Sir Bobby leads tributes to the hero of Munich

SIR BoBBy ChaRlton led the tributes yesterday to harry Gregg, the hero of the 1958 Munich disaster. Gregg, the former Manchester United and northern Ireland goalkeeper, died in Belfast on Sunday at the age of 87. he was on board with the rest of Matt Busby’s squad when their plane crashed on take-off in Munich on February 6, 1958. In total 23 players, air crew and civilians were killed but the toll would have been higher had Gregg not twice returned to the burning fuselage to drag people to safety. Just 25 at the time, Gregg rescued colleagues Charlton and Dennis Viollet as well as a 20-month-old baby and her badly injured, pregnant mother Vera lukic, the wife of a yugoslav diplomat. Charlton, the only remaining survivor of the crash, said: ‘My wife lady norma and I are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of harry Gregg. I was proud to call him a team-mate. ‘For all the matter-of-fact things harry said about that night in Munich, for me he will always be remembered as an heroic figure. he was a shining light on and off the pitch. ‘For so many reasons, he deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest names in United’s history. harry will be deeply missed.’ Former United manager Sir alex Ferguson said: ‘harry was a man of great character and a true legend at our club. ‘I remember he was always very excited and proud to host our youth team at his boarding house for the Milk Cup every summer, so he could recount the tales of his playing days. ‘I loved his company and the many pieces of advice he gave me. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Carolyn and family. God bless harry.’ Gregg became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper when he moved to old trafford for £23,000 from Doncaster in 1957. he played 247 times for United in his nine years at the club as well as 25 times for his country. having left two years before Busby’s rebuilt team won the European Cup in 1968, Gregg went on to manage Shrewsbury, Swansea, Crewe and Carlisle. he also had a spell back at United as goalkeeping coach. Recently he established the harry Gregg Foundation, which provides sporting opportunities for youngsters in northern Ireland. Gregg was one of the coffin bearers when his close friend George Best died in 2005. Best had previously referred to Gregg as ‘my hero’.