67 years ago - February 6, 1958, a plane with players and personnel " The team returned from Belgrade after the victory over the "
A regular atmosphere reigned before the flight on board: the players read, talked and played cards. However, the take -off did not succeed three times. The first attempt was interrupted due to problems with engines.
The second also ended in failure, after which the passengers went to coffee. When they were again invited to the plane, the tension increased. On the third acceleration, the speed fell, the plane could not gain the desired height, rolled out of the runway, touched the house and wood, after which it caught fire.
Survivors remembered chaos after the disaster. Bill Fowlks got out and returned to help comrades. Some players were unconscious, others are in serious condition. The wounded was sent to the Munich hospital, where Duncan Edwards and the second pilot Kenneth Reyce soon died..
Eight players died at once, two more could no longer return to football. Coaches, club employees, eight journalists, the captain of the aircraft and several passengers also lost their lives.. In total, 23 people became victims.
The tragedy shocked the football world. In Manchester, thousands of people came to say goodbye to the dead, and taxi drivers brought relatives for free to the funeral. Other clubs assisted: Liverpool and Nottingham Forest were the first to offer players. The football association changed the rules so that United can urgently replenish the composition.
After 13 days, the team first entered the field after the disaster - in the match of the Cup of England against Sheffield Wenses. 60 thousand spectators gathered at the stadium, many cried. In the program, instead of the composition of the club, they left an empty place so that the fans enter new names themselves. This was the beginning of the Renaissance of the team after one of the worst tragedies in the history of football.
Later, at the site of the tragedy, a symbolic memorial with the names of the dead was established.