On the third try, the plane crashed 23 people (20 people died instantly, Duncan Edwards died 15 days later and the co pilot, Captain Kenneth Rayment, died three weeks later, and Frank Swift died on the way to hospital).
Man United will mark today with a minutes silence before the kick-off against Portsmouth and the players will wear black armbands. United’s club secretary Ken Ramsden has said:
“Every anniversary is important – that doesn’t change, and never will”
“If you look at the defining moments in United's history then I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a more defining moment than the Munich air crash.
"We will continue to embrace the significance of the tragedy.”
Here is a list of all 23 fatalities:
Man United players and staff-
Geoff Bent
Roger Byrne
Eddie Colman
Duncan Edwards (survived the crash, but passed away15 days later)
Mark Jones
David Pegg
Tommy Taylor
Liam Whelan
Walter Crickmer- club secretary
Tom Curry- trainer
Bert Whalley- chief coach
Crew-
Captain Kenneth Rayment- co-pilot (survived the crash but passed away three weeks later)
Tom Cable- cabin steward
Journalists-
Alf Clarke from the Manchester Evening Chronicle
Donny Davies from the Manchester Guardian
George Follows from the Daily Herald
Tom Jackson from the Manchester Evening News
Archie Ledbrooke from the Daily Mirror
Henry Rose from the Daily Express
Frank Swift from the News of the World and former Man City and England footballer
Eric Thompson from the Daily Mail
Other Passengers-
Bela Miklos, travel agent
Willie Satinoff, supporter, racecourse owner and close friend of Matt Busby
We will never forget.
