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Harry Gregg...what a guy


Dr. Bapswent

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On the tv just now,

 

 

What an amazing guy.

 

Came across as a truly great bloke and a hero too.

 

I was close to tears.

 

An outstanding piece of TV.

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I was close to tears.

 

An outstanding piece of TV.

 

Yeah, I watched it. Did you see "a nation of film" on bbc 3? Harry Gregg was on both that and the half time excerpt on match of the day.

 

Must admit, I had no idea how highly regarded the Busby babes were in terms of footballing talent. It did seem entorely plausible that had they lived, they would have went on to great things.

 

I hope the minute of silance at Old Trafford goes okay. I think it will. I read "Man United ruined my life"(a Man City fans account of his life following his team) a whoe back and the author stated that in a lot of ways the Man City fans were as deeply effected by the tragedy as United fans. "The babes" were apparently a massive part of Manchester as a whole, not just as individual footballers.

Manchester being the footballing city that it was and still is today could understand the great loss that had taken place.

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I met Harry Gregg as a youth on the train back from Hampden in 1958(?).

He was with Peter Doherty, the NI manager. I found it amazing that people were coming up the train asking for the autograph, not of Harry Gregg, but of Peter Doherty. I never saw Doherty play but when you consider what Gregg must have been through with Munich, the fact that they were asking for Doherty's autograph and not Gregg's, suggests PD must have been a legend. Denis Law played that game and it was it was his first, or one of his first games for Scotland. What I can say that as I recall, Gregg was indeed a gentleman and will always be a hero of mine. And Doherty.

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I also met Mr. Gregg when I was playing down at Shrewsbury in the dark ages (electric strikes) in '74 if my memory serves me correctly.

 

He was down with big Jim Holton, who was with Shrewsbury before he went to MU.

 

The following week we went to Manchester and saw a certain Mr. Best holding up the bar in his club, Slack Alice.

 

:)

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I also met Mr. Gregg when I was playing down at Shrewsbury in the dark ages (electric strikes) in '74 if my memory serves me correctly.

 

He was down with big Jim Holton, who was with Shrewsbury before he went to MU.

 

The following week we went to Manchester and saw a certain Mr. Best holding up the bar in his club, Slack Alice.

 

:)

 

Bill, you any relation to a certain Hearts Legend & Great Bowler from Wardie BC by the name of "Willie". I'm pretty sure Willie emigrated to America for a bit before returning to Edinburgh. I have played bowls from a very young age & remember watching "in awe" a certain Willie Duff winning the Edinburgh Open Singles Tournament @ Balgreen, when it was a huge event. I had no idea who he was until my father explained to me that he was the Hearts goalkeeper from the 56 Scottish Cup winning side.

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Bill, you any relation to a certain Hearts Legend & Great Bowler from Wardie BC by the name of "Willie". I'm pretty sure Willie emigrated to America for a bit before returning to Edinburgh. I have played bowls from a very young age & remember watching "in awe" a certain Willie Duff winning the Edinburgh Open Singles Tournament @ Balgreen, when it was a huge event. I had no idea who he was until my father explained to me that he was the Hearts goalkeeper from the 56 Scottish Cup winning side.

 

Yes, he was my father. Sadly passed away over 3 years ago now.

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eddie fenwick
Yes, he was my father. Sadly passed away over 3 years ago now.

 

didnt realise that was 3 years now bill,doesnt seem it

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I had a lump in my throat watching just ten minutes on the bbc website. I don't think Bobby Charlton would be here if it weren't for Harry Gregg pulling him out of that wreckage, seat and all still attached to him! In fact when you see the state of that airplane, it's hard to believe there were any survivors at all!:eek: Even 50 years on, it's still very sad.:sad:

 

Lynn

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On the tv just now,

 

 

What an amazing guy.

 

Came across as a truly great bloke and a hero too.

 

I posted this on the BBC 1 thread before I noticed this thread which is a slightly more appropriate place to post it.

 

A deeply moving and emotional programme.

 

"The not inconsiderable (complete understatement) acts of heroism that Harry Gregg (sp) did in the immediate aftermath of the crash was well, how to describe it / them, truly awesome and the humility of the man incredible.

 

To meet the lady and the child she was pregnant with that he saved and state that he wanted no thanks for they owed him none is to me almost indescribable.

