At Manchester United’s memorial service for the victims of the Munich Air Disaster, 67 years later, Ruben Amorim paid his respects alongside Sir Alex Ferguson.
Members of the men’s, women’s, and academy teams attended a memorial service outside Old Trafford on Thursday in remembrance of the tragedy. In Munich, tributes were also given at the Manchesterplatz.
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While the club live-streamed the service and shared the following on social media: “We loved them then,” fans were also outside Old Trafford. We now adore them. We honor the Busby Babes, the #FlowersOfManchester, today and every day.
In 1958, a plane transporting the Manchester United team from Munich crashed through a fence near the coast, killing 23 people.
After a match in Yugoslavia where United defeated Red Star Belgrade to go to the European Cup semi-finals, the aircraft, which carried 44 passengers in total, had stopped in Munich to refuel.
In the meantime, the team gathered on Thursday to honor the deceased, and current manager Amorim was spotted chatting with Ferguson.
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Just over twenty-four hours before United’s FA Cup fourth-round matchup with Leicester, Amorim was spotted welcoming supporters upon his arrival.
During the service, he stood behind men’s captain Fernandes, women’s team manager Mike Skinner, and captain Maya Le Tissier.
Fans gathered behind a fence to see the service, and he was spotted bowed among four laid wreaths.
The funeral honored the 23 individuals who perished, including athletes Duncan Edwards, Eddie Colman, and Geoff Bent, who survived at first but passed away 15 days later from his wounds.
The victims also included pilot Kenneth Rayment, journalists Frank Swift and Donny Davies, club secretary Walter Crickmer, and head coach Bert Whalley.
Bobby Charlton, Harry Gregg, and manager Matt Busby were among the passengers who made it out alive.
Due to boost surging, takeoff was twice canceled. Following the second cancellation, the passengers were removed from the aircraft with the intention of flying the following day.
However, the most recent investigation revealed that the incident was caused bya slush on the runway, which caused the plane to slow down too much and prevent it from taking off. After it crashed through a fence, over a road, and into a house, a portion of the tail tore off and the left side of the cockpit hit a tree.
Following the incident, there were concerns that United as a company might fail, but they were able to continue thanks to contributions and player loans from rivals Liverpool.
Amorim, who has had a difficult start to life at Old Trafford after succeeding Erik ten Hag late last year, is the most recent manager or head coach to attend United’s annual remembrance of the deaths.
His team is trying to salvage something from their season, at least in the FA Cup and Europe, and they are now in 13th place in the Premier League standings.
On Friday night, when they play Leicester, former assistant manager and interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy will make his first appearance since leaving.