München ulykken

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Pink Final
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Limer inn en tekst fra 2008.
I forbindelse med at Harry Gregg reiste tilbake til München.
Og deretter til Beograd, hvor han møtte Vera Lukic, og datteren Vesna (da 51 år) og sønnen Zoric (da 49 år).
Zoric var ikke født da ulykken inntraff.
Moren Vera var gravid med ham, ukjent for Gregg da ulykken inntraff.
Han var en av de tre Lukic’ene Gregg reddet.

Se posten min på forrige side - post nr 3 -, fra møtet mellom Vera, Vesna og Gregg i Wales 1983.

Teksten:

He lay in the wreckage considering his own mortality.

«I thought I was dead until I felt the blood running down my face,” he says. “I didn’t want to feel my head because I thought the top had been taken off like a hard-boiled egg. I was so confused. It was total darkness yet it was only three in the afternoon; it was hard to reconcile.”

Then, to his right and slightly above him, there was a shaft of light. “I realised I wasn’t dead, and reached down to undo my safety belt, but it was not there.”

He crawled towards the light and kicked what was a hole in the fuselage larger with the soles of his feet.
“I looked out of the hole and there, lying below me, was the first dead person I saw, not a mark on him.
It was Bert Whalley, the chief coach, who’d been taken with us as a bonus for developing all those great young players.
“I managed to turn myself around to kick the hole bigger to get out and it was then I noticed I was missing a shoe.
I dropped down to the ground and just stood.
At first I thought I was the only one left alive.
In the distance I noticed five people running away, they shouted at me to run.
At that moment, the aircraft captain came around from what had been the nose of the aircraft carrying a little fire extinguisher. When he saw me he shouted in his best pucker English accent: ‘Run, you stupid ***, it’s going to explode.’ ”

But Gregg heard a baby crying.
«The crying seemed to bring me back to reality and I shouted at the people running away to come back.
They were still shouting at me to run.
I could hear the child crying and felt angry they were running away, so I shouted again, ‘Come back, you ***, there’s people alive in here.’
For me to shout that was difficult because, at that time, I was a God-fearing man and wouldn’t normally have cursed.
But the people just kept running.”

So Gregg climbed back into the smouldering wreckage.
In the darkness he came across a baby’s romper suit and he thought of his own daughter back home in England.
«I was terrified what I’d find beneath it,” he said quietly as he again pictured the scene from 50 years ago.
«I was relieved when I found it empty.
I went further in the wreckage and found the baby beneath a pile of debris and, remarkably, she only had a cut over her eye.
I scrabbled back to the hole with her and got her out.”

Gregg headed in the direction of the people who had been running away and met the radio operator, George Rodgers, who was returning to help. He took the baby from Gregg.

The goalkeeper went back into the wreckage to look for the infant’s mother.
She was discovered with a gaping wound to her head.
He later learnt that the woman had a fractured skull, two broken legs, severe back injuries and a smashed elbow and arm.

He describes the rescue: “I was on my backside and was behind the woman, so I used my legs to push her along towards the hole.
I couldn’t carry her or lift her so I got my feet in the middle of her back and literally kicked her through the hole.”

In among the carnage of the Munich wreck, the man who was later to be named the world’s top goalkeeper at the end of the 1958 World Cup made his greatest saves.
His courage rescued 22-month-old Vesna Lukic, her 23-year-old mother, and the unborn child she was carrying.

Gregg’s account of how he went around the bodies of his team-mates was told in a soft voice:
“The captain, Roger Byrne, didn’t have a mark on him and his eyes were open, but he was clearly dead.
I’ve always regretted not closing his eyes.

“The majority of the aircraft was destroyed and one section seemed to have disappeared.
I found Ray Wood, and he was wearing a big orange sweater.
I tried to move him but couldn’t.
Nearby was Albert Scanlon.
Scanny’s injuries were so severe I had to fight to prevent myself from being sick.
I couldn’t budge him and I left them both, thinking they were dead.

«I began to search for Jackie Blanchflower and I shouted out his name.
Blanchy and I had been friends since we played together for Ireland Schoolboys as 14-year-olds and I was desperate to find him.
I stumbled across Bobby Charlton and Dennis Viollet, hanging half-in, half-out of what was left of the body of the plane.
“Dennis had a *** behind his right ear.
Again I thought Dennis and Bobby were dead, but even so I grabbed them by the waistbands of their trousers and trailed them through the snow for about 20 yards, away from the smouldering front of the plane.

I found Blanchy the lower part of his right arm had been almost completely severed.
It was horrendous, a scene of utter devastation.”

Many of those Gregg thought had been killed actually lived: Charlton to play again for Manchester United and to be part of the 1966 England World Cup-winning team;

Violett, Scanlon and Wood to follow careers that would never attain the glory of the Busby Babes.

