THEN & NOW MANCHESTER AIRPORT

Welcome to Then and Now, where each week we compare images of Manchester streets, landmarks and buildings from bygone days with how they look today

OUR main image this week shows legendary Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin arriving at Manchester’s Ringway Airport to play in a testimonial match for Stanley Matthews. The date is April 1965. Hailed as the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the sport, Yashin played in four World Cups from 1958 to 1970. In 1998, he was unanimously chosen as a member of the World Team of the 20th Century.

Yashin’s playing statistics are little short of incredible. He saved 151 penalty kicks during his career for Russia and Dynamo Moscow and kept more than 270 clean sheets.

In 1963, he became the only goalkeeper ever to be awarded the Ballon d’Or for the European Footballer of the Year. He was also voted the best goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS – the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.

Portuguese player Eusebio, featured last week in Then and Now, described Yashin as ‘the peerless goalkeeper of the century.’

As well as welcoming football stars, big changes were afoot at Ringway in the 1960s. In 1962, the Duke of Edinburgh opened a new terminal and control block and the runway was extended in 1969 to allow aircraft to fly non-stop to Canada.

Package holidays to Europe, especially Spain, also made their first appearance in the 1960s.

There is no evidence of holidaymakers in our modern image where Covid restrictions have prevented all but essential travel.

● Many more images from Then and Now are featured in The Changing Face of Manchester published to mark the 150th anniversary of the M.E.N. It’s on sale at £14.99 including postage and packing. Order your copy online at inostalgia.co.uk or ring the order hotline on 01928 503777.