The Manchester United family today gathered to pay tribute to the fallen Busby Babes 50 years after the tragedy which claimed their lives.

THE rich, but desperate irony was there for all to see when Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling, playing compere for the evening, rose to his feet in Old Trafford’s plush Manchester Suite and announced to the expectant throng of 900 that George Best would not be in attendance because he was too ill to travel.