Sir, It’s understandable and right that in view of the traumatic on-pitch collapse of Bolton Wanderers’ Fabrice Muamba in front of team-mates and opponents that the team’s next fixture against Aston Villa has been postponed (“Uncertainty over Bolton fixture list”, Mar 19). But it would be a big mistake if too many other matches are similarly rearranged or even, in the case of the abandoned FA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur, cancelled altogether, as some are suggesting.
There are few exact parallels to this awful situation, but it’s worth taking inspiration from the Munich air crash in 1958 which caused the deaths of 23 people, including eight Manchester United players and three key members of staff, with many others on the critical list. Determined to “carry on”, United’s decimated team took to the field again less than a fortnight after the disaster, beating Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 in an emotional match featuring two survivors, Harry Gregg and Bill Foulkes. That victory was the start of an extraordinary run in the FA Cup which took them to the Final. And who did they meet at Wembley? Bolton Wanderers, who won 2-0, the club’s last major trophy.
Giles Oakley
London SW14