They came in droves to Old Trafford on Wednesday to remember those who lost their lives in the 1958 Munich air crash and to celebrate the memory of friends, of family and of the Busby Babes, the team judged by many to be finest in English soccer history.
"There is no doubt in my mind that the team decimated that night would have won the European Cup. That team was capable of anything," said Sir Bobby Charlton, one of those who survived when a British European Airways flight carrying the Manchester United team back from a European tie in Belgrade crashed as it attempted to take off after a refueling stop.
Twenty-three people lost their lives in the Bavarian snow, eight of them members of Matt Busby's precociously talented side. Eight journalists traveling with the team also died, including the Guardian's correspondent, Donny Davies, whose reports appeared under the byline Old International.
PHOTO: AP
Charlton, and the four other surviving members of the Busby Babes, were among 1,000 people who attended a memorial service held at United's stadium on Wednesday, marking the 50th anniversary of the tragedy. The service was conducted by the club chaplain, the Reverend John Boyers, who read out a sombre roll-call of the dead as United's current captain, Gary Neville, himself a lifelong Red, lit candles in each individual's memory before a moment of silence was observed at 3.04pm -- the time of the crash.
Sir Alex Ferguson, who as manager has followed Busby's pursuit of European glory, then gave a reading: Psalm 103, verses 15-19:
"As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children, to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all," Ferguson read.
Outside the stadium, thousands of United fans, as well as supporters wearing the colors of other clubs, Manchester City among them, staged a less formal tribute at the East Stand, in front of the permanent stone memorial to the Babes. The moment's silence was observed with due solemnity, but it was followed by joyous choruses of the terracing favorite, Glory Glory Man United.
Pat Garaci, aged 62 and a lifelong fan, was one of those who made the pilgrimage.
"My husband brought me here on our first date. We've been married for 40 years. United are special to me. I just want to come and show my respects. Just think if Duncan Edwards would have lived, we would have won that European Cup," she said.
Her words were echoed by Derek Taylor, a supporter for more than 50 years, who carried flowers and a remembrance card with the words from The Flowers Of Manchester, a poem and song tribute to the victims.
Taylor was a newspaper copy boy at the time of the crash.
"I took the copy from the teleprinter announcing that the aeroplane had crashed," he said. "I was totally devastated. It was just unbelievable, like losing one of your family."
"When I first met Duncan Edwards, he used to come to Old Trafford on a bike. When they realized their value had gone up, the club told them they had to come on a bus!
"Sir Matt Busby used to turn up in his car, put his arm around my shoulder and ask, `How's my team playing for me?' He was like a granddad for the fans," Taylor said.
In Germany, hundreds of fans attended a memorial service at the site of the tragedy outside Munich.
But if the day was marked by solemnity, it was also leavened by moments of humor, not least at a tribute hosted by the television presenter and United fan Eamonn Holmes.
The Babes' goalkeeper, Harry Gregg, who risked his own life to pull three others from the plane wreckage, recalled how he returned to the soccer field just two weeks after the crash.
"We didn't have counsellors or psychologists -- trick cyclists, I call them -- in those days, we just got on with it. There was no point in sitting at home moping," he said.
Nobby Stiles, a 15-year-old apprentice with United in 1958, and later a 1966 World Cup winner, assessed the talents of those who died, including Duncan Edwards ("The greatest player I've ever seen") and Eddie Coleman ("My idol").
As ever, though, Sir Bobby Charlton, who went on to fulfil the lost legacy of fallen colleagues by winning the European Cup in 1968, fashioned the perfect epitaph for a glorious team.
"I'll never forget what Sir Matt said to us one day when he pointed across to Trafford Park, which at the time was the largest industrial estate in Europe," he said, his voice cracking with emotion. "He told us: `The people over there work hard all week long and it is your job to go out on the field and provide them with some entertainment'.
"And that is what we tried to do; we played for the team, for the club and for the country," Charlton said.
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