Am I a grief junkie?

 So what do you think- how far is too far?

The Telegraph reported that the cover design for the recent ‘Red Issue’ (a Manchester United fanzine) was  considered by some to be in ‘bad taste’. It depicted the headline:

 ‘Grief Junkies Run Riot’

above an image of Fabrice Muamba being attended by medics after suffering a corony attack on the pitch. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/9167751/Manchester-United-fanzine-Red-Issue-defiant-over-Fabrice-Muamba-grief-junkies-cover.html

Researching the Munich Air Disaster I have found that fans of Manchester are very defensive of any comments that seek to mock or disrespect those players who died as a result of the crash. So what is ‘off limits’ and who should decide?

On the day that Tumblr decided to remove pro-eating disorders content  from ‘their’ blogs- it’s a current issue http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/24/tumblr-bans-pro-eating-disorder-and-other-self-harm-blogs/

So am I a grief junkie?

Tags: bolton, eating disorders, fabrice Muamba, football, grief junkies, heart attack, Manchester United, telegraph, tumblr

The litter and scrapheaps of football legends

Legend is a word that is often applied to the high achievers of the footballing world- including those living and dead!  How long can a legend expect to last as a ‘lasting memorial’?

My questions about ‘permanent’ memorials have always been- how permanent are they? And how many more can we accommodate? At this prolific rate we will be stepping over memorials  incumbered on our way to get into sports grounds. As more legends are no doubt being born at this very moment, the future looks good for figurative sculptors with a penchant for footy, but a little challenging for the visitors to these spectacular venues.

Classic, figurative bronzed legends are abound across the UK and a new website · http://www.sportingstatues.com  (reference below) gives a comprehensive overview of this bronzed ‘dreamteam’ selection. Tough and sturdy managers and players stand as gatekeepers to football grounds or like the statue of Duncan Edwards, ’play’ frozen in time in the streets where they once grew up.

But is the bronzed Edwards really a permanent resident of Dudley? The high street in Dudley is due for renovation and family members of Edwards have recently been approached to find out how they would feel if ‘Big Dunc’ was moved. Moved to make way for progress perhaps? To bring in the new? To go to a ‘better place’.  Symbolically the movement of the seemingly ‘permanent’ says much about the permanency of memorials- namely that they are NOT really that permanently fixed.

The theft of bronze memorials is another threat to the permanent legends, with ’gods’ being worth more to someone for their scrap weight destined to become legends- literally on the scrapheap.

Yet as memorials go, even a grave can be moved to make way for more dead- or even a supermarket.  Graves themselves can start to move, settle and fall away- as is now evidence at Edward’s grave where part of the grave has started to shift a little.   

So  go and see your bronzed legends now- before progress, gravity or someone with a big cutter beats you to it. They are standing out in the cold- it’s not a glamourous existence for most. 

Check out the sporting statues website to plan your pilgrimage and don’t forget to send me a photo!   

 

Reference: Stride, C.B., Wilson, J.P. & Thomas, F.E. (2012)
‘The Sporting Statues Project’.

http://www.sportingstatues.com

Tags: air crash, busby babes, commemoration, death, Dudley, Duncan Edwards, football, Manchester United, Munich Air Disaster, munichcouk, UCLan

Tributes to Duncan Edwards; Dudley Cemetery

Some people have been amazed at the number of tributes still being left at the grave of Busby Babe’s Duncan Edwards’ at Dudley Cemetery. This was taken on my visit there yesterday and demonstrates the impact he continues to have on many people’s lives- 54 years on.  

Duncan lives on through the Edwards family

I had been hoping to be prolific this past few days and be posting regularly about the commemoration of Duncan Edwards and the Munich Air Disaster.

As fate would have it I was knocked sideways by the norovirus ( like several people in South Wales) preventing regular tweeting and blogging but on the up side I was able to get to Dudley today and meet other relatives of Duncan at his grave in Dudley Cemetery,

Nephews John and Keith and their nephew Laurence were kind enough to agree to meeting me and my mum (cousins of Duncan) during their regular bi-annual visit to lay a wreath at Duncan’s grave. We were also met by fan and enthusisast Neil- who took this photo of our ‘extended’ family.  It was a great opportunity to share stories and memories of Duncan.  As fate would have it we also had a chance meeting with Maurice who is tending the grave regularly with his wife. Three different groups coming together the day after the anniversary of Duncan’s death- 54 years on- still remembered. It’s time to do a family tree.

Relatives from the Edwards side of Duncan's family meet and remember at his grave

Tags: air crash, busby babes, commemoration, Dudley, Duncan Edwards, football, footballers, Graves, Manchester United, Munich Air Disaster, UCLan

Munich Air Disaster Pilgrimages this weekend

Clipping from Express and star newspaper article by David Harrison on 25th anniversary of Disaster

As the 6th February anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster approaches I am reflecting on my own Munich and Busby Babes journey.

Twenty nine years ago I cut this article from my local Express and Star newspaper; pinked and faded it has become a little piece of history. Duncan’s mother pictured has since passed away and the image of the crashed plane has been repeatedly reproduced since.

 

On Monday the Dudley edition of the Express and Star will run a small article about my research and a call for images and stories from pilgrims to Duncan’s grave. So I am back to where it all started for me-just a piece of paper.

 

Pilgrimages will be made to Old Trafford and the memorials to those lost across the country and in Munich over the weekend. Fans and their friends and family will pay their respects at memorials and leave gifts, notes and take photographs and blog. If you are going- please tweet @1958Munich

 

This continued commemorate activity is in no sign of abayance who knows what the next 29 years will bring?

 

Tags: air crash, busby babes, commemoration, death, Dudley, Duncan Edwards, express and star, football, footballers, Manchester United, Munich Air Disaster

Munich1958 website:A comprehensive resource

Several artefacts that relate to Dudley's Duncan Edwards brief footballing career

Only a handful of days to go before the 54th anniversary of the Munich Air Crash. Traffic to sites and facebook pages about the disaster and the victims and survivors will be gradually moving towards their annual peak.

Without dispute the very best site is:

www.munich58.co.uk

…with details on the players, the memorials and a tribute page compiled over several years,the website is a labour of love by it’s very competent and dedicated maker. It has become the comprehensive portal for those  seeking clarity and facts on the Disaster.  

The site continues to grow and there are links to other sites that include video clips of the players and these are managed and updated regularly.

Thanks Mike.

Tags: busby babes, Dudley, Duncan Edwards, football, Munich Air Disaster, munichcouk

Football Riots: Tragic end to football match in Egypt

I was all set today to post more on the Munich Air Disaster- but it seems more appropriate to acknowledge the loss of life at a football match in Egypt.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16848473

We are watching another football tragedy unfold in real time-  and its impact in Egypt has been hugely felt.  The loss of life and the number of injured is shocking.

It is being called  a ‘riot’ and prehaps it will over the next few days have its own ‘special’ name- like the ‘Munich Air Disaster’ or the ‘HIllsborough Disaster’; or simply Munich or Hillsborough. There it will be added to the tragedies of the game and there will be investigations, changes and commemoration. All I can do is to record and note the response to it and predict that there will be many more commemorations beyond that of the 3 days of national mourning declared today.

Tags: Egypt, football, Munich Air Disaster, riot