Munich Air Disaster: Remembering who Manchester United lost 65 years on

February 6 is entrenched in Manchester United history as a date to remember those who we lost in 1958 during the Munich Air Disaster.

Erik ten Hag and Patrick Viera laid wreaths on the Old Trafford pitch on Saturday afternoon before a perfectly-observed minute silence was upheld across the Theatre of Dreams.

Every Manchester United fan knows the importance of the dreaded day in Germany whilst Sir Matt Busby’s side were attempting to fly home from an away fixture against Red Star Belgrade.

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23 were lost on that day – including eight players and three club staff members; as well as eight journalists, plane captain Ken Rayment, Sir Matt Busby’s friend Willie Satinoff, travel agent Bela Miklos and crew member Tom Cable.

The Busbey Babes – a special team that was broken and millions heartbroken, every day we remember but more than ever on this anniversary.

The players we lost

Roger Byrne (28) was captain and made 258 appearances for the club. He earned three league winner’s medals and is remembered as one of the greatest leaders in the history of United. On his return from Munich, Bryne’s wife was ready to give him the news that they were expecting their first child – Roger Jr. was a ballboy at Old Trafford in his younger years before he died of cancer at age 53.

Eddie Colman (21) was the youngest of the eight, brought into the club as a young talent by Sir Matt Busby and captained United to their third FA Youth Cup victory. The wide midfielder made 85 appearances for the club before his tragic death in 1958, winning two league titles.

Mark Jones (24) joined United in 1948 as an apprentice after leaving school. The defender made 103 appearances across his career for the club and collected two league championship medals.

David Pegg (22) was the first choice outside-left (left-winger in today’s game) for United until months before the disaster. He played 127 times for United, won two league titles and provided an inspired performance against Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1956/57, which reportedly inspired the Spanish giants to purchase a new full-back to combat Pegg in the future.

Tommy Taylor (26) was one of the best goalscorers in Manchester United’s history. The forward joined the club from Barnsley for £29,999 in 1953, with Matt Bubsy giving £1 to the tea lady during negotiations to avoid the 21-year-old at the time of being the “£30,000 player”. Taylor scored 131 goals across a five-year period for The Reds and helped inspire the two league victories during that time and scored in United’s 2-1 loss to Aston Villa in the 1957 FA Cup Final.

Geoff Bent (25) was another apprentice that joined the club on leaving school in 1948 and made his first-team debut in the 1954/55 season and was quality cover for Roger Byrne on the left and Bill Foulkes at either full-back for the majority of his United career, making 12 appearances for the club. Bent was sidelined with a broken foot for much of the 1957/58 campaign but travelled to Belgrade as cover for Bryne, whose fitness was a doubt for the game.

Liam Whelan (22) joined United in 1953 at 18 years of age and racked up 98 appearances and 52 goals with the club. The talented Irishman was the top goalscorer at United with 33 goals in all competitions as they won the title in 1956/57. He competed with Bobby Charlton for a place in the team, an example of the talent within the squad at the time.

Duncan Edwards (21) is regarded as one of the most talented footballers to ever play for United, and many believe that he would’ve been known as one of the best players to grace the pitch if his life wasn’t taken so soon. He signed for United in 1952 soon and made his first-team debut at 16 years of age – becoming a first-team regular afterwards. The defensive midfielder made over 100 appearances in a single season, playing for his club, his country and his national service regiment. He made 151 appearances for United before passing away 15 days after the crash after suffering fractures to both of his legs, broken ribs and severe kidney damage.

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The staff we lost

Walter Crickmer (57/58) joined Manchester United as a clerk in 1919 and became club secretary in 1926. He spent the rest of his life in that position and twice took control of the first team in an interim position in the early years of the 1930s and during the Second World War years. He is credited with saving the club from bankruptcy, persuading James W Gibson to invest in the club. Crickmer, together with several others, also forged the club’s youth policy which still is living within United today.

Tom Curry (63) retired from the professional game in 1930 after an impressive career with Newcastle and Stockport County before becoming a trainer for Carslie United. He made the move to United in 1934 before helping the team to FA Cup glory in 1948, as well as being the trainer of the Great Britain football team that lost out to Yugoslavia in the semi-finals of the Olympics that year. He was an important member of United’s backroom for over two decades, also taking responsibility for treating injured players.

Bert Whalley (45) made over 30 appearances for United before the outbreak of the Second World War. He would then play over 200 games for The Reds during the war years. He would play seven more times after the end of the war before his playing career ended in 1947 after sustaining an eye injury. He was visited in hospital by Matt Bubsy, who promised that there was always a place at the club for him, and he would join as one of Busbey’s coaches. He became United’s chief trainer in 1955 before the tragedy three years later.

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Eight of the 11 travelling journalists were also sadly lost in the crash; Alf Clarke, Tom Jackson, Don Davies, George Fellows, Archie Ledbrook, Eric Thompson, Henry Rose, and Frank Swift. Clark once wrote, “there’s only one team in this city and you can’t write enough about them”.

Plane captain Ken Rayment died three weeks after the crash. The 37-year-old was a decorated World War II pilot and served in the RAF.

There is little known about Bela Miklos, the travel agent that organised the trip. Chief steward Tom Cable was a well-respected and familiar face with regular passengers including the United team.

Willie Satinoff was a local entrepreneur, running his family’s raincoat business after the Second World War. He met Sir Matt Bubsy here and the pair became good friends. Santinoff regularly watched United home and away all the way until his death.