In 1958 when Manchester United were playing Red Star Belgrade in the Cup, Mr Best then just a teacher at the Clock School decided we could get a TV from Townsends and watch the match in the hall ( l say hall, it was a case of pushing the 2 partitions open to create a big classroom).

Anyway it was agreed that we would all pay 6d to get the TV for the match. The great day arrived and we were all excited. We watched as Mr Townsend brought the TV in. He set it up on top of one of those big cupboards that were outside Mrs Mate room. He had an indoor aerial which he positioned very carefully. We carried on with the lessons, the school was buzzing in anticipation of our treat.

Mr Best had told us we would all get a drink of orange squash and a biscuit while we watched the match and we could bring sweets in as well (but no bubble gum.). The time for kick off came and we moved down towards the front near the telly.

Mr Townsend arrived again for the great switch on. We watched and the screen glowed grey then there was a voice coming from the TV, loads of white snow then a hissing sound then the screen went black. No voices, no noise. The time told us the match had started but still no sign of life from the TV.

Mr Best was concerned. Mr “pop” Brown was agitated, meanwhile Mr Townsend scratched his head. Then came the dreaded news – the TV wasn’t going to work. Mr Townsend didnt have another one so that was it. Sorry kids you can all go home. GUTTED wasnt the word.

It was a few days later of course when the tragic Munich Air Crash happened and as a lot of us were United fans that would have been the last time we would see some of our heroes play.

We never got our 6d back either. Wonder if Linda Crook remembers that?

United legend Gary Neville has helped pay for a giant flag honouring the victims of the Munich Air Disaster. The Sky TV pundit and England coach has helped fund the banner, which features the Busby Babes as they lined-up for the final time before the 1958 tragedy.

It will be unveiled in the Stretford End to mark the 55th anniversary of the disaster, in which 23 players and officials died.

Fans’ group Stretford End Flags (SEF), asked supporters for their ideas of a theme for the flag. But Neville stepped in to suggest the Munich Disaster theme, revealing that the image was used by Sir Alex Ferguson to inspire his men.

A shortlist of six designs were sent to Neville. He plumped for a black and white image – with the players’ red shirts and white shorts in colour – taken before their ill-fated European Cup clash with Red Star Belgrade.

Underneath it the message, taken from a terrace chant, reads: ‘We’ll Never Die’. The flag, which is 30m high and 47m wide, will be one of the biggest ever seen in Britain and will cover most of the lower tier of the Stretford End. It will be unveiled before United’s game with Everton on February 10 – four days after the Munich anniversary.

Neville’s contribution will be added to funds from the club and SEF. A spokesman for the group said: “Gary saw one of our Tweets and got in touch. He said that if it was something to do with the Busby Babes he would get involved.

“Gary told us it was used to motivate the players and they knew all about what the image represented.” He said the fans’ group still needed contributions to make sure they met their third of the price.

To donate make a Paypal payment to: stretfordendflags@hotmail.com

Source: The Manchester Evening News

For anyone wanting to visit the pub, the address is 89, Great Stone Rd, Stretford, Manchester, M32 8GR

Thanks to Andy McMinn for the photo

Thanks to Rick Redman for these photos. They were taken in Munich in February 2008.

Within minutes of the documentary ending, I received the following e-mail:

“Good evening. After watching a recent BBC documentary on the sad disaster in 1958 I was, although saddened, intrigued to find that my great uncle (George William Rodgers) was not a part of it and went on line to look into this further as I believed he was the radio operator on the flight and survived.His name does appear on the Memorial to the Munich Air Disaster, in St Luke’s Church, Dukinfield, Cheshire and I thought you might like to know as his is omitted from your list.”

Almost immediately a second e-mail arrived from Mr Rodgers’ grand-daughter:

“I was looking through your site as my Grandfather was a survivor of the Munich air crash, however I found he isn’t in your survivors list. He was George William Rodgers and was the Radio Officer on the flight. I’m not sure whether this was an oversight, but obviously felt compelled to contact you.”

And 5 minutes later, a 3rd e-mail landed in my inbox:

“Hello, in the late 60′s early 70s period I worked with a man who claimed to have been the radio operator on this flight and to have been one of the survivors. His name was George Rodgers. He would tell me of the inquest outcome and that the same day he learned of his wife having terminal cancer. That during the war he flew as aircrew (WOP/AG?) on Wellingtons.I do not believe he was a man to tell a tale (lie) so why is he not listed on the crew survivor lists?”

And so began some investigations….

The official accident report, of which I have a copy, states that George William Rodgers was on board the aircraft and that he was “slightly injured”. The following information has been provided by his grand-daughter:

“My Grandfather didn’t appear on the first list of survivors from the crash because he had taken off his jacket and given it to the stewardess Margaret Bellis as it was so cold, so he would have looked like a civilian.At that time my Grandparents didn’t have a home telephone, so my Grandfather was unable to call home. According to my mother (who was eight at the time) BEA representatives came round their house the afternoon of the crash.

