GOALKEEPER WHO SAVED LIVES.
8 teammates killed in 1958 Munich tragedy
Harry Gregg, the former Manchester United and Northern Ireland goalkeeper who has died aged 87, was among the survivors of the Munich air crash of 1958 that killed eight teammates; that a number of others lived was in no small part due to his heroism.
On Feb. 6, 1958, the flight home from a European Cup match in Yugoslavia stopped at Munich to refuel. Aboard were 43 people, among them reporters, the players and club staff.
On its third attempt to take off in snowy conditions, the plane plowed through a fence and struck a hut, inside which was a fuel tanker, which ignited.
When Gregg regained his senses, he crawled out of a tear in the side of the plane. But he went back in to rescue a young girl and her pregnant mother. Then he helped evacuate Ray Wood, the unconscious Bobby Charlton, Dennis Viollet, manager Matt Busby and Jackie Blanchflower.
One of the 23 who died was Duncan Edwards, who was expected to become the best player of his generation (a mantle that Charlton assumed).
Henry Gregg was born at Tobermore, Co. Londonderry, on Oct. 27, 1932. At 20 he was playing for Peter Doherty, the Irish manager of Doncaster Rovers, becoming a highly competitive goalkeeper.
He made his international debut for Northern Ireland in 1954 and was his country’s first-choice goalkeeper.
In 1957 Gregg moved to Old Trafford for £23,500 ($40,000), a world record fee for a goalkeeper.
A match in Sweden would be his country’s greatest performance in the World Cup. Despite damaged ankle ligaments, Gregg had perhaps the most outstanding game of his career.
In late 1961 he suffered a shoulder injury that put him out of the game for several months, during which his wife, Mavis, died of breast cancer at age 26, leaving him with two young daughters.
Gregg regained his place in the first team, and in 1965 married Carolyn Maunders, with whom he would have a son and three daughters.
He published an autobiography, Harry’s Game, with Roger Anderson, in 2002.
A daughter of his first marriage predeceased him. He is survived by his wife and his five other children.