Whelan for Ireland and Edwards, Taylor and Byrne for England.

Tommy Taylor (26)

Famously signed from Barnsley five years before for £29,999, so he wouldn't have to suffer the pressure of being England's first £30,000 player, Taylor was rated as the finest centre-forward in England at the time, having scored 16 goals in his 19 international appearances and 112 in 166 league games for his club.

He came from mining stock in Yorkshire and had done two years national service by the time he joined United, where his goals helped win the league in 1956 and 1957.

Once asked for his opinion of Taylor the legendary Alfredo Di Stefano replied "magnifico".

• Munich Remembered: The Whelans: Monday (February 4th, 9.0pm) and Wednesday (February 6th, 1.30pm) on MUTV.

Pilot clears his name after 11-year battle

Captain James Thain had been a pilot with the RAF during the second World War. He gained a commercial licence and joined British European Airways (BEA) in 1946. By 1958 he was a senior captain and in January of that year was asked to pilot United's charter flight for their European Cup quarter-final away to Red Star Belgrade.

BEA laid on a 47-seat Airspeed Ambassador for the journey which began on the Monday. The flight home, on the Thursday, was delayed when United player Johnny Berry couldn't find his passport, but eventually the plane took off. A refuelling stop was required in Munich, three hours away, the weather forecast for which was poor - low cloud, driving rain and snow.

In difficult conditions Thain landed his plane at 2.15pm German time and while players, officials and press disembarked for refreshments he and his co-pilot, Captain Kenneth Rayment, examined the wings, deciding that it was not necessary to sweep or de-ice them. Other planes leaving Munich that day all had their wings de-iced.

At 3.20pm the plane was cleared for take-off but an uneven sound from the engines prompted Thain to abandon the first two attempts. He returned to the terminal and, again, the passengers disembarked.

Thain made the decision to attempt a third take-off, at 4.04pm after speaking with an engineer, again deciding that there was no need to de-ice the wings. By then, however, no attempt had been made by the airport to sweep the runway clear of snow and slush. The plane failed to gain sufficient height and crashed in to the fence surrounding the airport, then in to an unoccupied house.

Thain survived the crash but was blamed for the disaster by the German airport authorities, citing his failure to have the wings de-iced as the cause of the crash. In 1961 He was dismissed from his job by BEA, who also sent him a bill for the cost of his airline cap which was lost in the wreckage.

Over the years Thain spent almost £20,000 in an attempt to clear his name, finally succeeding in 1969 when a British commission agreed that the cause of the crash was the build-up of heavy slush towards the end of the runway, causing deceleration of the plane which prevented it from reaching the required speed for take-off.

Thain, who was 36 at the time of the disaster, was never re-employed by BEA. He retired to his poultry farm in Berkshire and died in 1975, at the age of 53, of a heart attack.

• The Munich Air Disasterby Stephen R Morrin (Gill and Macmillan) deals at length with the story of Captain James Thain.