Sixty years ago this week, the town of Barnsley was engulfed in tragedy after two of the greatest footballers it ever produced died in one of the most famous sporting tragedies of all-time.
Tommy Taylor, from Smithies, and Mark Jones, from Wombwell, were two of the eight Manchester United footballers killed in the Munich Air Disaster on February 6, 1958 which claimed the lives of 21 people in total.
The team had just beaten Red Star Belgrade in the European Cup quarter-final and stopped to refuel in Germany on the way back from Yugoslavia but the plane crashed while attempting to take off at Munich-Riem Airport.
The crash claimed the lives of some of the best footballers in the world at the time and arguably some of the greatest ever including Duncan Edwards, who died 15 days later from his injuries, and Taylor who died at the scene.
Eric Winstanley, who went on to become one of Barnsley's top appearance-makers and a legendary youth coach, was a 13-year-old schoolboy living in Athersley at the time of the disaster.
He said: "I remember I was on the bus back from school when I heard about what had happened. When I got home it was on the television and everyone was watching it.
"In those days, the news bulletins were few and far between even though they stepped it up for a big event like that.
"Everyone in the whole town just seemed to be waiting for news. What had gone wrong? Who had died? We were all by the side of the radio or the TV.
"When Tommy's name came out (as one of the dead) there was just devastation around the town. No one wanted to believe it but eventually you have to.
"We lost two sons of Barnsley who were making us proud of our town. It was absolutely heart-breaking.
"We lived across the road from Tommy's sister and we used to talk to her quite a lot, but obviously it was a terrible time for her family. Before that, we had lived in Cundy Cross next door to Tommy's auntie, so you can see that he had lots of connections in Barnsley and it hurt a lot of people."
Taylor played for his hometown club from 1950 to 1953, with his appearances restricted to 44 due to national service, but he netted 26 goals and earned a move to Manchester United.
He scored 112 goals in 166 games for the Red Devils, including in the 1957 FA Cup final, while also helping them to two league titles. He also netted 16 goals in 19 matches for England, including a double against Brazil and hat-tricks against the Republic of Ireland and Denmark, and was expected to go to the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.
Taylor was 26 years and eight days old when he died. His grandfather Tommy Taylor had played for Barnsley St Peter's decades earlier.
Winstanley said: "I saw Tommy play for Barnsley when I was very young. I can remember him more when he was at Manchester United.
"He was my hero and everyone else's hero in Barnsley.
"He was already one of the best players in the world, but I think he would have gone on to be one of the greatest players of any era if he had stayed alive and played for longer.
"He was the complete centre-forward, he could create and score all kinds of goals. He was tall and scored a lot of headers because he just seemed to hang in midair, but he was also brilliant with the ball at his feet because had such good balance.
"He had come from this small mining town of Barnsley and become a superstar. He made people around the country a lot more aware of Barnsley as a town and a club. He was very well thought of as a person as well.
"We played Manchester United a few years later in the FA Cup, with a team of George Best, Dennis Law and Bobby Charlton. Tommy and Mark were mentioned a lot and everyone was thinking of them."
Mark Jones was 24 when he died.
He signed for Manchester United after leaving school in 1948 and made 120 appearances, scoring one goal, and winning two league titles. He was included in one England squad and, although he did not make his debut, he was seen as a potential future England regular.
He had worked as a bricklayer before breaking into United's first team which is credited with helping him develop a muscle-bound physique which, along with his six foot plus frame, made him an imposing figure for opposition attackers.
Known as a bone-crunching uncompromising tackler, his off-the-pitch demeanour was very different as he was a quiet man who was often teased for his habit of smoking a pipe in the dressing room.
Winstanley said: "We didn't know as much about Mark Jones at the time, because he was only just breaking into Manchester United's team. But he was very highly-rated and people thought he was going to be the next big star."
Jones is buried in Wombwell Cemetery and Taylor in Monk Bretton Cemetery.
