R.I.P to all that died
but also how sad was it to hear about some of the players badly injured and could never play again and united kicked them out of the clubs houses. united stopped paying them and they had to find new homes and without money or jobs some even had kids or wife's pregnant
Conor Heffernan discusses the ill-treatment of Manchester United towards survivors of the Munich Air Disaster in the years that followed the tragedy.
punditarena.com
Jackie Blanchflower, the Northern Ireland defender, was the first to suffer from United’s ill treatment. When it became clear to the club that Blanchflower would never play football again, the club soon cut ties with the man from Belfast. First they withdrew his taxi rights, a crippling blow for a man who struggled to walk after Munich.
Next, Blanchflower was evicted from his club accommodation despite his wife being heavily pregnant at the time. The Reds were quick to cut away those players who were no longer of use. Blanchflower wasn’t the only victim of such ill-treatment either. The Reds withdrew rented accommodation for all the survivors who couldn’t play football again.
Johnny Berry was evicted from his club house and was later fired by United through a letter. Albert Scanlon, another survivor badly affected by the disaster played with United for a short time in the aftermath of Munich before being transferred to Newcastle. Busby allegedly told Scanlon that if he ever fell on hard times Busby would help him out. When Scanlon did turn to Busby, his pleas seemingly fell on deaf ears. Anger at Scanlon’s treatment still affects Albert’s family.
Often ex-players were left to depend upon the kindness of United fans and not the club. In a sign of good will many taxi drivers in Manchester offered the men free transportation. Such respect was not given by United. Greggs isn’t the only one to make such accusations either.
Jeff Connor and Gary James have both recently published works backing up the shocking claims made by Harry Greggs. United’s memorialization of the Munich Air Disaster has often airbrushed out these uncomfortable actions and the Club’s recent history with the survivors hasn’t been much better.
In 1998, on the fortieth anniversary of the disaster United held a testimonial game for the survivors. A £90,000 appearance fee was paid to ex-United legend Eric Cantona to take part in the testimonial. A sum almost twice that given to each of the families of the survivors. The families of the survivors were vocal in their displeasure and it is little surprise that United kept quiet on such matters.
In spite of such abhorrent behaviour, one is left to ask if United are to blame for the way they treated the survivors? The 1950s were an austere time in football, when players’ wages were capped and contracts were dictated by the clubs. United were not alone in ill-treating their former legends, lest one forget West Ham’s allegedly poor relations with Sir Bobby Moore near the end of his life.
Furthermore at the time of the crash, nothing resembling a compensation culture existed in Britain. After two world wars, the British public wanted to see resilience from victims, and not perhaps entitlements (no matter how deserved the survivor’s claims were). United’s treatment of the survivors of Munich was not unique and it is unfair to apply modern day standards to the past.
What is deplorable however is the Club’s recent interactions with the survivor’s families and the continual attempts to air brush from history the Red Devils’ behaviour.
In a football world now awash with money, Manchester United as a club seem content to memorialise the victims, but not compensate the survivors. United as a club have forgotten their past, or are at least are trying to.
