LONDON , England -- Football will pay its tribute to the legend of Manchester United 's Busby Babes on Wednesday in moments of remembrance on the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster . A memorial stone recalls the place of the Munich air disaster in Kirchtrudering near Munich . Eight players lost their lives on February 6 , 1958 , when Flight 609 ZU crashed on the third attempt to take off after re-fuelling in Germany as United returned from knocking Red Star Belgrade out of the European Cup . Sir Matt Busby 's side , back-to-back English champions and well positioned for a hat-trick attempt , were arguably on course to become the best United team . The United players killed at Munich were Geoff Bent , aged 25 , Roger Byrne -LRB- 28 -RRB- , Eddie Colman -LRB- 21 -RRB- , Mark Jones -LRB- 24 -RRB- , David Pegg -LRB- 22 -RRB- , Tommy Taylor -LRB- 26 -RRB- , Liam Whelan -LRB- 22 -RRB- and 21-year-old Duncan Edwards who died in hospital 15 days after the crash . They and the other 15 people who lost their lives will be remembered with a commemorative service at Old Trafford while a short ceremony , organised by supporters , will also take place at the memorial site in Kirchtrudering , on the outskirts of Munich . In keeping with tradition , United supporters will also gather under the memorial plaque at Old Trafford where the clock is fixed at the exact time of the final fateful take-off attempt . Later in the day , a minute 's silence will take place ahead of England 's friendly with Switzerland at Wembley as a further mark of respect . As he bows his head during this week 's Munich commemorations , survivor Harry Gregg 's mind will understandably flash back to that snow-laden runway , but only briefly . The 75-year-old Ulsterman prefers not to remember the afternoon he lost so many friends among the victims , but instead the days when the dream of the ` Busby babes ' was still vibrant and alive . Goalkeeper Gregg , hailed a hero in the wake of the crash after returning to the wreckage to pull out survivors , is adamant those are the times which always burn brightest in his memory . `` I was part of something that was a very , very beautiful thing at that time , '' said Gregg , who cost United a record 23,000 pounds sterling when he joined from Doncaster Rovers two months before the disaster . `` I 'll always be proud of that . The fact there 's going to be a minute 's silence after 50 years is a tribute to the people I played with , but one must remember as well there were other people on board that aircraft , a lot more people . `` I want the minute 's silence to be over and then I want to remember the happy times , that 's what I want the world to remember , that 's what I want the families to remember . '' E-mail to a friend