Harry Gregg obituary

The footballer Harry Gregg, who has died aged 87, was one of the finest and bravest goalkeepers of his era, and equally courageous away from the goalmouth. In particular he was a hero of the appalling Munich air crash of February 1958, when a plane carrying the Manchester United team back from Belgrade failed to clear the snowy runway after refuelling in Munich, killing 23 people and leaving many others with dreadful injuries.

Related: Harry Gregg, Manchester United and Northern Ireland great, dies aged 87

Having forced his way out of the wreckage – and ignoring a general order to run for cover to avoid a possible explosion – Gregg dived back into the burning debris to pull out a number of his fellow passengers. They included Vera Lukić, the pregnant wife of a Yugoslav diplomat, and her young daughter, Vesna – as well as the United players Albert Scanlon, Ray Wood, Jackie Blanchflower, Bobby Charlton and Dennis Viollet, the last two of whom he had to drag away, unconscious, by their trouser waistbands. All survived, although eight players were eventually among the dead.

In the immediate aftermath of the crash, Gregg helped United to reach the 1958 FA Cup final with an ad hoc team, although to the dismay of the neutrals they lost 2-0 at Wembley to Bolton Wanderers. He had been back in goal just 13 days after the disaster, playing against Sheffield Wednesday in an earlier round of the FA Cup, and he soldiered on that season despite suffering severe headaches. Finally he asked to see a neurosurgeon, who told him he had a fractured skull.

Gregg’s runner-up medal from the 1958 final proved to be the only return from his near decade-long career at United, even though he is widely regarded as one of the club’s best ever goalkeepers. Having lost many of their “babes” in the crash, United were so successfully rebuilt under their manager Matt Busby that they were able to win the 1963 FA Cup final and then two First Division championships, in 1964-65 and 1966–67.

However, for the 1963 final Gregg had only recently come back from injury and Busby chose David Gaskell instead. Then a long run of serious arm and shoulder troubles meant he could not play enough league games during the two title winning seasons to qualify for championship medals. Gregg showed further courage in his later years with United, as various operations designed to heal his shoulder left him unable to bend his arm without pain. He played on just the same: always ready to come out boldly for the high crosses.

With Northern Ireland Gregg could hardly have expected to win any medals, but he had a rewarding time with his national side nonetheless – especially in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, where his glorious performances had him named as the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Gregg was part of a superb Northern Ireland team in that World Cup, ably captained by Danny Blanchflower and managed by Peter Doherty. Against West Germany, the holders, in Malmö, Gregg was magnificent, making a dozen exceptional saves despite the fact that he was carrying an injured right ankle, which needed infrared treatment after the game.

Related: Harry Gregg, Manchester United and Northern Ireland great, dies aged 87

Time and again he flung his heavy body at the feet of the advancing German forwards, and at the end of the game, in the tunnel, his team mates hoisted him onto their shoulders. The 2-2 draw helped Northern Ireland to a place in the quarter finals where, deprived of the influential presence of their centre back Jackie Blanchflower and weary from a long coach ride to Norrköping, they went down 4-0 to France.

Tall and powerfully built, Gregg, who was born in Magherafelt, Northern Ireland, played 25 times for his country and 247 times for Manchester United. He had first appeared for a number of Irish clubs on either side of the border, including Dundalk, Linfield and Coleraine, while plying his trade as a joiner.

In the 1952-53 season, modest Doncaster Rovers brought him to England and he stayed there in the Second Division for the best part of five years until Busby brought him to Manchester United in 1957 for a then record fee for a goalkeeper of £23,500.

At the tail end of his career Gregg was transferred to Stoke City midway through the 1966-67 season, but played just two games in that campaign. He then went into football management, taking charge of Shrewsbury Town from 1968 to 1972, Swansea from 1972 to 1975, Crewe Alexandra from 1975 to 1978, and Carlisle United between 1986 and 1987.

He had a spell as goalkeeping coach for Manchester United under their manager Dave Sexton, and in 1986, when the managerial job fell vacant, Busby recommended him. The role went to Alex Ferguson.

Latterly he owned a hotel in Portstewart, County Londonderry, and in retirement lived in Coleraine. He was appointed MBE in 1995 and OBE in 2019.

Gregg’s first wife, Mavis (nee Markham), whom he had met while he was playing for Doncaster, died of cancer three years after Munich. He is survived by his second wife, Carolyn (nee Maunders), whom he married in 1965, and by five children, Linda (from his first marriage), Julie, Jane, Suzanne and John-Henry (from his second). Another daughter, Karen, predeceased him.

• Harry (Henry) Gregg, footballer, born 27 October 1932; death announced 17 February 2020