Harry Gregg, the former Manchester United and Northern Ireland goalkeeper, has died, aged 87.
Gregg, who played 247 times for the Red Devils in the 1950s and 1960s, was often referred to as the ‘Hero of Munich’ given his actions in the Munich Air Disaster.
The goalkeeper rescued teammates and other passengers following the 1958 plane crash which claimed 23 victims.
His death was announced by the Harry Gregg Foundation on Monday morning.
“It is with great sorrow that we inform of the death of Manchester United and Northern Ireland legend Harry Gregg, OBE,” it said in a statement posted on Facebook.
“Harry passed away peacefully in hospital surrounded by his loving family.”
Manchester United made Gregg the world’s most expensive goalkeeper in 1957, bringing him in from Doncaster for £23,500, and he was voted the best glovesman at the following summer’s World Cup.
Northern Ireland reached the quarter-finals in Sweden before being beaten by France, with the tournament’s top scorer Just Fontaine netting twice.
Gregg was born in Tobermore, South Derry, on October 25, 1932, the eldest of six children.
As a teenager he combined a carpentry apprenticeship with stints at Linfield’s reserve team and Coleraine, a club so local he lived within a decent goal-kick of the Showgrounds stadium.
Football beat woodcraft with ease and by 18 he had been snapped up by Doncaster, where he enjoyed five good years before moving on to Manchester United.
He spent nine years with the Red Devils and, although he never won a medal with the club, injury having ruled him out of the 1963 FA Cup final and restricted his appearances in two title-winning campaigns, an unforgettable career was forged. Not many people can say they had their boots cleaned by a young George Best.
Gregg remains a touchstone for United goalkeepers, a dominant leader between the posts and a revered shot stopper. In all he played 247 times for United, including, incredibly, a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday just 13 days after the Munich tragedy.
Of those who had been on duty in Belgrade before the fatal crash, only Gregg and Bill Foulkes wore the jersey in that emotional fixture less than two weeks later.
He eventually left Old Trafford for the briefest of stopovers at Stoke and a underwhelming managerial career followed, with spells in charge of Shrewsbury, Swansea, Crewe and Carlisle.
That his United career ended without a testimonial was an anomaly of circumstance, finally righted in 2012 when Sir Alex Ferguson proudly brought a full-strength squad to Windsor Park to face an Irish League XI.
In his programme notes the Scot labelled Gregg “beyond legendary” and “a most reluctant hero”. That word again.
He may have bridled at the terminology, but he earned it on a footballing level too, never more so than to Northern Irish football fans at the 1958 World Cup.
In other eras, Gregg might have been expected to take the summer for reflection and recuperation after the trauma of the previous months. Instead he lined up in his country’s first ever World Cup and was later named the best keeper in the competition.
His stellar performance against West Germany, in particular, was a remarkable showing that left opposition striker Uwe Seeler likening Gregg to a ‘springing panther’.
It is Seeler’s description that Gregg would most readily have recognised: athlete, competitor, opponent. For the rest of the world he was that, but more, an incredible embodiment of human spirit in adversity. A hero.
