Ex-goalkeeper and hero of Munich air crash dies

● Northern Irishman was part of celebrated ‘Busby Babes’ team

Former Manchester United and Northern Ireland goalkeeper Harry Gregg, a hero of the Munich air disaster, has died at the age of 87. Gregg was a survivor of the air disaster on February 6 1958, in which 23 people were killed, and twice returned to the burning fuselage to drag team-mates and strangers to safety.

He rescued United team-mates Bobby Charlton and Dennis Viollet from the BEA Flight 609, as well as a 20-month-old baby and her badly injured, pregnant mother.

“It is with great sorrow that we inform of the death of Manchester United and Northern Ireland legend Harry Gregg, OBE,” said the Harry Gregg Foundation in a statement posted on Facebook.

“Harry passed away peacefully in hospital surrounded by his loving family.”

Gregg became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper when United, and Sir Matt Busby, shelled out £23,000 in 1957, and he was voted the best at the World Cup a year later.

He spent nine years with the Red Devils, although he never won a medal with the club, injury having ruled him out of the 1963 FA Cup final In all he played 247 times for United, including, incredibly, a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday just 13 days after the Munich tragedy.

He eventually left Old Trafford for the briefest of stopovers at Stoke and an underwhelming managerial career followed, with spells in charge of Shrewsbury, Swansea, Crewe and Carlisle.

Gregg played 25 times for Northern Ireland.

GREAT: Harry Gregg, left, and in action for Manchester United in March 1958, just weeks after the Munich air disaster