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In the light of the latest heartbreaking tragedy unfolding at Leicester City where the owner and chairman of LCFC, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha breathed his last after a helicopter crash along with four other members who did not survive as well, the football community finds itself to be plunged into yet another horrifying incident that has broken our hearts.
Well-wishers have arrived in thousands, not only near the stadium but also on social media platforms because at the end of the day, such tragedies do not care about the name of your football club but such tragedies bring out the most raw human emotions, the emotion of grief and sadness.
Tragedies in the world of football have happened several times over the years and not surprisingly, those are the times when the game unites as a world with a sense of commonness. It is with this that I proceed to recall five of the most terrible tragedies that happened, so as to remember the ones who passed away and never forget them, to keep them long in our memories :-
#1 Manchester United's Munich Air Disaster - Busby Babes, February 6, 1958.
23 lives that included eight Manchester United first team players, three coaching staff and eight journalists ebbed away in what could be the greatest tragedy a sports-team had to ever suffer and that was in 1958 as a malfunction during the launch of an aircraft took the much loved lives.
The team brimming with potential and brimming with talent in what could have been a generation that would dominate England back then was on it's way back from Belgrade, after defeating Red Star Belgrade to advance to the semi-finals of the European Cup along with their legendary coach Sir Matt Busby.
Captain Roger Byrne and Duncan Edwards were amongst the people who died at that time and were hailed as one of the best players of that generation along with their teammates Geoff Bent, Eddie Colman, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Liam Whelan who passed away too.
21 people survived the disaster and amongst them was Matt Busby himself who saw the club's future pitted into the depths of doubt but the legendary manager along with the youth and the reserve team went on to establish a second string of the Busby Babes which included George Best and Denis Law to conquer the European Cup ten years later in what was a remarkable turnaround, a turnaround where the club still draws its inspiration from.
The Busby Babes are remembered every single year by the club and very recently, on the 60th anniversary of the incident, Manchester United players including Jesse Lingard and Ander Herrera paid an emotional tribute. " We will never die " chant still rings around Old Trafford, a living reminder of those who've been kept alive and will always remain alive in the hearts and the spirit of the club.
#2 Chapecoense - November 28, 2016.
The Chapecoense disaster is a horrid tale of a small team that was supposed to fly high and take part in one of the biggest finals of its history but the dream was short-lived as the team met with an accident along the way right before facing Colombian outfit Atletico Nacional in the Copa Sudamericana final.
As the flight neared Jose Maria Cordova airport in Medellin, it crashed killing 71 players, journalists and crews and leaving only six people as survivors including three players Alan Ruschel, Helio Neto and Jackson Follman.
A request was made to CONMEBOL by Atletico Nacional to award the final and the cup to Chapecoense and they won the fair-play award for the grand gesture. Chapecoense refused the proposal of having immunity from relegation for about three seasons and along with their new coach Vagner Mancini, the club set out on a path to build a team with reserves and with the loaned out players from other clubs to finish 8th in the league the next season.
The Chapecoense tragedy united the modern football era like no other incident as millions and millions of tributes flowed along with tears. The tale of Chape will be carried long in our hearts, remembering the ones who passed away and drawing strength of unity from the tragedy.
#3 Superga Air Disaster - Grande Torino - May 4, 1949.
Fondly remembered and called as Grande Torino at that time, Turin did not have Juventus as the dominating team but it had Torino who had knocked Juventus off their perch and had been five time Italian champions continuously beginning from 1942-1943.
They had won the Coppa Italia as well and their players formed a major part of the Italian national team becoming a major force of football back then but air disaster had a shockingly disturbing impact.
As the team was returning to Turin after playing a friendly in Lisbon against Benfica, due to lack of visibility and absurd whether conditions, the disaster struck as the Italian airlines flight G.212 crashed into the supporting wall of the Basilica of Superga in Turin causing an instant death of all the 31 people who were on board including the players, the coaching staff and the journalists.
The Superga air disaster left the Italian team in ruins and the nation was mentally handicapped for quite a while. Unable to come to terms and breathe bravely again, the team travelled to the next world cup in a boat, scarred psychologically, suffering a period of absolute trauma and despair.
It was not until 1970's again that the Italian team gathered it's strength again but today, Grande Torino are remembered by fans across Italy and the site of the disaster has almost become like a site for pilgrimage.
There are striking similarities between them and the busby babes, a young team playing beautiful football but tragedy occurs at the most beautiful times. The story and the continued striving of Torino should be remembered by the world.
#4 The Disaster of Hillsborough - 15 April, 1989.
Unlike the aviation disasters that have been mentioned previously, the disaster of Hillsborough is a fatal human crash that occurred during a FA Cup semi-final clash between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield.
Recorded as the worst sporting disaster in British history, the overcrowding of the two-standing only central pens in the Leppings Lane Stand, allocated to Liverpool supporters lead to 96 deaths and 766 injuries, producing a humongous amount of misery.
The police fed false stories following the incident and the media outlets like Sun promoted their own hideous agendas but the world and Britain especially carried great sympathy for the victims.
Condolences arrived from all over the world, led by the Queen and advocated by the Pope and numerous other English clubs along with Juventus' chief as well. Everton and Liverpool, the fiercest Merseyside rivals faced in the FA Cup final, five weeks after the crash, and wore black-arm bands and stood in unity.
#5 Fallen Heroes - Zambian National team - April 27, 1993.
Travelling for a FIFA World Cup qualifier match against Senegal in Dakar, the aircraft of the Zambian Air Force crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after taking off from Gabon. All the 25 passengers and crew members were killed in the air-crash. The team was eyeing a maiden entry to the World Cup and also had their eyes firmly set on the African Cup of Nations but the dreams withered away tragically overnight.
African nations as a whole stood in solidarity and remembered the Zambian heroes with tributes flowing from everywhere and just in that spirit, Zambia never gave up and with a new side lead by captain Kalisha Bwalya, the team defied the odds to reach the finals of the African Cup of Nations to only lose to Nigeria.
In a beautiful moment of 2012, Zambia won the African Cup of Nations within metres of the crash site and dedicated the victory to the fallen heroes of 1993. Gone but never forgotten.
