I watched the documentary about this man last night and feel embarrassed that I havenât learnt more about this fellow country man before. The documentary covered his rise in football to the Munich air disaster, to later returning to Munich and meeting with people he had saved. When people think of players who have came from N.Ireland they often think of George Best which often eclipses the talent of this man, who was thought of at the time as the best goal keeper in the world. I think the word legend often gets banded around far too lightly now but I think this modest gentleman deserves this accolade.
It was on UltsterTV after the testimonial for him at windsor park. An IFA11 v Man Utd, Martin ONeill was there as well but for the life of me I can't remember the title.
Found it: Munich Air Disaster: I Was There is an emotional documentary which follows crash survivor Harry Gregg as he embarks on a personal journey to meet Vera Lukic, a Serbian woman whom he saved from the wreckage. Marked forever by the painful memories of the disaster, but driven by a sense of duty to those who didn't survive, Gregg visits both the crash site and the hospital where many passengers lost their fight for life, before undertaking a poignant reunion with Vera in Belgrade. Revealing the long-term consequences of the tragedy, Gregg's reflective excursion into the past forms a fitting tribute to his team mates who are, to this day, remembered as one of the greatest teams of all time.
As a golden oldie here, I remember Harry Gregg. I think he moved to Man Ure from Doncaster Rovers who were at that time a decent second tier team. I remenber the disaster - I was only ten at the time. Sunderland, in danger of relegation, were after Ernie Taylor to help stave off the threat. But they did the gentlemanly deed and stood aside when they heard Man U wanted him to help man their now depleted team. Sentiment meant we were relegated for the first time ever....
The man's a genuine hero. What he did at Munich needed real guts. A very good goalkeeper as well and I read somewhere he had great confidence in his own abilty, maybe even a little arrogant. There's a good story that a fifteen year old kid on trial at Man. Utd. had the temerity to dribble around Gregg and slot the ball home. Much to the amusement of his fellow professionals, Gregg was furious and let the kid know about it. A few minutes later the kid waltzed around Gregg again and scored easily. His name? George Best.
