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munich58.co.ukIn memory of those who died in the munich air crash in February 1958 |
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munich58.co.ukIn memory of those who died in the munich air crash in February 1958 |
A plaque taken from the wreckage of the Munich air disaster in 1958 by a British aid worker is being auctioned off - sparking outrage among Manchester United fans.The seven-inch brass plate was given to United by the Serbian club Red Star Belgrade to mark the European Cup tie the night before the fateful crash. It was the last game the Busby Babes would ever play. Twenty three people died when United's charter plane crashed on a slush-covered runway at Munich.
The plaque was recovered days later by a member of an air accident team sent out to Germany to help the survivors. Now the man's son - who has remained anonymous has decided to cash in. The plaque is due to be sold by Staffordshire auctioneers Mullocks next Tuesday. The guide price is just £750-£000.
Last night Manchester United were checking their archives to find out what gifts were given by Red Star Belgrade. Until we rang them, the club was unaware of the sale.
Fans groups said the plaque was morally the property of the club and its supporters and the sale should not go ahead. They said: "We hope the club will do whatever is necessary to secure this priceless piece of history for future generations of supporters."
Colin Hendrie of independent supporters' group IMUSA, said the auction shouldn't take place: "Given the tragic circumstances by which this was come by, it would be a shame if they chose to compound that tragedy by seeking to make a profit. This should be in the United museum. It is such an important piece of memorabilia. "The year 2008 will be the 50th anniversary of Munich and thousands of fans will be going to the crash site."
Sean Bones, of supporters' trust MUST, said: "Whatever the legal aspects, the plaque morally belongs to Manchester United and its supporters."
Williams Andrews, football specialist at Mullock's, said: "The vendor's father was an employee of the British Air Accident Repatriation Team which flew out to every air disaster where British people abroad were involved. In 1958 he flew out to Munich and it was during a final check of the site days after the crash this plaque was recovered from the wreckage."
He believed the man simply put the plaque in a bag and took it away. He said ownership was a grey area but that no rival claim had ever come forward. The Department of Transport said any ownership dispute was a matter for German law.
UNITED legend Sir Bobby Charlton has condemned the planned sale of a plaque taken from the wreckage of the Munich air disaster. Sir Bobby, who was among the survivors of the 1958 tragedy, said he "abhorred" the attempt to cash in on the approaching 50th anniversary of the crash.
The Manchester Evening News revealed yesterday how the seven inch brass plaque was being offered at an auction of sporting memorabilia with a guide price of £750-£1,000.
The plaque was presented to United as a gift by Serbian opponents Red Star Belgrade to mark the European Cup tie the night before the crash in February 1958.
A member of an air accident team sent from Britain found it in the wreckage of the plane and took the souvenir home. His son - who has remained anonymous - has now decided put the plaque up for auction.
Sir Bobby, speaking as he played in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship charity golf tournament in Scotland, led the condemnation of the sale yesterday. "It really is obscene and I'm against it," he said. "But it doesn't surprise me. Nothing does in the world we live in these days."
Manchester United officials said the club was disappointed to learn of the sale. A United spokesperson described the plaque as a "poignant reminder of a tragic day in the club's - and Manchester's history." He added: "It is disappointing that the plaque has not been offered for permanent display at the club's museum."
It is understood that Red Star Belgrade created a set of commemorative plaques to present to United for their match on 5th February 1958 and at least one of the others is on display in the club museum.
It was as the team flew home the following day that their charter aircraft stopped to refuel in Munich and then crashed in appalling weather as it attempted to take off. Twenty-three people lost their lives.
Fans of both City and United spoke out against the sale on our website www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk after we broke the story. And their calls for the plaque to be returned to the club was echoed by local MPs. MP for Manchester Central and high-profile United fan Tony Lloyd said: "I think morally this is the property of the club. "I would hope at this last stage the possessor might realise this means a lot more to a lot of people than it would to a single person who might buy it."
Graham Stringer, MP for Manchester Blackley, slammed the sale as "reprehensible". "This morally - if not technically - should belong to the club and its supporters," he said. "I am old enough to remember Munich and I think what is being done is reprehensible."
Jeff Connor, author of a book about the Munich tragedy published last year titled "The Lost Babes", said: "This doesn't surprise me in the least. "Munich is an industry and with the 50th anniversary coming up this will happen more and more. "Someone has even tried to sell the stick that Matt Busby used after the accident. Fortunately people saw sense and nobody bought it."
But according to William Andrews, from Shropshire based auctioneers Mullock's, the sale will go ahead as planned next Tuesday. He refuted claims that the auction was morally wrong and said the plaque had been offered to the Reds - at a price. "We sent out a catalogue to their curator that included the plaque three weeks ago," he said. "He expressed an interest in a Premier League winners medal we had, but not the plaque."
And he defended the decision not to hand the plate over. "We are not doing anything wrong. We are here to do as well as we can for the client and get as much as we can for them. There is nothing to stop the club bidding for this or a fan who would maybe want to hand it over. "In fact, if the club were to come to us with an offer above the guide price before the auction we would certainly take that to the client."
Red Star Belgrade said they were unaware of the planned auction. Spokesman Milan Boskovic said: "The plaque might be just a symbol, but the match against Manchester United in 1958 has been more than that for us. That match prior to the tragedy when the airplane with the United team aboard crashed has been part of our club's history."
