Tragedies that echo beyond football

The morning of February 6 60 years ago was much like any other winter’s day in Manchester. By the evening the city was plunged into grief.

The news from Munich arrived painfully quickly. People barely had time to celebrate the result in Belgrade that put Manchester United into the European Cup semi-finals before any sense of joy, or thoughts of football, were banished from their minds.

“United Disaster” was the message on the newspaper advertising boards in stark black letters, six inches high. “United Cup XI Crash” read the front page of the Manchester Evening News, “28 Die”.