Hero of Manchester United air disaster pulled Bobby Charlton from wreckage
Harry Gregg goalkeeper b October 27, 1932 d February 16, 2020
Harry Gregg, the former Manchester United and Northern Ireland goalkeeper who has died aged 87, was among the survivors of the Munich air disaster of 1958 that killed eight of his team-mates; that some of the others survived was in no small part due to the heroism he displayed that fateful day.
On the afternoon of February 6, 1958, the plane carrying the United team back from their European Cup tie with Red Star Belgrade in Yugoslavia stopped at Munich Riem airport to refuel. Aboard were 43 people, among them a dozen reporters, as well as the players and staff of the club.
The runway was covered with snow, and the aircraft had already made two aborted attempts to take off when the pilot was given clearance to try again. As the plane surged to the correct velocity for lift-off, it began to lose speed abruptly. It ploughed through a fence and struck a house and then a hut, inside which was a fuel bowser, which ignited. The tail and a wing were torn off, and flames began to seek out the leaking fuel.
It was in this scene of devastation that Gregg came to, having been knocked unconscious by the impact. It was so dark, he said later, that he assumed he had arrived in hell. Then he regained his senses and crawled out of a hole in the side of the aircraft. The pilot appeared and shouted at him to run, as the plane might explode at any time.
But Gregg had heard the sound of a young girl crying, and went back into the wreckage to rescue her and her pregnant mother, Vera Lukic, the wife of the Yugoslav air attache in London, who had caught a lift on the flight. Then he helped to free the injured Ray Wood, his rival for the first-team goalkeeper slot, before dragging the unconscious Bobby Charlton and Dennis Viollet to safety.
However, 23 people had perished or were soon to die from their injuries, including Duncan Edwards, who was expected to become the best player of his generation (a mantle that Charlton assumed instead). Gregg was haunted for years afterwards by guilt that he had lived when so many had not.
Henry Gregg was born in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, the eldest of six children. He was picked for the Irish Schoolboys’ team, and would subsequently be capped at every level of international football.
He was brought to England at the age of 20 to play for Doncaster Rovers. In December 1957 he moved to Manchester United for £23,500, then a world record fee for a goalkeeper. After Munich he took the place of Wood in goal, and was instrumental in United’s FA Cup run of 1958, which helped to begin rebuilding the spirit of the side. In the final, however, they lost 2-0 to Bolton, both goals being scored by Nat Lofthouse.
His second came in highly controversial fashion when he bundled both Gregg and the ball into the net as Gregg tried to catch it. The goal stood, but for many years Gregg found it hard to forgive Lofthouse for what he considered to be unfair play. His loser’s medal was the only honour Gregg would gain with United in his nine years at the club.
Afew weeks later, he travelled to Sweden with Northern Ireland for what would prove to be his country’s greatest performance in the World Cup. Northern Ireland made it to the quarterfinals, where they were beaten by France. Gregg was voted the best goalkeeper of the tournament, ahead even of the great Lev Yashin, of Russia. He would eventually win 25 international caps.
Much of the remainder of Gregg’s time at United was to be sadly blighted by injury and further personal tragedy. In 1962, his wife Mavis died at 26 from breast cancer. In 1965 he married Carolyn Maunders, with whom he was to have a son and three more daughters.
In 1963, more disappointment came his way when Busby dropped him for the FA Cup Final, which United won. Subsequent injuries to his collarbone and then to his legs during a car accident caused him to miss a further 18 months of play and the chance to have been part of the side that won the league in 1965.
Gregg was later transferred to Stoke, where he played a handful of games before turning to coaching and then management, largely without success.
In 1989, having had his fill of football, he bought a hotel in Northern Ireland. He survived a bout of bowel cancer in 2003 but had a stroke in 2013.
Gregg was a driven, plain-speaking, at times outspoken man, and later in life made several allegations about misconduct at United. He claimed he had been offered money to throw matches, and that he knew at least three games had been lost in this way.
He also said that it was common for the players to be given pills during matches to pep them up; only after he had retired did he realise they were illegal amphetamines.
Despite his public image as a hero, Gregg thought himself a coward. He chided himself for having not known how to comfort his first wife when she received her cancer diagnosis, and for being frightened when he was given his own.
A daughter of his first marriage predeceased him. He is survived by his wife and his five other children. –