Wednesday 6 February 2008

Looking back, looking forward

This is the fiftieth anniversary, to the day, of the Munich air disaster that killed eight Manchester United players and fifteen other people (club staff, journalists, crew) on 6 February 1958 - five weeks before I was born. I have already made comment on how it shaped the perceptions of a generation, and I have written pieces on overlapping but different aspects of the tragedy for my upcoming Exeter City (12 February) and Dumbarton (16 February) programme columns. I will not add more at this juncture, other than to say that the memorials were moving, and that I have featured some less-known stories of those involved: the Scot Alex Dawson and the adopted Devonian Bato Tomasevic. This evening I watched the BBC1 documentary about goalkeeper Harry Gregg, who not only survived but helped others out of the wreckage. A remarkable man, not least for his refusal of plaudits and resolute determination. Tribute enough.

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