As my Grandfather’s status was unknown my Grandmother told my mother that his flight was delayed and she was sent into a seperate room where she then learnt about the crash on the six o’clock news. Later that evening they were visited by a woman claiming to be from BEA telling my Grandmother that my Grandfather was dead and that he had deserved to die because of what had happened to the Manchester United team. This woman turned out to be a crazed Man U supporter.

About midnight of that evening my Grandmother was visited by a BEA pilot who had just returned from Munich and had had a cup of tea with my Grandfather in the hospital. He was fit enough to return home several days later. My Grandfather not only survived the crash, but went back into the plane and pulled other people out. For this he was on the 1959 New Year’s Honours list receiving The Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air.

At home we have memorabilia from the crash, including my Grandfather’s ticket to the game and his log book from the flight.

He is mentioned in other publications, and there is a photo of him with the other surviving crew members in “The Unseen Archives, A photographic history of Manchester United” pg. 60 – he is on the far right of the photo if you have access to the book. He is also mentioned on the Manchester United website’s section on the crash which comes from the book “Air Disasters” by Stanley Stewart.

I don’t know why he is not listed with United – he was on the crew on the both the outbound and the inbound flight. I can only assume it is because he wasn’t on the immediate list of crew survivors.”

George William Rodgers left his job as Senior Radio Office in 1959 and passed away in 1997. His daughter and grand-daughter have very kindly sent some copies of memorabilia and photos- including his ticket from the match and letters from the airline and Captain James Thain.

He twice assumed managerial responsibility at United: from 1 April 1931 to 1 June 1932, and then again from 1 August 1937 to 1 February 1945.

Together with club owner James W. Gibson, he was responsible for instituting the youth development system at Manchester United.

After 32 years of service as club secretary, Crickmer was killed in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958.

Grave Details

Stretford Cemetery, Lime Road, Stretford Manchester, M32 8HX

Google Map

Let’s take a moment to remember the only fan who was on board that ill fated aircraft – Willie Satinoff. It’s always been a sadness to me that he tends to be forgotten on the anniversaryday, and I just wish that there was some formal recognition of him in some way at Old Trafford, maybe in the form of a small plaque. He was one of us – a fan – who loved the Club, loved the team, and gave his life following them.

The following is the introduction to a piece I wrote for MUST/RN and will give you a little insight as to how fate played such a huge part in United’s future. George Whittaker bitterly opposed any recommendation of Louis Edwards as a Director at Manchester United. Willie would certainly have become a member of the board, but all within a week, Whittaker died, Willie died, and and on Saturday, February 8th 1958, at an emergency Board Meeting, Edwards was opted onto the Board as a Director.

On Friday, January 31st 1958, the Manchester United team, officials, and directors, traveled down to London in readiness for the team’s fixture against Arsenal which was to be played at Highbury the following afternoon. On Saturday morning, February 1st 1958, one of the Manchester United directors, Mr. George Whittaker, a Manchester business man, was found dead in bed in his hotel room. He had passed away in his sleep during the night. That afternoon, as a mark of respect, players from both teams wore black armbands, and a minutes silence was observed by both teams and the 55,000 fans attending, prior to the match kicking off.

The game itself is widely remembered, even today, because that cold, grey, February afternoon, United triumphed in a feast of football and goals, by 5-4. Sadly, for some United players, it was to be the last game of football that they ever played on their home, British soil.

The party traveled back to Manchester by train immediately after the game, and the players and manager were in a very buoyant mood given their display at Highbury just a few hours earlier. Accompanying the party that day was a supporter; another Manchester business man by the name of Willie Satinoff. Mr. Satinoff had made his money in the cotton trade in and around the Manchester area. Outside of his business interests, his main pass time was following Manchester United Football Club, and he was fanatical in his support for his beloved club.

Willie was close to Matt Busby. So close in fact, that he had traveled with the United team on all of their European exploits since their journey began in the 1956/57 season. So it was that on February 3rd, 1958, he was the only fan traveling with the team out to Belgrade for the forthcoming return European Cup Quarter Final tie against the Red Star Belgrade club. At that time, it was commonly known within Manchester football circles, that Willie was being tipped to soon become a director at the Club which he was so fanatical about.

Sadly, his hopes and dreams of attaining this position were shattered by the events of Thursday, February 6th, 1958. Willie paid the ultimate price for following his beloved United when he perished in that terrible accident on a snowy afternoon on the runway of the airport in Munich, Germany. Since that date, Willie Satinoff has fast become the forgotten man of Munich. Reams of paper have been written about events; radio and t.v. documentaries have covered the incident in great detail, but apart from Willie Satinoff’s name being listed amongst those that perished, he never ever, gets a mention.

