Old Trafford legends bid farewell to Munich air crash hero Gregg
MANCHESTER United great Harry Gregg wanted to be remembered as a footballer, not the hero of the Munich air crash, his funeral has heard.
Sir Bobby Charlton, one of the players Gregg pulled from the wreckage of the burning plane, was among mourners who gathered to say farewell to a goalkeeper whose courage in the aftermath of the 1958 disaster is part of club folklore.
Fellow United legends Sir Alex Ferguson and Denis Law also attended the service in Gregg’s home town of Coleraine in Northern Ireland.
The former Northern Ireland international, who began his career at Doncaster Rovers, died earlier this week aged 87.
He will be forever associated with the tragedy in Munich in February 1958, when a plane transporting
Matt Busby’s young Manchester United side back from a European game in the former Yugoslavia crashed on a snowy runway after a refuelling stop.
Gregg survived the crash that claimed 23 lives and twice returned to the burning fuselage to drag United teammates and strangers to safety.
He rescued fellow United players Sir Bobby and Dennis Viollet from the BEA Flight 609, as well as a 20-month-old baby and her seriously injured pregnant mother.
His funeral coincidentally was held on the anniversary of Duncan Edwards’ death.
The 21-year-old United and England star was the final victim of the disaster, dying in a Munich hospital two weeks after the tragedy.
Members of the Edwards family attended Gregg’s funeral in St Patrick’s Parish Church in Coleraine, Co Londonderry.
BBC sports presenter Stephen Watson, who accompanied Gregg back to the crash site for a 2008 documentary to mark the 50th anniversary, delivered a eulogy as his widow Carolyn and other family members watched on.
“Harry Gregg’s notoriety because of the Munich air crash came at a price – it cast a shadow over his life that he found difficult to dispel, but he always carried it with grace,” he said.