Sir Bobby Charlton leads Manchester United stars past and present at Old Trafford

for Munich air disaster 60th anniversary memorial service

Past and present Manchester United stars honoured the 23 people who tragically died
on February 6, 1958
Jose Mourinho's current crop of stars visited Old Trafford to pay their respects 60
years on from tragedy
Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Bobby Charlton and Denis Law were also in attendance during
the emotional service
Ashley Young has urged his team-mates to 'take inspiration from people like Sir
Bobby Charlton'

By ANTHONY HAY FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 11:37 GMT, 6 February 2018 | UPDATED: 20:10 GMT, 6 February 2018

Manchester United held a commemorative service at Old Trafford today as the club
paid their respects to the 23 people who were killed in the Munich air disaster 60
years ago.

Manager Jose Mourinho and his current crop of stars attended the service while Old
Trafford legends such as Sir Bobby Charlton, who survived the plane crash, and Sir
Alex Ferguson also attended.

Former United manager Ferguson gave a reading before current United boss Mourinho
and captain Michael Carrick laid wreaths in a service at United's home ground, Old
Trafford. United estimated there were 2,000 of the club's fans there.

The service included readings and poems ahead of a minute's silence at 15:04 GMT,
marking the time of the plane crash six decades ago.

The ceremony, led by club chaplain Rev John Boyers, saw Old Trafford fall silent at
3.04pm, before Pete Martin's rendition of The Flowers of Manchester.

Former goalkeeper Gregg, who spent time at the United training ground earlier in
the day, sung along with Abide With Me as the ceremony came to a close.

Carrick said: 'It was a beautiful service, powerful, emotional, very fitting. It
was emotional sitting next to Sir Bobby. It was tough to be honest. It was a
pleasure to be apart of it.

'The longer you�re here it grows. You live for the club. You�re ingrained in it, it
becomes your life. I�m heading to the training ground now, there�s a small ceremony
there. Every age group has paid their respect. It speaks volumes of the club.'

Fans have visited Duncan Edwards' grave in Birmingham to honour the youngest player
to have been killed 15 days after the tragic plane crash.

Nicky Butt's under 19 team, meanwhile, joined club officials as a minute's silence
was observed at Partizan Stadium in Belgrade - the venue for the European Cup
quarter-final between Red Star and United.

The Under 19s, who play FK Brodarac in the UEFA Youth League on Wednesday, were due
to visit the British Embassy in Belgrade along with officials from Red Star.

Vladica Popovic played for Red Star against United in 1958 and was due to be at a
reception hosted in the same hotel that Busby and his side used 60 years ago.
The ill-fated aircraft was bringing Matt Busby's youthful team back via Munich from
Belgrade on February 6, 1958 after they had reached the European Cup semi-finals.

The plane crashed on its third take-off attempt in icy weather, costing the lives
of eight players and three members of the club's staff. Twenty-three people died in
total.

Charlton and Harry Gregg are the only survivors out of the group of players who
lived through the crash.

'The victims will never be forgotten, they will always be remembered and will be a
part of United's history forever. The passion, determination and courage shown by
the club to carry on in those horrible moments have left an indelible mark
forever.'

Marcus Rashford, who follows in United's proud tradition of blooding young,

homegrown players, said he learned about the disaster as a young child.

'It was when I was about seven or eight,' the 20-year-old striker told United
Review.

'There were already little things about it around (the club) at that age, but then
you start to learn more about it, and when you got to 15 or 16, that was when
(former academy coach) Paul McGuinness really started to bring it to our attention.
Theresa May addressed the tragedy earlier today: 'I know that today also marks an
important and sombre anniversary in the history of this great city.

'Sixty years ago today, the Munich air disaster claimed the lives of 23 people �
with many more suffering life changing injuries.

'The crew, journalists and of course the talented footballers who died that day
will never be forgotten.'

'The day that is absolutely shown in red on this week's calendar is on Tuesday, a
day that marks the 60th anniversary of the air disaster,' Spanish forward Juan Mata
wrote in his blog on United's website.

'We used to watch a lot of the videos of games, especially from their FA Youth Cup
runs, so we could see footage of what these players were like when they were young.
It's so close to home, it touches your heart and helps you understand it, even
though you weren't there.'

Ashley Young took to Twitter earlier in the day to urge his team-mates to 'take
inspiration' from the likes of Charlton.

He wrote: 'Today we remember and mourn but we must also take inspiration from the
response to the tragedy and people like Sir Bobby Charlton. It's a privilege for
all of us to still have him around and active at Manchester United.'

John Valentine, who sells scarves outside Old Trafford, said the Munich crash is
'ingrained in the history of this club'.

'If I come back in another 500 years it will still be being talked about,' said
Valentine, born in the year of the disaster. 'You can't forget something like that
- a team nearly wiped out in a plane crash.'

Among the eight who died, the player most revered is half-back Edwards, who
survived the crash but succumbed to his injuries two weeks later.
'I missed out on those players but I have spoken to people who did and they talk
about Duncan Edwards,' said Valentine.

Valentine says the fact around 2,000 United fans are due to go to Munich for the
anniversary shows how important the events of February 1958 still are, even to the
young.

Kion Brown, who was at Old Trafford with his father and fellow diehard United fan
Everton on the day of his ninth birthday last week, reflected how it resonates even
with youngsters, even though little footage remains of the 'Babes'.

'I keep him (Kion) up to date and brought him to see the (memorial) clock and see
all the players who died. It (the anniversary) is a big day for us,' the 35-year-
old said.

Busby, who was twice given the last rites by a priest, remarkably survived the
crash and guided United to an emotional win in the European Cup 10 years later with
Charlton captaining the side and scoring twice.

'That was like the Holy Grail for the club,' said Valentine. 'Because of the crash
in 1958 Busby wanted the cup for those boys who perished and the club.

'And we got it as well!'