English Premier League soccer club Manchester United will hold a commemorative service to remember the victims of the ill-fated 1958 plane crash.
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The ceremony will take place at the famed Old Trafford venue, 60 years after the devastating accident claimed the lives of several members of the club's coaching and player ranks.
Recitations and poems in tribute to the group will precede a minute of silence scheduled for 3:04 p.m., which was the time of the plane crash.
Coach Sir Matt Busby and his men were Belgrade-bound from Munich on Feb. 6 to participate in the European Cup semi-finals. But, the plane crashed on its third attempt to take off in inclement weather. The flight had stopped for refueling in former West Germany amid wintry conditions.
Today's #UnitedReview contains a poster of the last line-up of the Busby Babes from 5 February 1958. Fans at the game are invited to hold it up during the minute's silence as we pay our respects to those we lost in the Munich Air Disaster. pic.twitter.com/oov86RwYSw
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 3, 2018
Eight players and three members of staff were among the 23 people who died in the tragedy.
The players who died are Duncan Edwards, Liam Whelan, Mark Jones, Eddie Colman, David Pegg, Roger Byrne, Tommy Taylor and Geoff Bent.
Additionally, eight journalists, a travel agent, a friend of Busby and cabin steward Tom Cable also lost their lives. Pilot Captain Kenneth Rayment would later die in hospital.
The victims of the Munich crash were coined Manchester United's "Busby Babes." The coach, after a lengthy hospital stay, managed to return to Manchester United and aid in the rebuilding process.
"Keep the red flag flying," Busby said, during that time, to his assistant Jimmy Murphy.
We will never forget. #FlowersOfManchester pic.twitter.com/YAC0Lmqq2W
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 6, 2018
Legend Sir Bobby Charlton and Harry Gregg are the only living survivors of the crash. Duncan Edwards initially survived the crash but succumbed to his injuries two weeks later.
"I didn’t know where I was. I was still sitting in my seat – which had somehow been ripped from underneath the plane. I thought I’d just closed my eyes," Charlton had recounted. "It was such a momentous event, for so many young people to die just on the verge of the great success that was ahead of them, and I couldn't understand why."
Charlton, along with crash survivor the late Bill Foulkes, served as the backbone of a Busby-coached outfit which claimed the European Cup title about a decade later at Wembley.
Charlton wrote, in a current letter to Manchester, “Words cannot describe the devastating effect that this had on the football club and the lives of those affected. Whether on board the plane, or in the aftermath for those and their families and friends, this disaster was life-changing for so many of my good friends."
Adding: "The devastating effect still lives on and this great football club, which you are part of, has risen from its darkest hour in a way like no other."
The Bundesliga has also paid tribute to the 23 lives that were lost at the Munich-Riem Airport. A ceremony is being held at the site – now officially known as Manchesterplatz.
Mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter and Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge will take part.