There was a documentary made in 2008 for the 50th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster which featured goalkeeper Harry Gregg returning to the Munich terminal, and almost immediately, he asked the cameras to give him a moment alone.
Like many survivors, Gregg has spoken about that day when he didn’t have to, choosing to share the experience and the guilt and the horror, and the duty he felt not only on the day to help save people from the crash but to return to the pitch for the club afterward.
Gregg and Bill Foulkes returned to the starting XI in the team’s next match, and it wasn’t long before Sir Bobby Charlton did as well, and together they established a new foundation for Sir Matt Busby and Jimmy Murphy to rebuild the team. They would go on to win the FA Cup in 1963, the league in 1965 and 1967, and then the crowning achievement of Busby’s tenure, the European Cup in 1968.
Gregg died in 2020, and Charlton, probably the best English player ever, let alone the best in the club’s history, was the last survivor to pass away in 2023.
These are the people who rebuilt Manchester United on the pitch, certainly, but literally had a say in the additions to Old Trafford and the maintenance of the club from the success of the 1960s until Sir Alex Ferguson’s revival of the team as a title-winning force in the 1990s.
Every year, the club memorializes those who died in the tragedy as well as the survivors, and both the men’s and women’s teams wear black armbands. It has, and will always be, a profound part of the club’s identity. As time goes on, the memory of the tragedy should remain important, especially with those who lived it no longer living.
Earlier this year it was announced that the club had agreed to a deal for future television shows depicting the history of the team, which will almost certainly include the Babes and the following teams of the 60s. It’s a rich period of sporting history to explore on the screen, and as was seen with the BBC film _United,_ there is a proper way to explore the humanity and the spirit of the club with respect for the tragedy and the survivors.
There should still be great care taken with the history, though.
The focus of the tragedy in _United_ was not on the depiction of the crash itself, it was on the impact of the event on the humans who experienced it. While the film had its major characters, it had its shortcomings in people who were left out or left unexplored beyond their presence in the team. Notably, Matt Busby’s son had problems with the wardrobe for the portrayal of his father, as well as not being consulted himself, but care was taken by the production to give justice to the cultural significance of the event while being respectful to the survivors and their families.
As time goes on, the connection to the past will remain. Memorials in Manchester and Belgrade, the Manchesterplatz Memorial in Munich, and matchday tributes on and around the anniversary will see to that, but it’s important to know it’s remembered as well. As the club goes on, and as those who lived it become more of a memory, we can’t let the significance fade. We can’t let the stories and testimonies fade. We can’t forget why we sing “We’ll Never Die.”