Others, such as Blanchflower, survived but were unable to recover enough to return to football.

For Harry Gregg the profound effect of rescuing the mother and child and the third person, then unborn, would become a heroic action he treated as much a burden as a moment of pride.

For Zoran Lukic, growing up with the legend of the remarkable rescue contained only in a scrapbook was always a story he wanted to turn into flesh and blood.
The passing of years did little to alleviate the anguish felt by Harry Gregg or Vera Lukic.
As far as they were both concerned, their lives had crossed in tragedy then continued on their parallel separate paths.

Gregg was called the “Hero of Munich” but it was an epithet he wore with considerable discomfort and reluctance.
«How in God’s name could I go out and talk of the things that happened?” asked Gregg in his home. “If you talk about such things you’re looking for medals.
I was invited one time to the Yugoslav embassy for a ceremony or presentation, but I didn’t reply. “My life was about football, and if someone says I was the best goalkeeper in the world and represented my country at every level, I’ll stand up and be proud of that. But to describe me for doing something at the scene of an accident, it’s not something I want to shout about.”
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Old Trafford for 62 år siden.

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LUHG!
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Pink Final wrote: 09 Feb 2019, 08:33 Vera og Vesna Lukic møter Harry Gregg i Wales 25 år etter ulykken.
Sterkt øyeblikk i det de møtes.
Gregg har problemer med å holde følelsene under kontroll.
Det samme har mor og datter Lukic.
Harry Gregg er død.
Keeperen som gjorde sine viktigste redninger i og rundt flyvraket ved Riem flyplass.
Gregg reddet flere liv den dagen, som beskrevet i den engelske teksten jeg limte inn forrige uke.

Blant annet reddet han Vera Lukic og hennes 22 måneder gamle datter.
Den da 23 år gamle Vera Lukic hadde flere alvorlige skader.
Gregg selv så bare det store gapende hullet i hodet.
Hun hadde bl.a fått brudd på hjerneskallen, slik også flere av United’s unge spillere fikk.

Han fikk dessuten lagt Matt Busby i stabilt sideleie.
Busby lå i snøen utenfor vraket, og Gregg dekket ham med frakken sin.
Busby hadde som flere av sine spillere store indre skader.
I tillegg til at den ene foten ble vridd feil vei i krasjet.

Gregg ropte på sin beste venn Jackie Blanchflower og fant ham.
Blanchy’s verste skade var nedre del av høyre arm - som var delvis avrevet.
Gregg lagde et fatle til armen av slipset sitt!

Gregg fikk dessuten dratt Dennis Violett og Bobby Charlton bort fra flyvraket.

Flykapteinen James Thain ba Gregg løpe for livet, fordi den ene flyvingen som ennå satt fast på flyet var full av drivstoff.
Det brant i flyet, og om flyvingen tok fyr ville alt eksplodere.

Gregg opptrådte svært modig.

Det tok som kjent en stund før det kom hjelp.
Først naboer og privatpersoner.
Deretter paramedicere og brannvesen.

Matt Busby kjøpte Gregg i desember 1957, Busby’s første kjøp siden mars 1953.

Gregg mente selv at Busby kjøpte ham, fordi han var så offensiv i stilen som keeper.
Da han ble kjøpt var han verdens dyreste keeper.
£23 000 var prisen.

Harry Gregg og Bill Foulkes fikk begge kun lettere fysiske skader.
De ble som de eneste med assistent manager Jimmy Murphy tilbake til England, og spilte matchen mot Sheffield Wednesday 19 februar.
Vi kan bare forestille oss de psykiske traumene Gregg og Foulkes slet med etter ulykken.
Foulkes fortalte senere hvordan han verken orket å spise, eller fikk sove.
Han raste ned i vekt etter ulykken.

Harry Gregg ble 87 år.
Det er kun sir Bobby Charlton igjen fra ‘the last line up’ mot Crvena Zvezda 05-02-58.
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En kjempe er død, RIP Harry Gregg. Han fikk tildelt noen spesielle kort fra bunken i livet. Spilte de godt, fortjener en stor markering fra MUFC` side.

Hjemmesiden er i alle fall full av saker om Gregg.
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Hvil i fred Harry Gregg :heart: True LEGEND :heart:
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6 februar i dag - datoen for den fryktelige ulykken i 1958.
Albert Scanlon var en av de som overlevde, her på Recht der Isar med store skader tre dager etter krasjet.

Image

Scanny ble visstnok aldri den samme vingen igjen.
Han ble solgt til Newcastle, og derfra til Mansfield.
Senere jobbet han på skipsdokkene i Salford.

Scanlon var en av de som ikke hadde det så lett i årene etterpå.
Noe som er gjengitt i både bøker og videoer.

