Gregg is a legend at supporters weren’t
OLD Trafford, Manchester United’s Theatre of Dreams. It is a stadium that is littered with stories of glory and heroes and names that have left their mark.
One of them, one name that will not be forgotten, is Harry Gregg – one the last remaining survivors of the Busby Babes.
And yet while Gregg will always be remembered at Manchester United, his time at Swansea City is one most in South Wales would rather forget.
Or certainly his period in charge that puts the current struggles faced by Paul Clement to keep the club in the Premier League into a little bit of perspective.
Though there is still an element of fear and trepidation surrounding Swansea, even after last week’s vital win over Stoke, it cannot compare to that of Gregg’s time as the club’s manager in the early 70s.
It wasn’t the plan – it rarely is – for Swansea to be at one of their lowest ebbs when they appointed such a stellar name to be boss, a player who had earned legendary status at United both as a player and as a man.
Gregg’s ability as a goalkeeper had been enough to persuade Sir Matt Busby – or just plain Matt at the time – to pay what was then a world record £23,000 fee for a No.1 to take him from Doncaster to Old Trafford in 1957. Just a few months later, he was credited with rescuing teammates Bobby Charlton, Dennis Violet and Jackie Blanchflower, as well as manager Busby and the pregnant passenger Vera Lukic, from the burning wreckage.
Praised for bravery and heart that most of us could not imagine, Gregg was also praised for his determination to carry on despite the tragedy. That summer, Northern Ireland international Gregg was named as the 1958 World Cup goalkeeper of the tournament.
His United legacy assured, Gregg sought new paths, one that eventually took him to Swansea in November 1972 to replace Roy Bentley as manager.
Gregg arrived after an uneventful spell with Shrewsbury, but his time in Swansea unfortunately proved to be anything but. He could not be blamed for the relegation into the old Fourth Division that followed that season, but there had been hope that this icon would offer an escape from the doldrums the Vetch Field club found itself in.
His move to appoint the city’s favourite son, John Charles, to his coaching staff was a step in the right direction.
“I thought with the name John had we could attract good young players to the club,” Gregg is quoted as saying in Mario Risoli’s book on Charles’ move to look after the youth system, the Wales great having seen his name overlooked for the main job.
There were good young kids already there, as Charles would have noticed as he took training sessions behind the North Bank. Alan Curtis – having not succeeded in a trial at Manchester United – had broken through under Bentley, while Gregg handed a debut to a 16-year-old Robbie James in the final game of the 72-73 season.
But the football the previous generation of local heroes had produced through Charles’ contemporaries such as Ivor Allchurch had gone by the wayside.
A more physical approach had been adopted without success by Bentley. In his autobiography Curtis – who had been offered a new deal by Gregg but then spent his apprenticeship summer helping build foundations for an extension on his manager’s Langland house – admits the optimism surrounding Charles’ arrival was soon deflated when it was clear the more “robust” style would continue.
“Under Harry’s regime, each game was a battle and there was certainly not going to be too much an emphasis on total football,” Curtis wrote, bemoaning how he and other forward players would end up being kicked in retaliation for the kicks Swansea teammates would be under orders to dish out.
“In the dressing room before the game, Harry would lay out his game plan: on the first corner (we) were to let the keeper know they were there so he would think twice before coming out for another cross. In other words, they would smash into the goalkeeper and hammer him into the back of the net. A great ploy, except it sometimes took us over an hour to get our first corner!”