THE man who took a souvenir plate from the scene of the Munich air disaster is a thief, according to one of the Busby Babes who survived the 1958 tragedy. Albert Scanlon - who suffered a fractured skull in the fateful crash 49 years ago - said he was appalled to learn of plans to sell the plate at auction with a guide price of up to £1,000.
According to auctioneers, the 7 inch copper plate was recovered from the crash site by a British government employee who was sent out to Germany to help repatriate survivors of the disaster. The plate was among gifts presented to United players by the Serbian club Red Star Belgrade before their European cup match the day before the crash.
The government employee brought the plate back to the UK and then passed it on to his son, who is now putting it up for sale in Shropshire next Tuesday.
Mr Scanlon, now 71, called on him to scrap the auction and donate the plate to Manchester United. "It is theft," said Mr Scanlon. "This man was working for the government. It is like me going up the road and picking something up and just keeping it. To pacify people they should take the plate to Old Trafford and give it to the club. It is part of the crash and there are players and families who are still alive."
Mr Scanlon joins hundreds of fans and former players who have voiced their outrage after the Manchester Evening News revealed plans for the auction on Thursday.
Sir Bobby Charlton, another survivor of Munich, told the M.E.N. yesterday he "abhorred" the attempt to cash in on a piece of United's history. Manchester MPs Tony Lloyd and Graham Stringer have both said the plate is "morally" the property of the club while fans' groups are understood to be planning to bid for the plate at the auction on Tuesday and donate it to the Old Trafford museum.
Mr Scanlon revealed that the plate being offered for auction was part of a Turkish coffee set given to each of the United players by Red Star Belgrade to commemorate the game between the sides the day before the Munich disaster. "Every member of the party was given [one], all in a box and all packed," said Mr Scanlon. "Most were destroyed in the crash but it looks like it was the plate from one of them."
Mr Scanlon, who was pulled out of the wreckage of the plane crash in Munich by team-mate Harry Gregg, recovered enough to continue to play for United until 1961.
He lost the gift set which he received from officials at Red Star Belgrade. It is not known which player owned the plate which is being offered for sale.
Manchester United confirmed yesterday they have one complete version of the Red Star Belgrade coffee set at Old Trafford.
The M.E.N. understands they have no plans to bid for the plate being offered at the auction - despite condemning the sale as "disappointing" and admitting they would welcome the artefact in their museum.
Twenty-three out of 44 passengers died on February 6, 1958, when the plane United had chartered to take them home from the Red Star match crashed on a slush-filled runway on its third attempt to take off. The disaster devastated the "Busby Babes" at a time when they looked set to dominate domestic and European football.
It is understood no rival claim of ownership could be established over the plate since it would be impossible to tell to which player it belonged.
William Andrews, of auction house Mullock's, said: "We were approached to offer it for sale in very unusual circumstances and we have been as honest as we can and informed all interested parties.
"We have been honest about where it came from when we could simply have said it was being offered by a private collector."
A SOUVENIR plate which belonged to one of the Busby Babes and was taken from the wreckage of the Munich air disaster has been sold for £4,100. The anonymous seller defied a storm of protest from Manchester United fans and survivors of the 1958 tragedy to place the memento in an auction of sporting memorabilia.
It was sold for four times its guide price amid fierce bidding in the auction at Ludlow Racecourse today.
Auctioneers said the seller was "dismayed" at criticism of his decision to cash in on the item but he had agreed to donate a slice of his profits to charity.
The seven inch copper plate, which was presented to a Manchester United player by the Serbian club Red Star Belgrade before their European Cup match on February 5, 1958, attracted a string of bids at the auction. A private collector, among the 60 strong gathering in the auction room, beat off competition from telephone bids to secure the souvenir. It is understood he has bought the item of behalf of another collector but he declined to comment when asked what he planned to do with the plate.
Survivors of the Munich air disaster, including Sir Bobby Charlton, had said they were "appalled" to hear of the sale and called for it to be cancelled. Another survivor, Albert Scanlon, said he believed the plate was stolen property and should be returned to Manchester United.
The plate was taken from the wreckage of the Munich air disaster by a British government employee who was sent to Germany to investigate the crash. He handed it down to his son who has decided to cash in on the historic memento on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the disaster.
Auctioneer William Andrews defended the sale, saying: "I am very happy with the history of the plate. "The owner is a bit dismayed that people have attacked his father but it hasn't changed his outlook one bit. He is going to make a donation of a percentage of the sale of the plate either to a charity of Manchester United's choice or even to go to local schools so they can buy tickets for local school children to go round the Manchester United museum."
Mr Andrews said he did not believe that the person who had taken the plate from the Munich aircraft scene had done anything wrong. "He didn't find the plate and stick it up his jumper. This was found four to six weeks after the crash a quarter of a mile from the scene and he detailed it in his memoirs."
The plate was part of a coffee set given to each player in the Manchester United squad and is inscribed with the name of the Red Star Belgrade football club and the date of their match. Most of the gifts were destroyed in the crash but a few are known to have been salvaged and one set is on display at the Manchester United museum.
The club told the MEN that it had not planned to bid for the plate at today's auction. A club spokesman said: "It is a shame that the plate was not offered to the club's museum so it could be put on display for fans."