Men, mot slutten av sitt liv ble han tatt inn i varmen.
Og presenterte bl.a PL pokalen til laget i 2007.

Scanlon fortalte at det han husket aller best da han kom til United på 1950 tallet - var å møte Matt Busby.
Busby klappet ham på hode og sa «We’ll make a player of you son».

I kveld er det match mot Everton, og Busby Babes blir minnet.
Både de som døde i krasjet og de som overlevde.
Synes det er fint at journalistene i de senere år også blir husket for det de var.
Glimrende fotballreportere.
Frank Taylor, den eneste journalisten som overlevde har fortalt om alle de 8 journalistene som mistet livet.
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The Flowers of Manchester

One cold and bitter Thursday
in Munich Germany
Eight great football stalwarts
conceded victory
Eight men will never play again
who met destruction there,
The flowers of English football
the flowers of Manchester

Matt Busby’s boys were flying
returning from Belgrade
This great United family
all masters of their trade
The pilot of the aircraft
the skipper Captain Thain
Three times they tried to take off
and twice turned back again

The third time down the runaway
disaster followed close
There was slush upon that runaway
and the aircraft never rose
It ploughed into the marshy ground,
it broke, it overturned
And eight of the team were killed
as the blazing wreckage burned

Roger Byrne and Tommy Taylor
who were capped for England’s side
And Ireland’s Billy Whelan
and England’s Geoff Bent died
Mark Jones and Eddie Colman
and David Pegg also
They all lost their lives
as it ploughed on through the snow

Big Duncan he went too
with an injury to his brain
And Ireland’s brave Jack Blanchflower
will never play again
The great Matt Busby lay there
the father of his team
Three long months passed by
before he saw his team again

The trainer, coach and secretary
and a member of the crew
Also eight sporting journalists
who with United flew
and one of them Big Swifty
who we will ne’er forget
the finest English
keeper that ever graced the net

Oh, England’s finest football team
its record truly great
its proud successes mocked by
a cruel turn of fate
Eight men will never play again
who met destruction there
the flowers of English football
the flowers of Manchester
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En fæl dag, og takk for teksten over. Postet akkurat denne videoen på united.no. Synes den er fin å høre på idag.

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Snart 64 år siden Busby Babes omkom på Riem flyplassen i München.


The Sad Return
100,000 mennesker tar i mot kistene sent om kvelden i Manchester 😢
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Det er fælt å skrive dette, men å sjå desse klippa er nesten godt for sjela. Ein samla by, stolte og takknemlige over laget og i unison sorg over dei som hadde gått bort. Manchester 'UNITED' i ordet sin rette forstand.

Eg må (noko) skammeleg seie at eg slit litt med forholdet til laget akkurat no. Ikkje til klubben, men til dei spelarane som representerer klubben for øyeblikket. Dag Langerød melder om ein ukultur blant spelarane. Det ser ut til at mange ikkje kan komme seg fort nok ut dørene på Old Trafford. Og no dei grove skuldingane mot Mason Greenwood...

Så ja, eg gir litt blaffen i kven som kjem eller går i løpet av kvelden. Jobben med å gjennomføre ein 'Cultural reboot' bør fullførast. Ikkje ved å kopiere alt som Matt Busby eller Alex Ferguson gjorde, men det vil vere avgjerande å gjeninnføre to av grunnprinsippa deira: vinnarvilje (vinnarkultur) og endelaus stoltheit over å kunne representere Manchester United Football Club. Kanskje burde spelarane sjå desse klippa for å forstå kva dei er ein del av...
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Pancho P wrote:31 Jan 2022, 20:50 Eg må (noko) skammeleg seie at eg slit litt med forholdet til laget akkurat no. Ikkje til klubben, men til dei spelarane som representerer klubben for øyeblikket
Denne sesongen har vært en skuffelse.
Da tenker jeg like mye framtoning som resultater.
Mange United fans ga senest for ett år siden uttrykk for at dette er et lag å bli glade i.
Lett å like.
Mye har endret seg denne sesongen.
Det Dag Langerød forteller om ‘bølger’ innad i leiren er skuffende.
Likeså hvordan laget framstod mot eksempelvis Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester City og Watford.

Så er det viktig å huske at ikke alt var fryd og gammen etter München heller.
Flere spillere ble urettferdig behandlet av klubben i mange år etter ulykken.

Håper laget gjør stas på Busby Babyene på fredag.
Bare en gjenlevende Busby Babe som var med flyet nå, sir Bobby Charlton.
Som har blitt dement stakkars.
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Eg var blant dei som var uttalt svært positiv til denne spelargruppa for berre eitt år sidan. Unge spelarar, ikkje minst frå eige akademi, spennande spelartypar og ikkje minst sympatiske folk som Rashford og Mata, som også styrka klubben sitt omdømme utanfor bana.

