As we approach the 60th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, Philip Quinn paid tribute to one of Ireland's most talented players on the Sunday Paper Review.
Quinn and Gary O'Toole joined Joe Molloy on Off the Ball for the regular weekend segment and Daniel Taylor's article in the Guardian came up for discussion.
Whelan had an incredible scoring record at Manchester United - netting 52 times in 95 games to help the club win consecutive league titles in 1956 and 1957.
"And let's not forget that Irish football lost one of our greatest sons of all time in Liam Whelan in that crash," Quinn told Joe Molloy, "And he was very religious and his last words were "If this is it - I'm ready for it" when the plane was making the third attempt at take-off. Harry Gregg heard him say it and that was verified by the survivors.
"Liam was a religious man, 22 years of age and Bobby Charlton said 'He knew he could never be the best player at Manchester United while Liam Whelan was there,' - "Billy" Whelan as they called him."
Picture by: Handout/PA Archive/PA Images
"When they lost the cup final in '57 - they were going for the double and Liam had scored a load of goals, as an inside forward, and they were beaten by Aston Villa in the final 2-1 and Liam was 'man of the match' and he got a little Ronson lighter - I remember his brother, Christy, told me that.
"Christy is still with us and that is a quote from Charlton - they held Liam Whelan, or Billy as they used to call him, in such high esteem. And, he didn't play in Munich but he was part of the panel that travelled and that was really ironic - he knew he wasn't going to play and he went, and it's sad, but Liam Whelan bridge is up in Cabra and even 60 years on - it still hits a lot of us," he added.
The full Sunday Paper Review can be heard here:
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