My OperaManchester United and The Munich Air Disaster
Sunday, November 15, 2009 7:17:58 PM
After you’ve finally got your hands on some Manchester United Tickets and found your seat at Old Trafford, before and during the game you’ll hear a number of fan chants, particularly coming from the Stretford End where the most die-hard fans sit.
Among the chants you might hear commemorates a devastating episode in the history of Manchester United: The Munich Air Disaster.
This is the chant commemorating that tragic event known as the Munich Air Disaster:
We’ll never Die
United's flag is deepest red
It shrouded all our Munich dead
Before their limbs grew stiff and cold
Their heart's blood dyed it's ev'ry fold
Then raise United's banner high
Beneath it's shade we'll live and die
So keep the faith and never fear
We'll keep the Red Flag flying here
We'll never die, we'll never die
We'll never die, we'll never die
We'll keep the Red flag flying high
'Cos Man United will never die
The Munich Air Disaster took place on 6 February 1958, when a flight carrying the Manchester United football team, along with a number of supporters and journalists crashed while trying to take off from an icy runway in Munich. They had stopped there to refuel. Twenty of the 44 people on board the aircraft died in the crash, three more later died in hospital. Amongst the dead were eight Manchester United players and three club officials. At that time, Manchester United were the most dynamic team England had ever seen and for two years in a row had been the English champions.
However, during the next 10 years, Manchester United’s manager, Matt Busby, who himself had come close to death in the crash, built a new team which then became the first English club to win the European Cup when they defeated Benfica 4-1 at Wembley in 1968.
Busby later described that night as "the greatest and most memorable event of my life. The moment that Bobby Charlton took the European Cup it, well, cleansed me," he said."It eased the pain of guilt I had of taking the club into Europe. It was my justification." Busby was not a man known to shed tears but many people saw him cry that day -- May 29, 1968. A dream he thought had died with the team in the snow of Munich, had finally come true after all.
You cannot help be touched by the emotion in the Stadium you hear We’ll Never Die, and the opportunity to witness such an unabashed out pouring of feeling has to be seen as an added value to your Manchester United tickets.
Among the chants you might hear commemorates a devastating episode in the history of Manchester United: The Munich Air Disaster.
This is the chant commemorating that tragic event known as the Munich Air Disaster:
We’ll never Die
United's flag is deepest red
It shrouded all our Munich dead
Before their limbs grew stiff and cold
Their heart's blood dyed it's ev'ry fold
Then raise United's banner high
Beneath it's shade we'll live and die
So keep the faith and never fear
We'll keep the Red Flag flying here
We'll never die, we'll never die
We'll never die, we'll never die
We'll keep the Red flag flying high
'Cos Man United will never die
The Munich Air Disaster took place on 6 February 1958, when a flight carrying the Manchester United football team, along with a number of supporters and journalists crashed while trying to take off from an icy runway in Munich. They had stopped there to refuel. Twenty of the 44 people on board the aircraft died in the crash, three more later died in hospital. Amongst the dead were eight Manchester United players and three club officials. At that time, Manchester United were the most dynamic team England had ever seen and for two years in a row had been the English champions.
However, during the next 10 years, Manchester United’s manager, Matt Busby, who himself had come close to death in the crash, built a new team which then became the first English club to win the European Cup when they defeated Benfica 4-1 at Wembley in 1968.
Busby later described that night as "the greatest and most memorable event of my life. The moment that Bobby Charlton took the European Cup it, well, cleansed me," he said."It eased the pain of guilt I had of taking the club into Europe. It was my justification." Busby was not a man known to shed tears but many people saw him cry that day -- May 29, 1968. A dream he thought had died with the team in the snow of Munich, had finally come true after all.
You cannot help be touched by the emotion in the Stadium you hear We’ll Never Die, and the opportunity to witness such an unabashed out pouring of feeling has to be seen as an added value to your Manchester United tickets.