No er det ikkje slik at eg vil kaste alle på dør. Det er viktig å ikkje generalisere for mykje, men all negativiteten særleg det siste halvåret har vore svært skuffande.

For å vende tilbake til tråden. Det var ein del spelarar som blei behandla dårleg av klubben etter München-ulykka, men i all hovudsak konsoliderte denne tragedien det allereie sterke bandet mellom klubb og fans. Den skapte ein sympati og legendarisk fascinasjon for klubben som ingen andre klubbar kan vise til. Det kan hende eg er håplaust pompøs og nostalgisk her, men eg meiner at spelarar på Manchester United bør vere spesielt stolte over og medvitne om at dei spelar for ein heilt spesiell klubb. Beviset på dette kjem allereie på fredag.
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Enig i alt du skriver i posten over @Pancho P.
Både i nåtid og fortid.
Klubben og byen gjorde mye rett og mye bra etter München.
Det var utvilsomt svært vanskelig for klubben.

Særlig en spiller ble svært bitter, Johnny Berry.
Tekst av Alex Metcalfe
Jackie Blanchflower and Jonny Berry were both forced into early retirement and could only watch their friends continue on the legacy of the Busby Babes.
Of course, they still had their lives and that is the most important thing, but Blanchflower and Berry lived with the scars of Munich both mentally and physically for decades.

Blanchflower, nicknamed ‘Twiggy’ by teammates, was a Northern Irishman and younger brother of Danny, captain of Tottenham Hotspur during their glory years in the early 1960s.
He joined United in 1949 and came through their now renowned academy, making his debut for the first team in late 1951, before helping United later claim the league title in both 1956 and 1957. 

When the squad travelled to Yugoslavia for the second leg against Red Star Belgrade on the 5 February 1958, Blanchflower was taken as a reserve.
Despite his lack of game time, he was known for his versatility, playing both upfront and in defence, while even going in goal during the 1957 FA Cup final defeat. Blanchflower was the 20th century equivalent of John O’Shea, a talented footballer and a true squad player.

Just like Blanchflower, Berry made his United debut in 1951.
He arrived for £25,000, big money at the time, from Birmingham City as a flying winger with a growing reputation.
A quick and skilful player, Berry is rarely considered when there is a list of the greatest ever players to wear the number seven shirt at the club, but he did make an impressive 276 appearances, scoring 45 goals from the right-wing.

Another reason why he isn’t fondly remembered is like Blanchflower, he wasn’t a regular in the team.
He had been a permanent starter in previous title winning sides of 1952, 1956 and 1957, but in 1958 at 31 years old he had lost his place to the younger Welshman Kenny Morgans, who started on the right in both legs of the tie against Red Star.

In the tragedy of Munich, Blanchflower and Berry both survived, but at some cost. Fellow Northern Irishman and long-time friend Harry Gregg  revealed that he found Blanchflower lying beneath deceased captain Roger Byrne.
The injuries Blanchflower suffered from the crash were not fatal for his life, but unfortunately were for his footballing career.
He suffered a fractured pelvis and crushed kidneys with multiple limb fractures.

Berry has been quoted as saying ‘We are going to die’ on the plane, moments before the crash and it has been reported that when he awoke he had no recollection of what had happened.
Berry was stuck in a two-month coma before awakening to find out that his friends and teammates had died and that his horrific injuries meant he would never play again.
Berry had a fractured skull as well as a broken jaw, elbow, pelvis and leg. 

- “A time of indescribable pain and grief.”
– Neil Berry, Johnny’s son, on the time after Munich for him and his family.

Both players when leaving United had to vacate their houses that were owned by the club. (Bold skrift satt inn av meg)

Unsurprisingly, Berry suffered a personality change after the crash and sadly was the first of those who survived the disaster to die when he passed away in 1994.

Blanchflower was the second, passing away in 1998, two weeks after he attended a memorial match at Old Trafford for the 40th anniversary of the disaster.

Jackie Blanchflower and Johnny Berry were vital members of a legendary team that was struck down in their prime by a terrible tragedy.
The two men lived for 36 and 40 years respectively after the crash with the pain of not only losing their teammates and friends but losing their own careers as professional players. Long may they be remembered.
Disse to samt Albert Scanlon er vel blant de som ikke fikk så god behandling av klubben etter München.
Står ikke så mye om det her, bortsett fra at de måtte flytte ut av klubbens hus (i 1960).
:down: Dette ble for automatisk redigert inn i posten for å hindre dobbel post.
Ta med litt positivt
Manchester takker München
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Ganske sterkt å se når Harry Gregg møter Vera og Vesna Lukic hjemme hos Phil Boersma.
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