Sir Bobby Charlton was haunted by tragedy of Munich Air Disaster as Man Utd draw up plans to mark death
Man Utd icon Sir Bobby Charlton has died at the age of 86
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Sir Bobby Charlton has died at the age of 86.
The football world is in mourning as a result, with Manchester United and pundits such as Gary Lineker and Gary Neville paying tribute to an icon of the sport.
Charlton has passed away after a battle with dementia and had his family by his side.
He was and is a United legend, a great of the game, a footballer just as classy off the pitch as he was on it.
Sir Bobby Charlton survived the Munich Air Disaster that killed eight Man Utd players in 1958
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And Charlton was a survivor from one of the biggest tragedies football has ever seen, too.
Back in 1958, he was part of the United team that were preparing to fly back from Munich in Germany.
They had stopped off in the country in order to refuel, with conditions terrible for flying. People on the plane were concerned before take off due to the heavy and dangerous snow that was falling.
As the plane attempted to take off for a third time, it crashed - killing 23 people on board.
Eight of the people who were killed were United players, including the iconic Duncan Edwards - a defender the club thought would become their greatest player of all time.
Also among the fatalities were journalists and staff members.
But Charlton was one of the survivors. While he was fortunate to survive, however, the Munich Air Disaster still haunted him many years later.
Writing in his autobiography, he confessed he had survivor's guilt.
"All the time the question came pounding in: 'Why me, why did I survive?'" he said.
He also wrote: “Even now...it still reaches down and touches me every day.
"Sometimes I feel it quite lightly, a mere brush stroke against an otherwise happy mood.
“Sometimes it engulfs me with a terrible regret and sadness - and guilt that I walked away and found so much.
"The Munich air crash is always there, always a factor that can never be discounted. Never put down like time-exhausted baggage.”
Then, in 2017, Charlton revealed he was 'lucky' to have survived and admitted the incident 'changed his life'.
“I was just lucky and sitting in the right place,” he said in a documentary.
“When we got to the hospital I started ranting and raving. I just didn’t understand.
“The medical people came around and gave me an injection in the back of my neck and I just collapsed. I didn’t wake up until the following morning.
“This German lad was there and he had a paper. He had a list of all the players and he read them out and if they were alive he would say ‘yes’ and if they were dead he said ‘no’.”
But Charlton drew great strength from those around him and vowed to become a United great.
“I fell in love with Manchester United in the short time I was there,” he said.
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Sir Bobby Charlton won the European Cup with Man Utd back in 1968
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“I wondered what would happen, I wondered how we would be able to recover but recover we had to do. We had to make the effort.”
To lose so many key players was heartbreaking for United. Had they not recovered, nobody would have been surprised.
But, a decade on from the tragedy of Munich, Charlton achieved his dream of winning the European Cup with United under Sir Matt Busby.
Charlton scored his side's fourth and final goal in a 4-1 win over Portuguese giants Benfica.
He became a hero of English football, too, when he helped the Three Lions win the World Cup in 1966.
Man Utd and England have paid tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton after his death
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United have drawn up several plans to pay tribute to Charlton.
The club will wear black armbands in their Premier League clash with Sheffield United on Saturday night.
The pre-planned minute's silence will also be expanded in his honour, too.
A book of condolence will be open to fans and members of the public to sign from 10am tomorrow.
And United are in talks over a potential tribute to Charlton prior to their Champions League clash with Copenhagen on Tuesday.