Ken Ramsden, the Manchester United club secretary, praised the “impeccable” behaviour of Manchester City fans after the minute’s silence to remember the victims of the Munich air disaster was perfectly observed inside Old Trafford.
There had been fears that a minority of City fans would ruin the silence, held four days after the 50th anniversary of the disaster which claimed the lives of eight United players.
“Manchester came together and that for us was wonderful,” Ramsden said. “When the City fans left the stadium last night [after their team’s 2-1 win] they left singing ‘we are impeccable’ and I couldn’t agree more, they were impeccable.”
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Asked what his feelings were immediately before the referee blew the whistle to begin the silence, Ramsden said: “Well there was some trepidation obviously, because the families [of the victims] were here. It only takes one or two people out of 76,000 [to make a noise] so it could have easily gone wrong, but I think the fact that it didn’t is a great tribute to both clubs and particularly Manchester City.
“I can’t think there is another city in the land that could have done as well as Manchester did yesterday.”