Manchester City request a minute of applause on 50th anniversary of Munich disaster

See BBC article for more information

Clearly Manchester City's supporter’s club spokesperson Kevin Parker is worried about certain fans spoiling the moment's remembrance.

But what springs to my mind, on the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster, is how long should we remember these tragic events?

50 years is a long time. Should the disaster still be commemorated in 150 years? I know it was a horrific disaster, but how many fatal crashes have there been in the last 50 years that have passed without a millionth of attention that this one has received?

In my opinion, this should be the last minute silence that Man Utd hold for the Munich disaster.

To mark the end of the yearly remembrances something could be built; a plaque, a statue, something somewhere people can go to remember the tragedy. Man Utd could hold a service at this place every year to pay tribute to those lost instead of holding these minutes of silence.

Billy Bremner's Statue

At Leeds we have the statue of Billy Bremner. The Bremner statue is slightly different because he didn't die tragically, but whenever something happens at Leeds, the statue becomes a focus of attention.

As a Leeds fan our closest equivalent tragedy were the murders in Galatasaray. It's something that we will remember and commemorate for years to come. But when do we stop remembering via a minute’s silence? After a generation or two, those who knew Loftus and Speight will have passed on too. Till we arrive at the day where fans ‘remembering’ the occasion in fact won't have any memory of it happening.

How will a minute’s silence express ‘loss’ if they weren’t even born at the time?

When this debate arose on the Betfair forums, user ‘mayway’ said: “I don't personally feel that it adds anything, as a Man Utd fan not having being born at the time of the Munich disaster I do understand the loss but can't actually feel it."

Granted, many of Busby’s generation are still alive, and on that basis we should still pay our respects. But it would be ugly and crass to wait until all those who were alive at the time have passed away before we leave the tradition behind.

The existing memorial clock at Old Trafford

I do not mean to deny the old timers the right to mourn, this is why I propose the building of a memorial that can allow fans to pay tribute to those lost in the tragedy for years to come. This would cut out the risk of the tradition losing all meaning. The minute’s silence will have to end some year, and it seems to me like Man Utd have missed a trick this time around.

There are suitable places to mourn the loss of Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, and even as a fan who was deeply affected by the incident, I do not expect Leeds to hold a minute silence for the next 100 years. I do not expect the next two generations of Leeds fans to adhere to a tradition that bears little relation to their own experiences and memories.

And finally...

This observer hopes that the FA appoint a referee other than Graham Poll to officiate this Manchester derby. With the news that the home team will be wearing a specially designed kit for the occasion, without names or numbers, one wonders how many yellow cards each player will need to receive before finally being sent off.

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