Manchester Manager Sir Alex Ferguson Remembers the Munich Air Disaster

February 6 marks the 55th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, the plane crash that killed 23 in Germany.

The members of Manchester United soccer team, along with fans and members of the media, were on board British European Airways flight 609 when it crashed at take-off in 1958. They were returning from a European Cup match played in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

71-year-old current club manager Sir Alex Ferguson speaks of the tragic day in which eight United players' lives have been stopped short.

Sir Alex was only 16 years old when the accident occurred, killing Duncan Edwards, Roger Byrne, Tommy Taylor and five other players. Even so, he tells reporters that the incident deeply impacted him, as well as his entire generation.

"I've been affected since a young boy. It was a sad time. [...] For many it's probably long forgotten but for someone like me who remembers the day, you won't forget it," Ferguson describes for Goal.com.

"When you were caught up in the aftermath of it and the publicity, and when the papers detailed what had happened, you couldn't help but feel that enormous loss for anyone football-minded.

"That has carried on for a long, long time and every year you have to remember that," he adds.

The Manchester United boss goes on to speak of then-manager Sir Matt Busby's role in dealing with the situation and inspiring the team to win the European Cup at Wembley in 1967-68.

"How we rose to get over that is remarkable in terms of [manager] Sir Matt [Busby] and [assistant manager/temporary manager] Jimmy Murphy and all the staff at the time.

"It was a fantastic group of young men who were destined to be great and that was the tragedy of it in how it was taken away from them," Ferguson says.