Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FERGIE’S FAREWELL TO HERO HARRY
Sir Alex and soccer pals pay last respects at Ulster funeral
SIR Alex Ferguson joined other football legends in Northern Ireland yesterday to say a final farewell to Munich hero Harry Gregg.
The former Man United manager, Sir Bobby Charlton and Denis Law were among the mourners at St Patrick’s Parish Church, Coleraine.
They heard that Gregg, who died aged 87, had a “constant battle against grief and guilt” after the 1958 air crash.
THOUSANDS gathered in grief to say goodbye to Northern Ireland and Manchester United legend Harry Gregg OBE yesterday.
Members of the public watched as the cortege passed through the streets of Coleraine en route to the funeral service – where it arrived shortly before 12pm.
The two loves of Gregg’s life – family and football – gathered to pay their final respects to one of the most courageous Busby Babes, who died on Sunday.
With Gregg’s death at the age of 87, only Sir Bobby Charlton – who was in St Patrick’s Parish Church – remains of the men who survived the Munich air disaster on that snowy runway in February 1958.
And some of the biggest names in football – including Denis Law, Alex Ferguson and Gerry Armstrong – turned out in their droves to pay their respects.
Representatives of Northern Ireland sport including former athlete Mary Peters, Sammy Mcilroy, members of Coleraine FC including manager Oran Kearney and Northern Ireland’s record goalscorer and Linfield manager David Healy were also in attendance.
And local politicians including First Minister Arlene Foster and The Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Sean Baston also attended the service.
But first and foremost, Gregg was a family man and his beloved wife Carolyn, to whom he was married for more than 54 years, was accompanied by their daughters Linda, Julie, Jane and Suzanne, son John-henry, sons-in-law David and Keith, daughter-in-law Tina and sister Elizabeth.
The pallbearers carried Gregg’s coffin through a guard of honour at the entrance to the local parish church featuring children from the Harry Gregg Foundation.
Hundreds packed into St Patrick’s as the man dubbed the “Hero of Munich” received a poignant and fitting goodbye.
After a beautiful introduction of Amazing Grace by the congregation, there were both bursts of laughter and tears shed as Reverend Canon John Mccammon, assisted by the Reverend Ian Ballentine and BBC Sport NI broadcaster Stephen Watson, shared their fondest memories of the football giant.
Recalling that harrowing afternoon in Munich, he said the event “came at a price” for Gregg and described how the former footballer “had a constant battle against grief and guilt” after the tragedy.
Watson added: “But as he told me, getting back to football saved his sanity. He used the game to heal his scars.
“He was called the ‘Hero of Munich’ but he always wanted to be remembered simply as a footballer and a coach of some repute.”
Among those Gregg saved were Vera Lukic – the pregnant wife of a Yugoslav diplomat – and her daughter Vesna as well as the United manager players Matt Bubsy, Ray Wood, Albert Scanlon and fellow Northern Ireland teammate and childhood pal Jackie Blanchflower.
A total of 23 people died in the incident – eight players, eight journalists and seven backroom staff members.
Watson said: “In his own words, ‘I am Harry Gregg of 34 Windsor Avenue in Coleraine, who played football.
“I was useful on some days and rubbish on others. That is how I want to be remembered, not for something that happened on a spur of the moment.’”
The presenter told how Gregg’s
He was a great role model for everyone in Northern Ireland
LIAM BECKETT FAMILY FRIEND YESTERDAY
darkest hour came following the death of his first wife Mavis, the mother of his eldest two children, from breast cancer at the age of 26.
The family man also suffered another personal tragedy when his daughter Karen died from the same disease shortly before the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.
Preceding a reading of a poem written by Gregg entitled “Jumpers for Goalposts”, family friend Liam Beckett rose to speak of a man he regarded as a “fatherly figure” in a touching eulogy.
He said: “It is very difficult to describe a man you had so much respect for. He was a great role model for everyone in Northern Ireland.
“He was living proof you could get to the top and you didn’t need wealth or help from people in high places.
“He was the type of figure that could give people that hope.
“And when I lost my father when he was 26, as soon as we became friends it soon moved beyond that and he became a fatherly figure to me.
“Sometimes when I needed guidance, which was quite a lot, I would have gone to him. We will miss him.”
The congregation laughed as Beckett said he had trouble finding an story to tell of Gregg that could be told in a place of worship.
He added: “He never courted publicity. That is what I loved about him. Everything that was poured upon his shoulders he took in his stride.
“But Harry was most content when he was with his family and we loved him for that as well.”
Beckett also reflected on what he described as Harry’s “pride and joy”.
He said: “I was thinking of the legacy he has left, the Harry Gregg Foundation,
which is something I know he was so proud about – his pride and joy.
“It is about giving kids a structured platform in such a way kids could go out and enjoy it.”
Gregg was born in Tobermore and played 25 times for his country and 247 times for Manchester United.
Before his transfer to the Red Devils in 1957 for £23,500, a world-record fee at the time, he played for teams on both sides of the border including Coleraine, Linfield and Dundalk while working as a joiner. He also enjoyed spells at Doncaster Rovers and Stoke City. After retiring in 1967, he set up a charity to promote grassroots football and in 1995 he was awarded an MBE for services to football before being named on the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list in 2019 for an OBE.
After the service yesterday, Gregg’s cortege made its way back through his hometown passing by The Showgrounds stadium and outside his childhood home at Windsor Avenue.
He was later laid to rest in Coleraine Cemetery at a private service.