His resting place is passed by every day without notice, as hundreds of people make their way by various means along one of Manchester’s busiest throroughfares. Many I suspect are fervent Manchester United fans, who today, given the length of time that has passed since the accident happened, wouldn’t even know who Willie Satinoff was. For those of you that may be interested, he rests in the Jewish section of the Southern Cemetery, Manchester, almost adjacent to the Manchester Crematorium. As you walk down Barlow Moor Road towards Princess Parkway, and pass by the Crematorium, there is a little gate which allows you entrance into the Jewish section of Southern Cemetery. Willie’s resting place is just down on the right hand side of the path, after you have passed through the gate. Unpretentious, just a plain black marble stone, sadly highlighting the details of the date, and where, this United fan passed away.

That Willie has never ever been recognized in any way, by the Club, or anybody else for that matter, has always saddened me. But then again, why ever would he be? He was just a fan. But for me, he is an integral part of the Munich story, and one day, I would hope to see some kind of plaque erected to his memory at Old Trafford.

Grave Details

Southern Cemetery, Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 7GL

Google Map

Date of Birth: 29 January 1932
Age when killed: 26

Taylor began his career playing for a local coal mining team at the colliery where he worked. At the age of just 16, local scouts offered him the chance to play for Barnsley, whom he joined in July 1949. He made his first team debut on 7 October 1950, in a 3–1 home win against Grimsby Town. In his next match, on 4 November 1950, Taylor scored a hat-trick in a 7–0 victory against Queens Park Rangers. In all he scored seven goals in twelve appearances in 1950–51.

After scoring 26 goals in 44 games at Barnsley, who had been unable to progress beyond the Second Division, Taylor was transferred to defending First Division champions Manchester United in March 1953 for a fee of £29,999 (Matt Busby did not want to burden young Taylor as being a “30,000 pounds player”. So taking out his wallet, he pulled from it a 1 pound note and handed it to the lady who had been serving up the teas in the Boardroom).

He got off to a great start, scoring twice on his debut. By the end of the 1952–53 season, Taylor had scored seven goals in his first 11 games for United. He eventually led the team to league titles in 1955–56 and 1956–57 and scored in the 1957 FA Cup Final, when United were denied the double as they lost 2–1 to Aston Villa (winners of the competition for a then record seventh time). Such was Taylor’s worth that Matt Busby decided to reject an offer of £65,000 for him from Internazionale in 1957. Had the deal gone through, then it would have broken the world transfer record.

At the time of his emergence, many saw Taylor as the perfect eventual replacement for the ageing Nat Lofthouse in the England side. In all, he played 19 times for England, scoring 16 goals.

Taylor died instantly in the Munich air disaster, and at the time was engaged to his fiancée Carol.

Grave Details

Monk Bretton Cemetery, Cross Street, Monk Bretton, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S71 2EU

The grave has “Taylor” on the back of it – which you can see from the path.

Google Map

Date of Birth: 1 April 1935
Date when killed: 22

Liam Whelan (also known as Billy) was a devout Roman Catholic who came from a large family; his father John had died in 1943, when Whelan was eight years old. He was not a confident flyer and just before the aeroplane took off from Munich, he was heard to say: “Well, if this is the time, then I’m ready.”

Whelan began his career with Home Farm before joining Manchester United. He made 98 first-team appearances between August 1955 and February 1958, scoring 52 goals. He had previously played for Irish club Home Farm, and was capped four times for the Republic of Ireland national team, but unfortunately did not score.

On 8 December 2006 the railway bridge on Faussagh Road/Dowth Avenue junction in Cabra, Dublin 7 close to Dalymount Park was renamed in his honour. The campaign to have the bridge renamed was initiated and organised by members of the Cabra, GAA club, Naomh Fionbarra (gaelic spelling) (St. Finbarr’s) and sanctioned by Dublin City Council in early 2006. It is close to St. Attracta Road, the street in which he was born. The unveiling ceremony was performed by Whelan’s Manchester United team mate at the time of the aircrash, Sir Bobby Charlton.

On 4 February 2008, the Irish national postal body An Post issued a 55c postage stamp for the 50th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster showing a photo of Liam Whelan.

Grave Details

Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, Eire

Basic directions – Head out from the city on a number 40,40a,40b,40c,40d bus. When you get off at the cemetery, go in the gate on the left towards the railway tracks. It is up on the right hand side. NOTE it is not in the main graveyard, you get off at the bus stop on the other side of the road opposite the main gate. It is the graveyard at the back of the housing estate. Walk up the lane and it is directly in front of you, that row, left hand side, only about five plots up.
More Info – Glasnevin Cemetery Website