As part of what has become an annual tradition at Old Trafford, Manchester United remembered those who sadly lost their lives in the Munich Air Disaster with a remembrance service on Monday afternoon.
Starting at 14:40 GMT, a series of songs were sung, while poems and the names of all those who lost their lives in the tragedy were read out. Wreaths were laid in an official moment of remembrance, prior to a minute’s silence around 15:04 GMT – the time when the plane crash fatally took place on 6 February 1958.
The managers of our senior teams – men and women – Erik ten Hag and Marc Skinner were both in attendance along with the sides’ respective captains, Harry Maguire and Katie Zelem, on behalf of the club’s players.
In pairs, they went one after another in laying a wreath under the plaque, before young players Bella Reidford, Dan Gore and Sonny Aljofree placed one beside those, representing the Academy.
Rev Boyers welcomed Pete Martin up to sing ‘The Pride of Football’ and 'The Flowers of Manchester’, and Kady Cavannagh, Steve Douglas and Adrian Keenan read out poems they had written about the disaster. Cavannagh closed the service by leading a chant of ‘We’ll never die’.
You can watch the Old Trafford ceremony on demand here.
While it was ongoing at Old Trafford, a similar annual ritual was also taking place in Munich, held by the Manchester Munich Memorial Foundation and led by chairman Pat Burns.
Former United captain Bryan Robson and head of Academy Nick Cox, who is a patron of the MMMF, attended the service, alongside senior leaders from the club.
You can watch the event in full, from Manchesterplatz, here.
Over the weekend, teams across the club have paid their respects to those we lost in the Munich Air Disaster at our respective fixtures.
Black armbands were worn, wreaths were laid and minute’s silences were observed at our men’s, women’s and Under-18s' matches.
On Saturday, the commemorative banner featuring a photo of that 1958 team and the words: ‘We’ll never die’ passed across the Stretford End and a rendition of ‘The Flowers of Manchester’ was played before our Premier League game against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford. Flags flew at half-mast.
For that encounter, a special 100-page issue of our matchday programme was also produced to honour our Busby Babes.
On Sunday, our Under-13s joined supporters in handing out United scarves to local residents in Munich as part of a tradition to thank the city for their help since the tragedy.
Manchester United thanks all the fans, players and staff who have taken part in this year’s commemorations to remember this tragic moment in the history of our club.