It was almost as if Harry Gregg chose last week as the time to exorcise himself of the memories that have haunted him since the Munich air disaster. For 40 years the former Manchester United goalkeeper had barely spoken of the tragedy but, last week, he was everywhere on our screens, giving chilling accounts, in extraordinarily vivid detail, of the crash that claimed the lives of 23 people, including eight of his team-mates.
Gregg appeared on The Bus- by Babes - End of a Dream on ITV the Sunday before last, in what was billed as the definitive account of the events of February 6th, 1958, on BBC Northern Ireland's Home Truths - Glory, Glory Days on Wednesday, UTV's The Kelly Show on Friday night and several news programmes through the week.
He was also interviewed at Old Trafford by Des Cahill on RTE Radio on Friday morning's Gay Byrne Show, in a special programme commemorating the 40th anniversary of the disaster. When Cahill appeared on the Late Late Show that night he was told by Byrne that the Montrose switchboard had lit up with furious callers complaining about the founder of ABUism being chosen to present the morning's programme. If they had bothered listening to the interviews with Gregg, the brother and sisters of the late Liam Whelan, Shay Brennan and others, instead of whinging down their phones, they would have heard what was probably the finest and most moving tribute programme on radio or television all week. Having spent a lifetime supporting the Dubs and West Ham, Cahill has had no choice but to develop a sporting sense of humour over the years but those who dismiss him as a lightweight broadcaster would have done well to have listened to his superbly sensitive handling of Friday's interviews. Perhaps last week wasn't the time to indulge in Manchester United-bashing but, as Cahill pointed out on Friday, it is an extraordinary fact that the forthcoming testimonial match at Old Trafford will be the first time in 40 years that the club has arranged such a game to raise funds for the Munich survivors and their families.
Only the BBC News on Friday evening touched upon this side of the Munich story when they interviewed two more survivors, Ray Wood and Albert Scanlon, both of whom live on basic pensions. "It would be nice if we were helped along a bit because a lot of the players could do with it," said Wood, referring to those who have hit hard times over the years. Martin Edwards, the Manchester United chairman, assured the BBC reporter that "one or two of the families of those killed at Munich have benefitted in the past." One or two? Wood's ex-wife Elizabeth has campaigned for over 10 years to persuade the club to help the survivors and has claimed that letters she sent to Edwards, asking for a benefit match to be staged, went unanswered.
In a recent interview with the Daily Telegraph, Elizabeth spoke of Ray's 40-year struggle to cope with the loss of his team-mates and the memories of the crash, in which he suffered serious head injuries. His interview on Football Focus on Saturday made painful viewing.
"Sometimes you'd go to bed and you'd have a dream and you'd dream that you're with all the lads again and it's so real. And then, when you wake up, it's such a shock because now you're 40 years on, but they're still young lads as you remember them," he said. "It really hurts to think that all those poor lads, who had such a great future in front of them, didn't get the opportunity to prove how really great they were."
McCarthy's Park on Wednesday night made painful viewing of a different kind when we were given an insight in to the agonies Mick McCarthy endured in the course of the last World Cup qualifying campaign. Yes, supporters endured them, too, but they at least didn't have to shoulder the responsibility for what happened on the field. "Why should I be sacked when it's the players who go out and make the mistakes," Sampdoria manager Vujadin Boskov once said when his team hit a slump. But the buck stopped with Boskov, and he was sacked. It's a lonesome old job, and the utter loneliness of McCarthy's position, not least when the results were poor, was best illustrated by his post-match press conferences, after 0-0 home draws with Iceland and Lithuania. The tension at both was, at times, excruciating.
A simple and unobtrusive narration left the pictures to tell most of the story through the hour-long documentary, made for RTE by Setanta Productions, which ended with the defeat in Brussels by Belgium in the second leg of the qualifying play-off. Maybe Republic of Ireland supporters will never truly warm to him, as most of them did to Jack Charlton, and while many remain unconvinced that he's the right man for the job, if McCarthy's Park thought us anything it was that his desperate desire to bring success back to the national team can hardly be questioned.
"I am pleased I was angry tonight," he said after the match in Brussels. "I am pleased that I shed a few tears and I am pleased that I kicked that coffee pot around the room. And I'm pleased that I feel like I do now because I know the old feeling is still there. If that feeling goes I'll pack it in."
