Then & now

6 February 1958: A plane carrying Manchester United home from Belgrade crashed at Munich. Two days later the 'Times' carried the following report:

'Messages of condolence from many parts of the world continued to arrive in Manchester yesterday after the air crash at Munich on Thursday, when seven players, three officials and a director of Manchester United football club were among those killed . . .

'The Lord Mayor of Manchester, Alderman Leslie Lever, MP, said the city had been 'strengthened by the countless messages we have received, particularly from the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh'. A cable has also been received from the Prime Minister, Mr Macmillan, in Australia, and messages from the west German Chancellor, Dr Adenauer, and Marshal Tito,

President of Yugoslavia,

have been forwarded to Mr Macmillan . . .

'The Red Star club, of Belgrade, who were eliminated from the European Cup by Manchester United on Wednesday, have suggested to the organising committee that Manchester United be proclaimed 'honorary champions' for 1958. Their victory took the English club into the semi- finals . . .

'In Warsaw, the honorary secretary of the Polish Football Association said that Polish footballers who are to play abroad this year would travel by train . . .

'The League lifted a ban on flights to fixtures in this country less than a year ago, but has never refused to allow teams to fly to matches abroad.'

27 April 1993: A plane carrying 17 members of the Zambian national squad crashed in the Atlantic. There were no survivors.