 

He is a heroe in the truest sense of the word and he has my utmost respect.

 

I get this feeling that if it was within in his power he would have saved everyone.

 

It is very strange that in times of crisis it is not always the one that you may think that becomes the heroe. Humans are a most strange animal."

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Guess The Crowd
I was close to tears.

 

An outstanding piece of TV.

 

They played an excerpt from that on Radio 5 live last Sunday morning on Sportsweek. It was probably about the most powerful, gripping, 10-15 minutes of radio I'd ever heard. Superb stuff, and awe-inspiring that he could remember everything in such detail.

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A superb programe, very moving and shows the inner strengh that people find in times of tragedy and in the years that followed.

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I watched that. It was excellent. Also, I thought it was great when they players were standing in line before the game in Belgrade when they turned round and had the numbers 1 through 11 on their backs.

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Watched the MUTV specials yesterday when Harry got up to be interviewed by Eamonn Holmes and he took over the programme with stories and anecdotes, very funny stuff that had Sir Alex giggling in the front row. Eamonn asked if they got help from psychologist, to which he just laughed. Very humble man.

 

Amazing to think a week(?) after, he was back in goals for Utd (in a match he reckoned he didn't know who most of his new teammates were) yet still won 3-0!

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I had a lump in my throat watching just ten minutes on the bbc website. I don't think Bobby Charlton would be here if it weren't for Harry Gregg pulling him out of that wreckage, seat and all still attached to him! In fact when you see the state of that airplane, it's hard to believe there were any survivors at all!:eek: Even 50 years on, it's still very sad.:sad:

 

Lynn

 

 

I have a picture of the British Army team where the old man played along with Bobby Charlton and a couple of other recognizable peeps. (If only I knew how to post Lynn)

 

:eek:

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Yeah, I watched it. Did you see "a nation of film" on bbc 3? Harry Gregg was on both that and the half time excerpt on match of the day.

 

Must admit, I had no idea how highly regarded the Busby babes were in terms of footballing talent. It did seem entorely plausible that had they lived, they would have went on to great things.

 

I hope the minute of silance at Old Trafford goes okay. I think it will. I read "Man United ruined my life"(a Man City fans account of his life following his team) a whoe back and the author stated that in a lot of ways the Man City fans were as deeply effected by the tragedy as United fans. "The babes" were apparently a massive part of Manchester as a whole, not just as individual footballers.

Manchester being the footballing city that it was and still is today could understand the great loss that had taken place.

 

 

It wasn't only Manchester that mourned, the whole UK did.

 

I can remember our school headmaster leading a prayer for those involved in the crash at morning assembly on the day after (50 years ago today) and many of us schoolkids actually buying morning papers on the way to school, a thing we never did, waste of pocket money, to get all the info on the crash.

 

Guys like Duncan Edwards were just as big in Scotland as they were in England because they were soooo good. A joy to watch altho we only saw them rarely as TV coverage was nothing like it is today both in quantity and quality. And Edwards hung on for another couple of weeks before dying on 21February. Everybody was stunned as we all thought he would pull through.

 

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Just to add that if anyone hasn`t seen it, you can watch it on the PC for the next six days on BBC iPlayer, would highly reccomend it, its only forty minutes that that remarkable man has lived with for fifty years.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/

 

Only available to folks inside the UK :sad:

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I have a picture of the British Army team where the old man played along with Bobby Charlton and a couple of other recognizable peeps. (If only I knew how to post Lynn)

 

:eek:

 

Is Duncan Edwards in the photo? I know him and Charlton were in the army together.

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MUTV was brilliant yesterday.Makes you wish you had seen Duncan Edwards live.Sadly he died on the 21st Feb my birthday.The Busby speach made from his hospital bed and played at one of the games was heartbreaking.Bobby Charlton must have found the last couple of weeks really hard.So many interviews from him about the disaster that he looked emotional drained yesterday.Harry's reward was getting barged into the net by N Lofthouse for the winning goal in the cup final.I was also astounded at the amount of players United sold 1 season after the disaster.Quite a few got a season and were then sold to other teams.

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portobellojambo1
On the tv just now,

 

 

What an amazing guy.

 

Came across as a truly great bloke and a hero too.

 

 

A very moving and emotional story. Not much brings a tear to my eyes these days, but last night's programme managed it.

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It wasn't only Manchester that mourned, the whole UK did.

