Rory McLeod’s tale of Alex Dawson brought back memories of another tale regarding the striker.
I seem to remember he, in the early part of his career, could have been on the ill-fated Manchester United flight in 1958.
His mother even expected him to fly out with the rest of his team-mates to Belgrade for the quarter-final of the European Cup but he didn’t get the nod from Sir Matt Busby.
Dawson said recently: “When I heard the tragic news I thought I had better ring my mum because she would have expected me to be on the plane.
“I used to go on those trips and had a passport and visa all ready but the boss just told me I wasn’t going this time.
“I had already been on two or three trips just to break me in. Chief coach Bert Whalley said to me, ‘There will be another one for you,’ but I wouldn’t have wanted it in those circumstances.
“I know now how lucky I was to be left in Manchester. The omens were on my side.”
Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor, Liam Whelan and Duncan Edwards lost their lives.
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