By Kunle Solaja.

Sixty-eight years on, football, this Friday, paused again to remember the Munich Air Disaster, the catastrophe that ripped through Manchester United and stunned the sporting world on February 6, 1958.

The tragedy claimed 23 lives when Manchester United’s aircraft crashed on take-off at Munich-Riem Airport following a refuelling stop on the journey home from a European Cup tie against Red Star Belgrade.

Manchester United squad before the 1958 crash.

Among the dead were eight players from United’s celebrated Busby Babes side, alongside club officials, journalists and members of the flight crew.

Those killed included club captain Roger Byrne and the immensely gifted Duncan Edwards, widely tipped to become one of both United’s and England’s greatest-ever players. Also lost were Mark Jones, Tommy Taylor, Eddie Colman, Liam Whelan, David Pegg and Geoff Bent.

In all, the disaster took the lives of 11 members of the United travelling party, eight journalists, the co-pilot and several others connected to the flight.

Yet from the wreckage also emerged stories of survival and resilience. Manager Matt Busby, badly injured in the crash, would go on to rebuild United into European champions a decade later.

Bobby Charlton, who survived with relatively minor injuries, became the club’s record scorer for many years and a World Cup winner with England. Bill Foulkes, Harry Gregg, Albert Scanlon and Dennis Viollet also resumed distinguished careers.

For two survivors, however, the crash marked the end of their playing days.

Jackie Blanchflower was just 25 when the plane crashed on the snow-covered runway. The Northern Ireland international, younger brother of Tottenham Hotspur great Danny Blanchflower, had already won two league titles with United and made 117 appearances for the club. Renowned for his versatility, he had played in defence, midfield and even in goal during his career.

Despite early hope that he might recover, Blanchflower’s injuries — including a fractured pelvis, multiple broken limbs and severe internal damage — proved career-ending. He was forced into early retirement and later rebuilt his life away from football, eventually finding success as a businessman and popular after-dinner speaker. He died of cancer in 1998.

Johnny Berry, United’s flying right winger and the club’s original wearer of the famous number seven shirt, also survived the crash but never played again. Signed from Birmingham City in 1951, Berry made 276 appearances and scored 45 goals, helping United to the league title in his first season.

Severe head injuries sustained in Munich ended his career at the age of 31. Berry later returned to his hometown of Aldershot to run a sportswear business and became the first surviving United player from the crash to pass away, dying in 1994 at the age of 68.

Those lost and those who lived on

The victims of the crash included United secretary Walter Crickmer and coaches Bert Whalley and Tom Curry, as well as eight journalists covering the team’s European adventure. The co-pilot Kenneth Rayment, a steward, a supporter and a travel agent were also among the dead.

Of the nine United players who survived, Bobby Charlton lived the longest, passing away in October 2023 at the age of 86. Goalkeeper Harry Gregg, whose heroics in rescuing survivors earned lasting admiration, died in 2022 aged 87.

Each year, the anniversary of Munich remains deeply embedded in the identity of Manchester United, serving as a reminder not only of loss but of the resilience that shaped the club’s history. Sixty-eight years on, the names of those who died — and those whose careers and lives were forever changed — continue to be remembered as an inseparable part of football’s collective memory.

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The global football community on Monday marked the third anniversary of the passing of Brazilian football icon Pelé, widely regarded as the greatest player the game has ever known.

Pelé, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, died on 29 December 2022 at the age of 82 after a prolonged battle with illness, drawing an outpouring of grief and tributes that spanned continents, cultures and generations.

Three years on, his legacy remains undimmed. The only footballer to win the FIFA World Cup three times (1958, 1962 and 1970), Pelé redefined excellence on the pitch, combining athleticism, skill, creativity and an instinctive understanding of the game that set new standards for greatness.

From his formative years at Santos, where he became a teenage sensation, to his role in popularising football in the United States with the New York Cosmos, Pelé transcended club and country. He scored more than 1,000 career goals in official and unofficial matches, a milestone that became synonymous with his name and myth.

Beyond statistics, Pelé was football’s first true global superstar. He turned matches into spectacles, inspired millions of young players, and helped project football as a universal language capable of bridging race, politics and geography. His influence extended into diplomacy and humanitarian work, where he served as a global ambassador for sport, peace and social causes.

On this third anniversary, clubs, federations, former players and fans across the world have once again paid tribute, sharing memories, archival footage and messages celebrating a life that shaped the modern game. Stadiums, museums and public spaces in Brazil and beyond continue to honour him as O Rei — The King.

Though Pelé is no longer physically present, his spirit endures every time a child dreams with a ball at their feet, every time a goal is celebrated with joy and imagination, and every time football reminds the world of its power to inspire.

Three years after his passing, Pelé remains eternal — not just in memory, but in the very soul of the beautiful game.

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By Kunle Solaja.

Football, as a universal language, occasionally weaves poetic coincidences into its grand narrative — moments that transcend generations and geography. One such connection exists between Brazil’s immortal Pelé and Nigeria’s legendary Rashidi Yekini, two men who shared not only a striker’s instinct for goals but also a birth date: October 23.

It was perhaps destiny that their paths crossed memorably at the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final in Tunis.

Pelé, the global icon and guest of honour, stood before the Nigerian and Zambian teams during the pre-match handshake. Observers that afternoon noticed something striking — the way Pelé lingered when he reached Yekini.

What began as a formal handshake turned into a warm embrace. The Brazilian maestro patted the Nigerian’s head, as if recognising a kindred spirit — another man who understood what it meant to live for goals, to lift a nation’s spirit with every strike.

Pelé and Yekini were, in many ways, mirror images across continents. Both were symbols of joy and national pride, embodiments of raw power and precision in front of goal.

Pelé, born in 1940 in Três Corações, Brazil, became the first global football superstar, lifting three FIFA World Cups and scoring over a thousand goals.

Yekini, born 23 years later in Kaduna, Nigeria, was Africa’s own colossus — the country’s all-time top scorer whose roar after netting Nigeria’s first-ever World Cup goal at USA ’94 remains one of the sport’s most iconic celebrations.

Today, both men are gone — Yekini passed away in Ibadan on 4 May 2012, while Pelé departed on 29 December 2022 in São Paulo. Yet, their birthdays — and their intertwined legacies — continue to echo through the corridors of football history.

If they were alive, Yekini would have turned 62 today, and Pelé, 85. But somewhere in football’s celestial fields, perhaps the two are still trading smiles, talking goals, and reminding the world that greatness — true greatness — never dies.

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