 

I can remember our school headmaster leading a prayer for those involved in the crash at morning assembly on the day after (50 years ago today) and many of us schoolkids actually buying morning papers on the way to school, a thing we never did, waste of pocket money, to get all the info on the crash.

 

Guys like Duncan Edwards were just as big in Scotland as they were in England because they were soooo good. A joy to watch altho we only saw them rarely as TV coverage was nothing like it is today both in quantity and quality. And Edwards hung on for another couple of weeks before dying on 21February. Everybody was stunned as we all thought he would pull through.

 

Yes, I can remember those sad times as an eleven years old schoolboy back in February 1958. The whole UK was stunned. We all new about the Busby babes, including the most famous of them all Duncan Edwards, and their fantastic promise. The team was the climax of an epic struggle by Matt Busby to rebuild Manchester United literally from the rubble of WWII. 'Tragedy' is a much misused word these days. This was a real tragedy.

 

Matt Busby of course was a well liked man in Scotland, being as he was from that hotbed of football, the North Lanarkshire coalfield. His fight for life gripped the nation, especially since he had twice been given the 'Last Rites'. There was much relief when his moving message, recorded from his sick-bed in Munich, was broadcast thus signalling his survival. I will always remember the TV News footage of his release from the hospital in Munich. The kind and dedicated treatment the survivors received in that German hospital, less than thirteen years after the end of WWII, helped in mending the bridges between Britain and Germany. In fact nurses and doctors from the hospital were later flown to Manchester to receive the gratitude of the club and its fans and, indeed, the whole of Manchester.

 

Something else worth remembering about those days fifty years ago was how football rivalry (outwith The Old Firm), whether it be between Scotland and England or inter-club on either side of the border, was just as intense but without the stupidity of hatred soiling the sporting ethos. The thought that Manchester City fans would disturb a minutes silence for the tragic events in Munich would have been the farthest thing from their minds in those days.

 

Harry Gregg epitomises the hard but fair, sporting but competitive, and selfless attitudes of that time. Good luck to him.

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Yeah, I watched it. Did you see "a nation of film" on bbc 3? Harry Gregg was on both that and the half time excerpt on match of the day.

 

Must admit, I had no idea how highly regarded the Busby babes were in terms of footballing talent. It did seem entorely plausible that had they lived, they would have went on to great things.

 

I hope the minute of silance at Old Trafford goes okay. I think it will. I read "Man United ruined my life"(a Man City fans account of his life following his team) a whoe back and the author stated that in a lot of ways the Man City fans were as deeply effected by the tragedy as United fans. "The babes" were apparently a massive part of Manchester as a whole, not just as individual footballers.

Manchester being the footballing city that it was and still is today could understand the great loss that had taken place.

 

I really hope your right about that, it would be horrendous if there was any disrespect for it at all.

The supporters associations of the City fans were desperate for a minutes applause instead of silence however, makes me think they are not to confident :confused:

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British Army team at Tynecastle

 

Well done Bill! ;)

 

I can only recognise Bobby Charlton and your dad! Who are the rest of the players?

 

Cheers

Lynn:wavey:

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I know one of the guys is Cliff Jones who was a friend of my Dad's. Maybe a certain Davy Allan might recognise the others. They played in Edinburgh twice. Once at Tynecastle and the other time at Fester Road, to which I have the programme.

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I really hope your right about that, it would be horrendous if there was any disrespect for it at all.

The supporters associations of the City fans were desperate for a minutes applause instead of silence however, makes me think they are not to confident :confused:

 

I read somewhere that they had to stop the minutes silence at the England game after 30 odd seconds due to clowns showing a lack of respect.

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heartgarfunkel

It's so devastating to find out at the end of the programme that Harry Gregg's wife died aged 26, with him only a year older and the father of young children.

 

An incredible man.

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I don't think the City fans will disturb the silence. After all, Frank Swift - a former City great who was a journalist covering the Belgrade game - also lost his life in the crash.

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Certainly hope the silence is respected.

 

Seem to remember on soccer am that a photo was 2b enclosed in the match day programe reminding younger City fans that they lost a player also.

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Just watched this on iplayer coz I missed it last week.

 

Most moving piece of TV I've seen in years. A genuine hero, completely humble.

 

Just wished I'd been around to see those guys at their peak, must have been awesome.

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