If the immediate loss of seven players killed outright in the crash was extremely hard to take, another devastating blow followed two weeks later when 21-year-old Duncan Edwards, the heart of the team, died in the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich as a result of his injuries.
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He was the eighth player to die and the 23rd and last life lost out of the 44 passengers on board.
The young players who died were England international and club captain Roger Byrne, 28, Eddie Colman, 21, England's centre-forward Tommy Taylor, 25, Mark Jones, 24, David Pegg, 22, Irish international Billy Whelan, 22, Geoff Bent, 25, and Edwards, who in 1955 aged just 18 had become the youngest player to appear for England in the 20th century.
Three United club officials, eight journalists including Frank Swift the former Manchester City and England goalkeeper, the co-pilot, a crew member and the travel agent who arranged the trip also died.
Now, on the 50th anniversary of the tragedy, their legacy lives on, undiminished by time.
Photograph: Manchester United fans remember the 1958 Munich disaster before the Barclays Premiership match between Manchester United and Birmingham City at Old Trafford on February 5, 2005/ Getty Images
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