'Their legacy lives on': David Beckham leads past and present Manchester United stars in remembering the eight tragic Busby Babes and three club staff who were killed in the Munich air disaster 62 years ago as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer attends memorial
* Eight members of the famous Busby Babes died in the Munich air crash of 1958
* Three members of Manchester United's staff were also killed in the tragedy
* Duncan Edwards survived the crash but died 15 days later in hospital
* Manchester United paid tribute to their former stars in service on Thursday
* Prior to the service at 2.45pm, social media posts were made across the game
* In total, 23 passengers lost their lives when the plane went down
David Beckham has led the tributes as football remembers Manchester United's famed Busby Babes who died in the Munich air disaster.
On Thursday, United held a commemorative service at Old Trafford for the eight players and three members of United's staff who passed away on February 6 in 1958 in Munich. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and other legends including Bryan Robson attended.
Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Liam Whelan were the players who died on that day 62 years ago. Duncan Edwards survived the crash but died in hospital 15 days later. While Johnny Berry and Jackie Blanchflower were among the survivors, they never played football again.
David Beckham paid tribute to the Flowers of Manchester on his Instagram account
He uploaded a series of tributes to them as part of his Instagram story on Thursday morning. Beckham was commemorating the side before a memorial service to be held on Thursday
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and United legend Bryan Robson attending the service on Thursday
And ahead of the service, big names from the world of sport uploaded tributes to their social media accounts.
Beckham posted a photograph of the team on his Instagram account and captioned it up: 'Today we remember The Flowers of Manchester, their legacy lives on forever'.
He was joined in his tribute by Marcus Rashford, who uploaded the same photo and wrote: 'The Flowers of Manchester. There’s not a day goes by that I take this shirt for granted. You will never be forgotten'.
Harry Maguire, who joined United in the summer, added on his own Instagram: 'We will remember them'.
United supporters outside of the East Stand as they commemorate the Munich disaster
Fans of the Old Trafford club read from the memorial service booklet on Thursday afternoon
On-pitch rivals Liverpool paid tribute to the Flowers of Manchester on their Twitter account
On-pitch rivals Liverpool also uploaded a tribute to their Twitter. They posted: 'The thoughts of
#LFC are with all those affected by the Munich air disaster. 62 years ago today, but never forgotten.'
Along with the players, three club officials were killed in the disaster — secretary Walter Crickmer, trainer Tom Curry and coach Bert Whalley. There were also eight journalists who died, along with members of the public who were travelling with the team.
A service will be held on Thursday afternoon at 2.45pm, with supporters and staff to gather at the Munich memorial clock.
It will be led by reverend John Boyers and there will be poems, prayers and songs, including anthem The Flowers of Manchester.
The Munich air disaster involved British European Airways flight 609 crashing on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Reim Airport. In total, there were 23 fatalities and 21 survivors from those who were on board.
United were on the way back from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade, which saw them reach the semi-final stages of the competition. They needed to refuel in Munich.
There were two failed attempts to take off and on the third the plane crashed into slush at the end of the runway before going through a fence. The left wing was torn off after a house was hit.
The plane was then evacuated over fears that the aircraft might explode while goalkeeper Harry Gregg helped pull survivors out of the wreckage. Nine members of the team survived, as did manager Matt Busby, four members of the crew, three journalists and three other passengers.
Code:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7973751/David-Beckham-leads-tributes-Manchester-United-prepare-pay-homage-Busby-Babes.html